S 652 Introduced – Moving FIRST Act

Last month Sen Cortez-Masto introduced S 652, the Moving and Fostering Innovation to Revolutionize Smarter Transportation (Moving FIRST) Act. The bill would require DOT to “establish the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Challenge Grant Program to promote technological innovation in our Nation’s communities”. This is a follow-on program to the DOT’s Smart City Challenge program.

Grant Program

Section 4 of the bill would authorize DOT is provide four grants per year through FY 2026. The grants could by used for projects  that demonstrates a sound, innovative, integrated, and holistic approach and incorporates many aspects of the following ‘vision elements’ {§4(e)(1)}:

• Coordinated automation,

• Connected vehicles,

• Intelligent, sensor-based infrastructure,

• Architecture and standards,

• Low cost, efficient, secure, and resilient information and communications technology,

• Smart land use,

• Comprehensive analytics,

• User-focused mobility services and choices,

• Commerce delivery and logistics,

• Leverage the use of innovative aviation technology,

• Strategic business models and partnering opportunities,

• Smart grid, roadway electrification, and electric vehicles,

• Synchronization of technology, and

• Connected, involved citizens.

Agencies requesting grants will document an effective use of technology, including the extent to which the project will {§4(d)(3)}:

• Reduce congestion and delays for commerce and the traveling public,

• Improve the safety of transportation facilities and systems for pedestrians, bicyclists, and the broader traveling public,

• Provide access to jobs, education, and essential services, including health care and educational and training opportunities,

• Connect underserved populations and reduce their transportation costs,

• Contribute to medium- and long-term economic competitiveness,

• Improve the condition, reliability, and user experience of existing transportation facilities and systems,

• Promote connectivity between connected vehicles, roadway infrastructure, pedestrians, bicyclists, the public, and transportation systems,

• Use innovative strategies or technologies to pursue any of the primary selection criteria,

• Demonstrate strong collaboration among a broad range of participants, including the private sector, job centers, or the integration of transportation with other public service efforts, including working with existing mobile and fixed telecommunication service provides whenever possible,

• Improve the overall environment, including through improved energy efficiency, reduced dependence on oil, or reduced pollution,

• Promote or improve positive public health outcomes for a community,

• Increase resiliency of the transportation system,

• Incorporate relevant security solutions, including those needed for cybersecurity [emphasis added], and address emergency situations based on the scope and necessity,

• Include sufficient technical, physical, and administrative measures to ensure security of information and protection of individuals’ privacy, and

• Address issues identified by the Department of Transportation in the Beyond Traffic 2045 report.

Section 6 would authorize $100 million per year for the grant program, not more than $2 million of which may be used by DOT for program costs.

Moving Forward

Cortez-Masto is not a member of the Commerce, Science, and Technology Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration, but one of her cosponsors {Sen Sinema (D,AZ)} is. This means that there may be enough influence to have this bill considered in Committee. Grant programs like this generally face little programmatic opposition; figuring out where the funds will come from is a likely stumbling block.

Commentary

A grant program like this is hardly the place to clearly explicate the necessity for, or composition of, a transportation cybersecurity program, so I suppose that we should be happy that cybersecurity is specifically mentioned as one of 13 technology measures that that will be used as criteria for approving a very limited number of grants. To increase the emphasis on cybersecurity, however, I would like to suggest the following changes to §4(d)(3):

“(B) improve the safety and security of transportation facilities and systems for pedestrians, bicyclists, and the broader traveling public;

• • •

“(G) promote the secure connectivity between connected vehicles, roadway infrastructure, pedestrians, bicyclists, the public, and transportation systems;”