§ 5312. — Research, development, demonstration, and training projects.
[Laws in effect as of January 7, 2003]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 7, 2003 and December 19, 2003]
[CITE: 49USC5312]
TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
SUBTITLE III--GENERAL AND INTERMODAL PROGRAMS
CHAPTER 53--MASS TRANSPORTATION
Sec. 5312. Research, development, demonstration, and training
projects
(a) Research, Development, and Demonstration Projects.--The
Secretary of Transportation (or the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development when required by section 5334(i) of this title) may
undertake, or make grants or contracts (including agreements with
departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States
Government) for, research, development, and demonstration projects
related to urban mass transportation that the Secretary decides will
help reduce urban transportation needs, improve mass transportation
service, or help mass transportation service meet the total urban
transportation needs at a minimum cost. The Secretary may request and
receive appropriate information from any source. This subsection does
not limit the authority of the Secretary under another law.
(b) Research, Investigations, and Training.--(1) The Secretary of
Transportation (or the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development when
required by section 5334(i) of this title) may make grants to nonprofit
institutions of higher learning--
(A) to conduct competent research and investigations into the
theoretical or practical problems of urban transportation; and
(B) to train individuals to conduct further research or obtain
employment in an organization that plans, builds, operates, or
manages an urban transportation system.
(2) Research and investigations under this subsection include--
(A) the design and use of urban mass transportation systems and
urban roads and highways;
(B) the interrelationship between various modes of urban and
interurban transportation;
(C) the role of transportation planning in overall urban
planning;
(D) public preferences in transportation;
(E) the economic allocation of transportation resources; and
(F) the legal, financial, engineering, and esthetic aspects of
urban transportation.
(3) When making a grant under this subsection, the appropriate
Secretary shall give preference to an institution that brings together
knowledge and expertise in the various social science and technical
disciplines related to urban transportation problems.
(c) Training Fellowships and Innovative Techniques and Methods.--(1)
The Secretary of Transportation may make grants to States, local
governmental authorities, and operators of mass transportation systems
to provide fellowships to train personnel employed in managerial,
technical, and professional positions in the mass transportation field.
(2) The Secretary of Transportation may make grants to State and
local governmental authorities for projects that will use innovative
techniques and methods in managing and providing mass transportation.
(3) A fellowship under this subsection may be for not more than one
year of training in an institution that offers a program applicable to
the mass transportation industry. The recipient of the grant shall
select an individual on the basis of demonstrated ability and for the
contribution the individual reasonably can be expected to make to an
efficient mass transportation operation. A grant for a fellowship may
not be more than the lesser of $24,000 or 75 percent of--
(A) tuition and other charges to the fellowship recipient;
(B) additional costs incurred by the training institution and
billed to the grant recipient; and
(C) the regular salary of the fellowship recipient for the
period of the fellowship to the extent the salary is actually paid
or reimbursed by the grant recipient.
(d) Joint Partnership Program for Deployment of Innovation.--
(1) Definition of consortium.--In this subsection, the term
``consortium''--
(A) means 1 or more public or private organizations located
in the United States that provide mass transportation service to
the public and 1 or more businesses, including small- and
medium-sized businesses, incorporated in a State, offering goods
or services or willing to offer goods and services to mass
transportation operators; and
(B) may include, as additional members, public or private
research organizations located in the United States, or State or
local governmental authorities.
(2) General authority.--The Secretary may, under terms and
conditions that the Secretary prescribes, enter into grants,
contracts, cooperative agreements, and other agreements with
consortia selected in accordance with paragraph (4), to promote the
early deployment of innovation in mass transportation services,
management, operational practices, or technology that has broad
applicability. This paragraph shall be carried out in consultation
with the transit industry by competitively selected consortia that
will share costs, risks, and rewards of early deployment of
innovation.
(3) Consortium contribution.--A consortium assisted under this
subsection shall provide not less than 50 percent of the costs of
any joint partnership project. Any business, organization, person,
or governmental body may contribute funds to a joint partnership
project.
(4) Notice requirement.--The Secretary shall periodically give
public notice of the technical areas for which joint partnerships
are solicited, required qualifications of consortia desiring to
participate, the method of selection and evaluation criteria to be
used in selecting participating consortia and projects, and the
process by which innovation projects described in paragraph (1) will
be awarded.
(5) Use of revenues.--The Secretary shall accept, to the maximum
extent practicable, a portion of the revenues resulting from sales
of an innovation project funded under this section. Such revenues
shall be accounted for separately within the Mass Transit Account of
the Highway Trust Fund and shall be available to the Secretary for
activities under this subsection. Annual revenues that are less than
$1,000,000 shall be available for obligation without further
appropriation and shall not be subject to any obligation limitation.
(e) International Mass Transportation Program.--
(1) Activities.--The Secretary is authorized to engage in
activities to inform the United States domestic mass transportation
community about technological innovations available in the
international marketplace and activities that may afford domestic
businesses the opportunity to become globally competitive in the
export of mass transportation products and services. Such activities
may include--
(A) development, monitoring, assessment, and dissemination
domestically of information about worldwide mass transportation
market opportunities;
(B) cooperation with foreign public sector entities in
research, development, demonstration, training, and other forms
of technology transfer and exchange of experts and information;
(C) advocacy, in international mass transportation markets,
of firms, products, and services available from the United
States;
(D) informing the international market about the technical
quality of mass transportation products and services through
participation in seminars, expositions, and similar activities;
and
(E) offering those Federal Transit Administration technical
services which cannot be readily obtained from the United States
private sector to foreign public authorities planning or
undertaking mass transportation projects if the cost of these
services will be recovered under the terms of each project.
(2) Cooperation.--The Secretary may carry out activities under
this subsection in cooperation with other Federal agencies, State or
local agencies, public and private nonprofit institutions,
government laboratories, foreign governments, or any other
organization the Secretary determines is appropriate.
(3) Funding.--The funds available to carry out this subsection
shall include revenues paid to the Secretary by any cooperating
organization or person. Such revenues shall be accounted for
separately within the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund
and shall be available to the Secretary to carry out activities
under this subsection, including promotional materials, travel,
reception, and representation expenses necessary to carry out such
activities. Annual revenues that are less than $1,000,000 shall be
available for obligation without further appropriation and shall not
be subject to any obligation limitation. Not later than January 1 of
each fiscal year, the Secretary shall publish a report on the
activities under this paragraph funded from the account.
(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(d), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 811; Pub. L. 105-
178, title III, Sec. 3015(a), June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 359.)
Historical and Revision Notes
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Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5312(a)............................... 49 App.:1605(a). July 9, 1964, Pub. L. 88-365, Sec.
6(a), 78 Stat. 305; May 25, 1967, Pub.
L. 90-19, Sec. 20(a), 81 Stat. 25;
Oct. 15, 1970, Pub. L. 91-453, Sec.
13(b), 84 Stat. 969.
49 App.:1605(d). July 9, 1964, Pub. L. 88-365, Sec.
6(d), 78 Stat. 305; Sept. 8, 1966,
Pub. L. 89-562, Sec. 3, 80 Stat. 717;
May 25, 1967, Pub. L. 90-19, Sec.
20(a), 81 Stat. 25.
5312(b)(1)............................ 49 App.:1607c(a) (1st, 2d July 9, 1964, Pub. L. 88-365, 78 Stat.
sentences). 302, Sec. 11(a); added Sept. 8, 1966,
Pub. L. 89-562, Sec. 2(a)(2), 80
Stat. 716.
5312(b)(2)............................ 49 App.:1607c(a) (3d sentence).
5312(b)(3)............................ 49 App.:1607c(a) (last
sentence).
5312(c)(1)............................ 49 App.:1607b (1st sentence). July 9, 1964, Pub. L. 88-365, 78 Stat.
302, Sec. 10; added Sept. 8, 1966,
Pub. L. 89-562, Sec. 2(a)(2), 80
Stat. 716; restated Nov. 6, 1978, Pub.
L. 95-599, Sec. 306, 92 Stat. 2744.
5312(c)(2)............................ 49 App.:1603(c) (1st sentence). July 9, 1964, Pub. L. 88-365, 78 Stat.
302, Sec. 4(c) (1st sentence); added
Nov. 6, 1978, Pub. L. 95-599, Sec.
303(e), 92 Stat. 2739; Apr. 2, 1987,
Pub. L. 100-17, Sec. 320, 101 Stat.
235; Dec. 18, 1991, Pub. L. 102-240,
Sec. 3006(h)(1), 105 Stat. 2090.
5312(c)(3)............................ 49 App.:1607b (2d-last
sentences).
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In subsections (a) and (b)(1), the words ``(or the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development when required by section 5334(i) of this
title)'' are added for clarity.
In subsection (a), the word ``working'' is omitted as surplus. The
words ``departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United
States Government'' are substituted for ``other Federal departments and
agencies'' for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of
the United States Code. The words ``all phases of'', ``(including the
development, testing, and demonstration of new facilities, equipment,
techniques, and methods)'', ``In carrying out the provisions of this
section'', ``or data as he deems'', ``public or private'', and
``contained . . . section 1701d-3 of title 12 or . . . other provision
of'' are omitted as surplus.
In subsection (b)(1), before clause (A), the words ``public and
private'', ``assist in establishing or carrying on comprehensive
research in the problems of transportation in urban areas. Such grants
shall be used to'', and ``and qualified'' are omitted as surplus. In
clause (A), the words ``or both'' are omitted as surplus.
In subsection (b)(3), the word ``appropriate'' is added for clarity.
In subsection (c)(1), the words ``and agencies thereof'' are omitted
as surplus.
In subsection (c)(3), before clause (A), the words ``public or
private training'' and ``the sum of'' are omitted as surplus. In clause
(B), the words ``in connection with the fellowship'' are omitted as
surplus.
Amendments
1998--Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 105-178 added subsecs. (d) and (e).
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 5313, 5314, 5333, 5334, 5338
of this title.
