Sponsors (2)
The bill forces states and metro areas to prioritize reducing transportation emissions and expanding transit accessibility through new standards, reporting, and funding shifts—speeding climate, health, and access gains but imposing real administrative costs, project delays, and fiscal and equity strains on rural areas and traditional road programs.
State and local governments (and the public they serve) get clear federal greenhouse-gas performance standards and planning requirements that steer transportation investment toward net‑zero and accelerate emissions reductions from the transportation sector.
Commuters, riders, and residents—especially in metropolitan areas—are likely to see better transit reach, shorter distances to transit, more multimodal options (walking, biking, micromobility), and improved access to jobs, schools, groceries, and health care.
Communities near roads and environmental‑justice populations gain stronger health protections through required air-pollution, multipollutant (including noise), and toxic‑contaminant analyses and resulting project adjustments.
State and local agencies, MPOs, and transit providers will face substantial new planning, analysis, reporting, and compliance costs and staffing needs to set targets, prepare analyses, and meet reporting deadlines.
Added environmental, equity, and benefit‑cost analyses and new approval hurdles are likely to delay large roadway projects and raise short‑term project delivery costs for construction firms, drivers, and taxpayers.
Redirecting a portion of highway apportionments toward emissions‑reducing projects (transit, active transportation, land‑use) may reduce discretionary funding for traditional highway projects and maintenance, potentially delaying road repairs and safety improvements—especially in rural areas.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Adds road and transit climate/access performance rules, requires MPOs/States to analyze impacts and set targets, and ties federal-aid obligations to missed GHG road targets.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Jared Huffman · Last progress September 18, 2025
Requires new climate, vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT), and transit-access performance measures for Federal-aid roads and for transit planning, and makes States and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) set targets, report progress, and analyze impacts before building certain new road capacity. If a State repeatedly misses GHG-related road performance targets, a portion of its Federal-aid highway funds must be obligated to projects that reduce emissions (transit, active transportation, land use, etc.). The Department of Transportation must issue national transit-access standards, provide tools and technical assistance, and collect periodic performance reports from covered entities.