Title 23 › CHAPTER 5 — RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION › § 501
Defines key terms used in the chapter. Federal laboratory is a lab owned by the U.S. government, run by government staff or by a contractor. Incident is a crash, natural disaster, work zone activity, special event, or other emergency that disrupts normal traffic. Innovation lifecycle is the full process of creating new technology: finding a need, setting the research scope and agenda, doing research, development, testing, and deployment, and evaluating costs and benefits. Intelligent transportation infrastructure is the public-sector ITS parts that work together, as the Secretary defines. Intelligent transportation system (ITS) is electronics, communications, or information processing used to make surface transportation safer or more efficient. National architecture is the common framework that defines functions, physical subsystems, data flows, and communication needs so ITS parts interoperate. Project is any work to research, develop, or test ITS or other activities eligible for aid under the chapter. Safety covers highway and traffic safety work, research on vehicles, roads, drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians, plus accident studies, communications, emergency medical care, and transport of the injured. Standard is a technical document with specifications to ensure ITS products and services work as intended, support the national architecture, encourage wide use, and allow systems to work together across states.
Full Legal Text
Highways, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
23 U.S.C. § 501
Title 23, Highways
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110