Sponsors (2)
The bill increases and clarifies federal support to make school travel safer and fund planning and education, but it requires reallocating limited highway-safety dollars and raises concerns about local maintenance costs, privacy/equity of enforcement, and potential mismatches with local priorities.
Students and children who walk or bike to school would face safer travel because the bill directs more federal attention and funding to school-zone safety (crosswalks, traffic calming, signage, pedestrian islands, enforcement), which can reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths.
State and local governments would receive more and clearer-usable highway safety dollars — including a 10 percentage-point allocation increase and clarified allowable uses — increasing funds available for planning, Safe Routes to School education/encouragement, and local safety projects.
Parents and families would likely experience reduced crash risk and greater confidence in children’s trips to school because the bill enables funding for crossing guards, flashing beacons, traffic lights, and non-infrastructure safety/education programs.
Taxpayers and other federally funded programs could face higher costs or reduced funding because the bill increases spending and redirects existing highway-safety dollars (including a +10 percentage-point reallocation), forcing trade-offs, offsets, or cuts to other projects.
State and local governments and municipalities would likely bear ongoing installation, maintenance, and operational costs for new infrastructure, and shifting allocations could strain budgets and delay or deprioritize other local projects.
Drivers and some communities could face increased fines, privacy concerns, and perceptions of unfairness from expanded automated traffic enforcement in school zones.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Clarifies nine permissible school‑zone safety uses of federal highway safety funds and raises a program allocation share from 40% to 50%.
Official title: To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to include reducing injuries and deaths resulting from crashes in school zones as eligible programming under State highway safety programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Alice Costandina Titus · Last progress December 17, 2025
Directs the Department of Transportation to clarify that federal highway safety program funds may be used for a defined set of school-zone safety improvements (for example, crossing guards, flashing beacons, crosswalks, traffic calming, automated enforcement, and Safe Routes to School non‑infrastructure). It also raises a specified allocation share under the federal highway safety program from 40% to 50%, shifting a larger portion of funds toward the category governed by that subsection. The bill is focused on improving safety for students walking to and from school by expanding eligible uses of existing federal highway safety funds and increasing the share of funds allocated to the relevant program area.