Sponsors (2)
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out certain activities related to surface transportation research, development, and deployment, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 12, 2026 by Vince Fong · Last progress May 12, 2026
The bill preserves multi-year authorization, centralizes and standardizes DOT data and research efforts, and advances safety and sustainability research—trading off higher potential federal costs, added compliance burdens, centralized control over data, and some implementation delays and planning uncertainty.
State and local governments, contractors, and transportation workers: the bill extends authorization for key highway and transportation programs through FY2027–FY2031, preserving ongoing projects, contracts, and workforce continuity.
State, local, Tribal governments and federal staff: centralized data inventory, a coordinating council, and clearer standards will reduce duplicative reporting and improve data quality, consistency, and interoperability across DOT programs.
State/local agencies, providers and transportation stakeholders: stronger confidentiality and statistical standards increase protection of provider data and trust in DOT statistics.
Taxpayers and federal budgets: extending authorizations and removing certain funding caps increases the risk of larger or longer-term federal spending commitments that could raise costs for taxpayers.
Small businesses, contractors, state agencies, and DOT: implementing new standards, confidentiality procedures, repository systems, and research mandates will impose administrative, compliance, and technical costs.
Researchers, some state/local stakeholders, and the public: centralizing statistical authority and data collections within DOT/BTS risks limiting input from other agencies or outside researchers, shifting resources away from operating administrations, and raising privacy/legal concerns.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Updates DOT research and data governance, extends program dates to 2027–2031, creates a statistics coordination council, and directs studies on headlamps and reclaimed asphalt pavement.
Updates and extends multiple DOT research, data, and university transportation programs and creates new coordination and study requirements. It moves program date ranges forward to 2027–2031, strengthens centralized statistical oversight inside DOT, requires a Transportation Statistics Coordination Council and reporting, and directs studies and strategies on headlamp technologies and reclaimed asphalt pavement. The bill also adjusts governance for transportation statistics to give the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) greater authority and confidentiality responsibilities, revises university center and research pilot program rules, and expands rail research program purposes to address modern safety and hazardous materials standards.