Sponsors (5)
The bill shifts federal transportation policy and funding toward cutting GHGs, expanding transit and active-transportation access, and increasing measurement and accountability—benefiting air quality, transit riders, and public-health transparency—while imposing significant new analytic, administrative, and spending constraints that will challenge under-resourced and rural jurisdictions and reduce some state/local spending flexibility.
State, metropolitan, and local planners must follow standardized federal goals and planning requirements to cut transportation greenhouse gas emissions and reduce per-capita vehicle miles traveled, enabling coordinated climate action across jurisdictions.
Commuters and transit riders gain from new and stable federal support and required spending toward transit expansion, service improvements, active-transportation (walking/biking/micromobility), and transit-oriented land use—improving access and lowering commuting costs over time.
Low-income people, people with disabilities, and other transit-dependent populations get clearer, measurable accessibility targets (e.g., access to jobs/healthcare/groceries/schools within 45 minutes) and required disability-consistent access, guiding investments that connect more people to essential destinations.
State, regional, and local agencies (and ultimately taxpayers) will face substantial new administrative, analytic, and reporting costs—often requiring consultants or new staff—to meet short timelines and ongoing performance reporting.
States lose spending flexibility because failure to meet greenhouse-gas road performance targets forces mandatory redirection of apportioned highway funds (at least 33% and rising), which could strain budgets and delay other transportation priorities.
Rural, small, Tribal, and otherwise under-resourced jurisdictions may be disadvantaged because they have limited analytic capacity and fewer non-driving alternatives, making compliance harder and potentially reducing access to federal project approval or funding.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress September 18, 2025
Requires states and metropolitan planning organizations to add climate and transit performance measures to federal transportation planning and to set targets, report progress, and prioritize projects that lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce per-capita vehicle miles traveled. Establishes national transit access standards (transit accessibility, stop distance, mode share, first/last mile, and disability access), requires covered entities to set targets and report, and directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue rules and provide technical assistance. If a State fails to meet Secretary-established minimum standards for public roads, the bill requires the State to obligate specified shares of existing federal highway apportionments toward projects that advance the targets (starting at 33% of one apportionment category and 10% of another), with the highway share increasing each fiscal year the State remains out of compliance. The bill also tightens planning requirements for large, capacity-increasing projects by requiring public analyses comparing them to alternatives and documentation of progress toward state of good repair and cost-effectiveness.