Sponsor
Timothy Patrick Sheehy
Senator · R-MT
Senator · R-MT
The bill directs a study to identify and prioritize interventions that could reduce weather-related crashes and better target assistance to underserved areas, improving safety and spending efficiency, but it delays immediate action, may increase future taxpayer-funded programs, and raises privacy risks from data integration.
Travelers and transportation workers could experience fewer weather-related crashes and less travel disruption because the study will identify interventions and improve integration of weather and traffic data to enable better real-time traveler notifications.
Policymakers and taxpayers will get cost–benefit estimates that help prioritize safety investments that deliver the most benefit per dollar, supporting more efficient use of public funds.
State, local, and Tribal governments will receive an evidence-based report identifying gaps and best practices for reducing weather-related crashes, giving them actionable guidance for planning and operations.
Collecting and integrating weather and traffic data for notifications could raise privacy concerns for travelers if data handling and safeguards are not well defined and enforced.
Implementing the study's recommendations could lead to new federal programs or funding commitments that increase costs for taxpayers.
The study will take up to two years and requires staff time and resources from federal and state agencies, delaying immediate safety actions and imposing administrative costs on government employees and agencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires GAO and the Department of Transportation to jointly study weather-related gaps in surface-transportation safety and report recommendations to Congress within two years.
Official title: Require the Comptroller General of the United States and the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on weather-related hazards and gaps in surface transportation safety, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Timothy Patrick Sheehy · Last progress September 18, 2025
Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) and the Secretary of Transportation to jointly carry out a comprehensive study of weather-related hazards and gaps affecting surface transportation safety. The study must evaluate federal programs and grants, State/local/Tribal practices for integrating weather and traffic management, roles of emergency response in closures and evacuations, IT and resource constraints, privacy issues, and cost–benefit estimates, and produce best practices and legislative or administrative recommendations. The joint report must be delivered to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation within two years of enactment.