US House Introduces INVEST in America Act

Rob Henry, Executive Director for GVF, currently serves as the Chair of the Public Policy Committee for the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT), which is the premier TDM organization in the United States. He is also serving as the Immediate Past President of ACT.

The House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure recently released the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act. The INVEST in America Act enables the completion of critical projects through long-term, sustainable funding and authorizes nearly $500 billion over five years to address some of the country’s most urgent infrastructure needs.

The bill provides significant advancements in the support of Transportation Demand Management (TDM). This would not have been possible without the advocacy and outreach from ACT, our government affairs team, and most importantly our members over the past two-years. Highlights of the bill include:

Sec. 1202: Increasing the Resilience of Transportation Assets

As part of long range transportation plan for metropolitan areas amending Title 23 –

‘CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND IMPACTS.—A long-range transportation plan shall—

(I) identify investments and strategies to reduce transportation-related sources of greenhouse gas emissions per capita;

(II) identify investments and strategies to manage transportation demand and increase the rates of public transportation ridership, walking, bicycling, and carpools; and

Amending Title 49 to include as part of the transportation planning process –

(ii) CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND IMPACTS.—A long-range transportation plan shall—

‘‘(I) identify investments and strategies to reduce transportation-related sources of greenhouse gas emissions per capita;

(II) identify investments and strategies to manage transportation demand and increase the rates of public transportation ridership, walking, bicycling, and carpools; and

STATEWIDE AND NONMETROPOLITAN PLANNING.—

(1) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 23 and 49.—

(B) CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND IMPACTS.—A long-range transportation plan shall-

‘‘(i) identify investments and strategies to reduce transportation-related sources of greenhouse gas emissions per capita;

‘‘(ii) identify investments and strategies to manage transportation demand and increase the rates of public transportation ridership, walking, bicycling, and carpools;

SEC. 1306. GRIDLOCK REDUCTION GRANT PROGRAM.

Targets large cities (1,000,000 or more), projects between $10-$50 Million, 60 percent max federal share

Transportation demand management, including employer-based commuting programs such as carpool, vanpool, transit benefit, parking cashout, shuttle, or telework programs.

SEC. 1404. TRANSPORTATION DEMAND DATA AND MODELING STUDY.

(a) STUDY.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation shall conduct a study on transportation demand data and modeling, including transportation demand forecasting.

• Use the study to develop best practices

• Develop transportation demand management strategies to maximize the efficiency of the transportation system, improve mobility, reduce congestion, and lower vehicle emissions.

• (c) SECRETARIAL SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall seek opportunities to support the transportation planning processes under sections 134 and 135 of title 23, United States Code, through the provision of data to States and metropolitan planning organizations to improve the quality of transportation plans, models, and demand forecasts.

"The Association for Commuter Transportation commends the leadership of Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and the other members of the House T&I Committee for introducing this bold new plan for America's transportation infrastructure, which significantly increases the amount of funding available to support TDM programs" said David Straus, ACT Executive Director. "Additional thanks goes to Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) who championed ACT's MORE Through TDM Act, which introduced many of the important concepts specific to TDM and the creation of efficient transportation system emphasized within the INVEST in America Act."

We anticipate that the T&I Committee will markup the bill in mid-June and it could pass the House in July. While the current authorization bill expires September 30th, it is still not clear how the Senate may proceed. GVF and ACT will continue to update members on the advancement of the INVEST in America bill and will soon release resources to support outreach to your Members of Congress regarding this important piece of legislation.