Sponsors (3)
The bill protects drivers from federally encouraged congestion pricing and preserves local control over travel costs, but by eliminating a federally supported tool it likely increases congestion, worsens urban air quality, and shifts costs or funding challenges onto states, taxpayers, and transit systems.
Drivers, commuters, and taxpayers (including low- and middle-income motorists) will not face new federal congestion or cordon tolls under federal value‑pricing programs, avoiding immediate increases in travel costs.
Local governments and urban communities retain control to reject federally encouraged congestion‑pricing schemes, preserving existing local travel cost structures and local policymaking authority.
Urban commuters and drivers will have fewer federal policy tools to manage traffic, likely making congested metro‑area commutes longer and less reliable.
Urban residents may experience higher vehicle emissions and worse air quality because the bill restricts a policy (congestion pricing) that can reduce driving and pollution.
State governments and taxpayers could face higher costs if states must deploy less efficient or more expensive alternatives to manage congestion in place of federal pricing options.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars the Secretary of Transportation from establishing or maintaining any value-pricing program under 23 U.S.C. § 149 that includes value, congestion, or cordon pricing.
Prohibits the U.S. Secretary of Transportation from establishing or maintaining any value pricing program under the federal congestion mitigation and air quality/value-pricing statute that includes value pricing, congestion pricing, or cordon pricing. The change removes the Secretary's authority to support or operate federal programs that enable or authorize congestion-based road pricing mechanisms, which affects federal-state collaborative programs and local plans that would rely on that federal authority. The amendment narrows federal transportation law nationwide, limiting a common tool used by cities and states to manage traffic, reduce emissions, and raise revenue for transit and infrastructure. It mainly affects the Department of Transportation, state transportation agencies, local governments, and urban communities considering pricing-based congestion management strategies.
Introduced January 13, 2025 by Nicole Malliotakis · Last progress January 13, 2025