PRIA Logo™
Title 23 — HighwaysRelease 119-73not60

§517 National Architecture and Standards

Title 23 › Chapter 5— RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION › § 517

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must create and keep a national technical plan and matching standards for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) used on U.S. roads. The goal is to use systems engineering when building and testing ITS and, as much as possible, make different ITS technologies work together and run efficiently. The Secretary will work with standards groups that include people from the transportation and ITS industries. If a single nationwide standard is needed (for example, to collect user fees), the Secretary may set and require it after talking with stakeholders. If making a final standard is taking too long, the Secretary can issue a provisional standard based on standards groups’ work, publish it in the Federal Register, and keep it until a standards organization issues a final version. Projects paid for with Highway Trust Fund money must follow the regional ITS plan and these standards, though the Secretary can exempt certain research projects in the national ITS program or the surface transportation research and development plan.

Full Legal Text

Title 23, §517

Highways — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)In accordance with section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note; 110 Stat. 783; 115 Stat. 1241), the Secretary shall develop and maintain a national ITS architecture and supporting ITS standards and protocols to promote the use of systems engineering methods in the widespread deployment and evaluation of intelligent transportation systems as a component of the surface transportation systems of the United States.
(2)To the maximum extent practicable, the national ITS architecture and supporting ITS standards and protocols shall promote interoperability among, and efficiency of, intelligent transportation systems and technologies implemented throughout the United States.
(3)In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall support the development and maintenance of standards and protocols using the services of such standards development organizations as the Secretary determines to be necessary and whose memberships include representatives of the surface transportation and intelligent transportation systems industries.
(b)If the Secretary finds that a standard is necessary for implementation of a nationwide policy relating to user fee collection or other capability requiring nationwide uniformity, the Secretary, after consultation with stakeholders, may establish and require the use of that standard.
(c)(1)If the Secretary finds that the development or balloting of an intelligent transportation system standard jeopardizes the timely achievement of the objectives described in subsection (a), the Secretary may establish a provisional standard, after consultation with affected parties, using, to the maximum extent practicable, the work product of appropriate standards development organizations.
(2)A provisional standard established under paragraph (1) shall be published in the Federal Register and remain in effect until the appropriate standards development organization adopts and publishes a standard.
(d)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall ensure that intelligent transportation system projects carried out using amounts made available from the Highway Trust Fund, including amounts made available to deploy intelligent transportation systems, conform to the appropriate regional ITS architecture, applicable standards, and protocols developed under subsection (a) or (c).
(2)The Secretary, at the discretion of the Secretary, may offer an exemption from paragraph (1) for projects designed to achieve specific research objectives outlined in the national intelligent transportation system program plan or the surface transportation research and development strategic plan developed under section 508.11 See References in Text note below.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), is section 12(d) of Pub. L. 104–113, Mar. 7, 1996, 110 Stat. 783, which is set out as a note under section 272 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. section 508, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), was repealed by Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title VI, § 6019(d)(1)(A), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1581, effective Oct. 1, 2015.

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 114–94 substituted “memberships include representatives of” for “memberships are comprised of, and represent,”.

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. § 517

Title 23 — Highways

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60