Republican Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members introduced a long-term surface transportation reauthorization bill that includes funding for several ITS initiatives.

The Surface Transportation Advanced through Reform, Technology, & Efficient Review (STARTER) Act 2.0 provides more than $400 billion over five years for the federal highway, transit, and motor carrier and highway safety programs.

STARTER Act 2.0 also funds transportation innovation and technology to improve transportation efficiency, safety, resiliency, and the environment, including:

■ Reauthorization of the Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technology Deployment (ATCMTD) Program expanding eligibility to include vehicle-to-pedestrian technologies and cybersecurity protection measures.

■ A new competitive grant program to spur innovation of connected vehicle applications into practical and effective operational deployments.

■ A new competitive grant program to test the safe integration of automated driving system (ADS) technologies into the surface transportation system and to demonstrate how challenges to the safe integration of ADS technologies can be addressed. The goal is to test applications of greater automation technologies that support economic vitality at the national and regional levels, while also providing benefits to rural communities and transportation-challenged populations.

■ A new program under the Technology and Innovation Deployment Program to deploy advanced digital construction management systems and accelerate state adoption of these systems throughout the design, engineering, construction, and operations of surface transportation projects.

■ Surface Transportation System Road Usage Charge National Pilot, established by US Department of Transportation (USDOT), to test vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reporting systems and revenue collection mechanisms.