“A bill to provide for the development of transportation demand management strategies, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section sets forth 10 congressional findings on the benefits of transportation demand management (TDM)—defined in 23 U.S.C. §101(a)—including its role in increasing transportation efficiency, improving access to jobs and services in rural communities with disproportionate elderly, disabled, and low-income populations, reducing vehicle dependence and congestion costs (estimated at $74 billion in 2024), and promoting cost-effective options such as carpooling and vanpooling.
This section defines "transportation demand management" in 23 U.S.C. §101(a)(32) to mean strategies using planning, programs, operations, policies, marketing, communications, incentives, pricing, data, and technology to improve mobility, reduce congestion, and enhance air quality (e.g., employer fringe benefits, carpooling and vanpooling, parking pricing, telecommuting promotion, micromobility support). The section expands eligibility for transportation demand management strategies under the following programs: (1) Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ; 23 U.S.C. §149), which funds projects in air quality nonattainment and maintenance areas to reduce emissions; (2) national infrastructure project assistance (49 U.S.C. §6701), including as an eligible project category and planning activity; (3) local and regional project assistance (49 U.S.C. §6702); and (4) Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) grant program (sec. 25005 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; 23 U.S.C. §502 note).
This section establishes a $20 million annual set-aside from Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program funds for competitive grants to develop and implement transportation demand management strategies in rural areas (i.e., areas outside urbanized areas with populations over 200,000), including plans, marketing, data analysis, vanpooling and carpooling programs, real-time traveler information, and public-private partnerships. Eligible recipients for the set-aside include state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations serving rural areas, public transit agencies, Tribal governments, and nonprofits engaged in rural transportation planning. The section excepts set-aside grants from general program requirements for eligible entities, projects, and applications; unutilized set-aside funds are available for other program projects.
This section revises the congestion relief program (23 U.S.C. 129(d)) by (1) eliminating the requirement that eligible entities serve areas with a population of more than 1,000,000; (2) establishing a $20 million annual set-aside for grants to eligible entities for small projects with costs between $500,000 and $10 million; and (3) directing the Secretary to use any unutilized set-aside funds for other program projects. (Thus, the changes expand access to smaller areas and projects.)