eligible entity
(4) Advanced transportation technologies and innovative mobility deployment.— (A) In general .— The Secretary shall provide grants to eligible entities to deploy, install, and operate advanced transportation technologies to improve safety, mobility, efficiency, system performance, intermodal connectivity, and infrastructure return on investment. (B) Criteria .— The Secretary shall develop criteria for selection of an eligible entity to receive a grant under this paragraph, including how the deployment of technology will— (i) improve the mobility of people and goods; (ii) improve the durability and extend the life of transportation infrastructure; (iii) reduce costs and improve return on investments, including through optimization of existing transportation capacity; (iv) protect the environment and deliver environmental benefits that alleviate congestion and streamline traffic flow; (v) measure and improve the operational performance of the applicable transportation network; (vi) reduce the number and severity of traffic crashes and increase driver, passenger, and pedestrian safety; (vii) collect, disseminate, and use real-time traffic, work zone, weather, transit, paratransit, parking, and other transportation-related information to improve mobility, reduce congestion, and provide for more efficient, accessible, and integrated transportation and transportation services; (viii) facilitate account-based payments for transportation access and services and integrate payment systems across modes; (ix) monitor transportation assets to improve infrastructure management, reduce maintenance costs, prioritize investment decisions, and ensure a state of good repair; (x) deliver economic benefits by reducing delays, improving system performance, and providing for the efficient and reliable movement of goods and services; (xi) accelerate the deployment of vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-pedestrian, autonomous vehicles, and other technologies; or (xii) incentivize travelers— (I) to share trips during periods in which travel demand exceeds system capacity; or (II) to shift trips to periods in which travel demand does not exceed system capacity. (C) Applications.— (i) Request .— Each fiscal year for which funding is made available for activities under this paragraph, the Secretary shall request applications in accordance with clause (ii). (ii) Contents .— An application submitted under this subparagraph shall include the following: (I) Plan .— A plan to deploy and provide for the long-term operation and maintenance of advanced transportation and congestion management technologies to improve safety, mobility, efficiency, system performance, and return on investment. (II) Objectives .— Quantifiable system performance improvements, such as— (aa) reducing traffic-related crashes, congestion, and costs; (bb) optimizing system efficiency; (cc) improving access to transportation services; and (dd) facilitating payment for transportation services. (III) Results .— Quantifiable safety, mobility, and environmental benefit projections such as data-driven estimates of how the project will improve the region’s transportation system efficiency and reduce traffic congestion. (IV) Partnerships .— A plan for partnering with the private sector or public agencies, including multimodal and multijurisdictional entities, research institutions, organizations representing transportation and technology leaders, or other transportation stakeholders. (V) Leveraging .— A plan to leverage and optimize existing local and regional advanced transportation technology investments. (D) Grant selection.— (i) Grant awards .— Each fiscal year for which funding is made available for activities under this paragraph, the Secretary shall award grants to not less than 5 and not more than 10 eligible entities. (ii) Geographic diversity.— (I) In general .— Subject to subclause (II), in awarding a grant under this paragraph, the Secretary shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that grant recipients represent diverse geographic areas of the United States, including urban and rural areas. (II) Rural set-aside .— Not less than 20 percent of the amounts made available to carry out this paragraph shall be reserved for projects serving rural areas. (iii) Technology diversity .— In awarding a grant under this paragraph, the Secretary shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that grant recipients represent diverse technology solutions. (E) Use of grant funds .— A grant recipient may use funds awarded under this paragraph to deploy advanced transportation and congestion management technologies, including— (i) advanced traveler information systems; (ii) advanced transportation management technologies; (iii) advanced transportation technologies to improve emergency evacuation and response by Federal, State, and local authorities; (iv) infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, and condition assessment; (v) advanced public transportation systems; (vi) transportation system performance data collection, analysis, and dissemination systems; (vii) advanced safety systems, including vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications, technologies associated with autonomous vehicles, and other collision avoidance technologies, including systems using cellular technology; (viii) integration of intelligent transportation systems with the Smart Grid and other energy distribution and charging systems; (ix) integrated corridor management systems; (x) advanced parking reservation or variable pricing systems; (xi) electronic pricing, toll collection, and payment systems; (xii) technology that enhances high occupancy vehicle toll lanes, cordon pricing, or congestion pricing; (xiii) integration of transportation service payment systems; (xiv) advanced mobility, access, and on-demand transportation service technologies, such as dynamic ridesharing and other shared-use mobility applications and information systems to support human services for elderly and disabled individuals; (xv) retrofitting dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) technology deployed as part of an existing pilot program to cellular vehicle-to-everything (C–V2X) technology, subject to the condition that the retrofitted technology operates only within the existing spectrum allocations for connected vehicle systems; or (xvi) advanced transportation technologies, in accordance with the research areas described in section 6503 of title 49 . (F) Report to secretary .— For each eligible entity that receives a grant under this paragraph, not later than 1 year after the entity receives the grant, and each year thereafter, the entity shall submit a report to the Secretary that describes— (i) deployment and operational costs of the project compared to the benefits and savings the project provides; and (ii) how the project has met the original expectations projected in the deployment plan submitted with the application, such as— (I) data on how the project has helped reduce traffic crashes, congestion, costs, and other benefits of the deployed systems; (II) data on the effect of measuring and improving transportation system performance through the deployment of advanced technologies; (III) the effectiveness of providing real-time integrated traffic, transit, and multimodal transportation information to the public to make informed travel decisions; and (IV) lessons learned and recommendations for future deployment strategies to optimize transportation mobility, efficiency, multimodal system performance, and payment system performance. (G) Report .— Not later than 3 years after the date that the first grant is awarded under this paragraph, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall make available to the public on an Internet website a report that describes the effectiveness of grant recipients in meeting their projected deployment plans, including data provided under subparagraph (F) on how the program has— (i) reduced traffic-related fatalities and injuries; (ii) reduced traffic congestion and improved travel time reliability; (iii) reduced transportation-related emissions; (iv) optimized multimodal system performance; (v) improved access to transportation alternatives; (vi) improved integration of payment systems; (vii) provided the public with access to real-time integrated traffic, transit, and multimodal transportation information to make informed travel decisions; (viii) provided cost savings to transportation agencies, businesses, and the traveling public; or (ix) provided other benefits to transportation users and the general public. (H) Additional grants .— The Secretary may cease to provide additional grant funds to a recipient of a grant under this paragraph if— (i) the Secretary determines from such recipient’s report that the recipient is not carrying out the requirements of the grant; and (ii) the Secretary provides written notice 60 days prior to withholding funds to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Environment and Public Works and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. (I) Funding.— (i) In general .— From funds made available to carry out subsection (b), this subsection, and sections 512 through 518, the Secretary shall set aside for grants awarded under subparagraph (D) $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. (ii) Expenses for the secretary .— Of the amounts set aside under clause (i), the Secretary may set aside $2,000,000 each fiscal year for program reporting, evaluation, and administrative costs related to this paragraph. (J) Federal share .— The Federal share of the cost of a project for which a grant is awarded under this subsection shall not exceed 80 percent of the cost of the project. (K) Grant limitation .— The Secretary may not award more than 20 percent of the amount described under subparagraph (I) in a fiscal year to a single grant recipient. (L) Expenses for grant recipients .— A grant recipient under this paragraph may use not more than 5 percent of the funds awarded each fiscal year to carry out planning and reporting requirements. (M) Grant flexibility.— (i) In general .— If, by August 1 of each fiscal year, the Secretary determines that there are not enough grant applications that meet the requirements described in subparagraph (C) to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall transfer to the programs specified in clause (ii)— (I) any of the funds reserved for the fiscal year under subparagraph (I) that the Secretary has not yet awarded under this paragraph; and (II) an amount of obligation limitation equal to the amount of funds that the Secretary transfers under subclause (I). (ii) Programs .— The programs referred to in clause (i) are— (I) the program under subsection (b); (II) the program under this subsection; and (III) the programs under sections 512 through 518. (iii) Distribution .— Any transfer of funds and obligation limitation under clause (i) shall be divided among the programs referred to in that clause in the same proportions as the Secretary originally reserved funding from the programs for the fiscal year under subparagraph (I). (N) Definitions .— In this paragraph: (i) Eligible entity .— The term “eligible entity” means a State or local government, a transit agency, metropolitan planning organization, or other political subdivision of a State or local government or a multijurisdictional group or a consortia of research institutions or academic institutions. (ii) Advanced and congestion management transportation technologies .— The term “advanced transportation and congestion management technologies” means technologies that improve the efficiency, safety, or state of good repair of surface transportation systems, including intelligent transportation systems. (iii) Multijurisdictional group .— The term “multijurisdictional group” means any combination of State governments, local governments, metropolitan planning agencies, transit agencies, or other political subdivisions of a State for which each member of the group— (I) has signed a written agreement to implement the advanced transportation technologies deployment initiative across jurisdictional boundaries; and (II) is an eligible entity under this paragraph.