Davis/4 Senator Hiatt

. S.R. ._____

A BILL
To create a fund for improving roads and highways in the United States.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Clear Highways Act of 2016.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,

1) People with tolling accounts and transponders from various facilities in the region have not fully
understood that they are eligible
2) Proper notification of fees associated with road use requires extensive signage and back office infrastructure
3) 96% of current transportation funds are already obligated to projects, not future projects.
4) Massive data already exists on freeway traffic conditions that can be used in determining pricing structures for
roadway use.
5) Drivers on Americas Top 10 worst roads waste on average 84 hours or 3.5 days a year on average in

gridlock
6) Real-time data on traffic flows have the potential to provide very accurate measurements of average
speeds and both recurring and nonrecurring delays, which can then be used to directly measure congestion.
7) Under a toll concession, the private concessionaire receives the right to collect toll revenues from the
facility instead of collecting a specified payment.
8) Traffic incidents cause approximately 25% of traffic congestion.
9) Mileage fee rates could be set to replace or supplement current Highway Trust Fund revenues.
10) Electronic tolling mechanisms are required to be interoperable in various programs related to
congestion pricing.
11) Current gas tax funding has been undercut by improved fuel mileage in cars, reducing needed funding
for the federal highway system.
12)Fifty-nine percent of the major road system is congested during peak hours compared to 34 percent in
1982.
13)The number of hours of the day when weekday travelers might encounter congestion has grown from
4.5 hours to 7 hours.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The Clear Highways Act of 2016 shall establish toll roads in metropolitan areas with charges established
according to heavy traffic periods and length of commute during said periods. Tolls collected on said roads will be
used for highway maintenance, incident response teams, and road improvement.
B) Administration of this act will be performed by the Department of Transportation within the federal highway
system. Initial funding to establish said toll roads will be procured from the funds of the Transportation Act of 2015.
The Department of Transportation shall be responsible to identifying the top 40 most congested metropolitan areas in
the United States including but not limited to Los Angeles/Orange County, Chicago, Washington DC, New
York/New Jersey, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, and San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan areas. Metering and
signage will be placed and in use by the end of the year 2023. The project will be self-funded by 2026 from tolls
collected from designated roadways. Identification of the top 41-70 congested metropolitan areas will be determined
by the Department of Transportation by 2023 and appropriate signage, meters, and tolling enforced by 2032.
C) Roads designated as high volume and appropriate for congestion tolls shall not receive funding for improvements
if tolls are not established by 2026 and 2032 respectively as has been established according to their ranking in the
traffic study performed by the Department of Transportation.

With worsening traffic problems causing congestion on our nations roadways, we need to begin
charging fees for road use. Construction of the interstate highway system began in the 1950s. It has
attempted to keep up with a burgeoning US population, marked increase in automobile use for
transportation and shipping, and costs associated with its use. Our current model for funding roads through
federal gas tax has fallen well short of the costs for construction and maintenance. A toll system that can
fund its own upkeep, increase funding for transportation, and help alleviate congestion is needed. The Clear
Highways Act will create a congestion-based toll in high traffic areas of affected metropolitan areas
designated as having the worst traffic. The Clear Highways Act will cut down traffic congestion, create a
reliable form of highway funding, and decrease the impact of fuel use on the environment.
The Clear Highways Act seeks to cut traffic congestion on the nations busiest highways. The data
show that travel delays due to traffic congestion caused drivers to waste more than three billion gallons of
fuel and kept travelers stuck in their cars for nearly seven billion extra hours in 2015. By creating a more
steady flow of traffic throughout any given day, wasteful fuel consumption will decrease. Daily commuters
will see fewer delays in traffic which will allow for many more productive hours spent at work. The
resulting clearer highways will also increase the hours of home life and hours spent serving in communities.
Loss of gas tax revenue from better fuel efficiency and electric vehicles creates challenges to road
and transportation funding. The federal rate has remained the same since 1993 which has led to a decrease
in the purchasing power of the revenue over time $0.184 buys only 60% today of what it did in 1993.
Without the ability to adjust the federal gas tax rate according to inflation or as a percentage of fuel cost, the
ability to fund needed expansions and repairs of the interstate highway system will continue to decline.
Since 1993, the number of vehicle miles traveled has increased by more than 30%, but the number of lane
miles (a measure of road capacity) has only increased by 6% . As miles driven continue to increase so
dramatically, the rate of construction has failed to keep up. This is in part due to lack of funding. The
current gas tax does not adequately pay for our highway system. The Clear Highway Act will create a
reliable stream of tax revenue independent of vehicle type to help fund construction and maintenance.
Congestion tolls both encourage efficient use of autos as well as encourage use of other forms of
transportation. Widespread public transportation has many benefits, including making transit more
affordable and available for people with physical and economic limitations. Idling, single driver cars drive
up fuel use and negatively impact air quality. In addition, annual waste of six billion gallons of gasoline
amounts to significant carbon pollution. Even if the numbers of vehicles in a given day remains the same,
moving vehicles require less fuel and less waste. Congestion pricing keeps traffic moving and benefits
people and the environment.
Supply and demand pricing works in multiple different industries. No one expects to get a bargain
hotel price at the Disneyland Hotel in July. This same model can work to decrease traffic congestion.
Supporting the Clear Highways Act is a big step toward improving traffic as well as the quality of life for
millions of Americans.