Title 23HighwaysRelease 119-73

§514 Goals and purposes

Title 23 › Chapter CHAPTER 5— - RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION › § 514

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must run a national intelligent transportation system program with six main goals. It must make surface travel more efficient and support trade and connections between transport types; improve safety and emergency response to reduce crashes and their severity; protect the environment and nearby communities; serve all users, including people with disabilities; strengthen defense mobility and the nation's ability to respond to emergencies and disasters; and boost the national freight system. The Secretary must also carry out at least ten actions to reach those goals. These include speeding up deployment in cities and rural areas; teaching federal, state, and local officials about these systems; improving regional planning and operations; encouraging private investment; working with vehicle makers to introduce safety technologies; supporting smarter commercial vehicle operations; building and training the workforce to operate and maintain the systems; funding ongoing operations and maintenance; making sure vehicles, infrastructure, and users work together; and supporting cybersecurity research to prevent hacking or spoofing of connected and automated vehicles.

Full Legal Text

Title 23, §514

Highways — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The goals of the intelligent transportation system program include—
(1)enhancement of surface transportation efficiency and facilitation of intermodalism and international trade to enable existing facilities to meet a significant portion of future transportation needs, including public access to employment, goods, and services and to reduce regulatory, financial, and other transaction costs to public agencies and system users;
(2)achievement of national transportation safety goals, including enhancement of safe operation of motor vehicles and nonmotorized vehicles and improved emergency response to collisions, with particular emphasis on decreasing the number and severity of collisions;
(3)protection and enhancement of the natural environment and communities affected by surface transportation, with particular emphasis on assisting State and local governments to achieve national environmental goals;
(4)accommodation of the needs of all users of surface transportation systems, including operators of commercial motor vehicles, passenger motor vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians (including individuals with disabilities);
(5)enhancement of national defense mobility and improvement of the ability of the United States to respond to security-related or other manmade emergencies and natural disasters; and
(6)enhancement of the national freight system and support to national freight policy goals.
(b)The Secretary shall implement activities under the intelligent transportation system program, at a minimum—
(1)to expedite, in both metropolitan and rural areas, deployment and integration of intelligent transportation systems for consumers of passenger and freight transportation;
(2)to ensure that Federal, State, and local transportation officials have adequate knowledge of intelligent transportation systems for consideration in the transportation planning process;
(3)to improve regional cooperation and operations planning for effective intelligent transportation system deployment;
(4)to promote the innovative use of private resources in support of intelligent transportation system development;
(5)to facilitate, in cooperation with the motor vehicle industry, the introduction of vehicle-based safety enhancing systems;
(6)to support the application of intelligent transportation systems that increase the safety and efficiency of commercial motor vehicle operations;
(7)to develop a workforce capable of developing, operating, and maintaining intelligent transportation systems;
(8)to provide continuing support for operations and maintenance of intelligent transportation systems;
(9)to ensure a systems approach that includes cooperation among vehicles, infrastructure, and users; and
(10)to assist in the development of cybersecurity research in cooperation with relevant modal administrations of the Department of Transportation and other Federal agencies to help prevent hacking, spoofing, and disruption of connected and automated transportation vehicles.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 114–94, § 6005, added par. (6). Subsec. (b)(10). Pub. L. 114–94, § 6006, added par. (10).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2015 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 114–94 effective Oct. 1, 2015, see section 1003 of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as a note under section 5313 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

23 U.S.C. § 514

Title 23Highways

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73