Modernizing Access to Public Roads Act; MAP Roads Act
Summary
The Modernizing Access to Public Roads Act (MAP Roads Act) aims to establish a grant program through the Department of Transportation. This program will fund the digitization of county roads and the creation of publicly accessible road datasets. The goal is to support rural commerce, increase public safety, and improve public access and navigation.
Expected Effects
The Act will lead to the creation of a pilot grant program, managed by the Secretary of Transportation, providing funds to states. These funds will be used to digitize county road records, convert outdated maps into standardized geospatial datasets, and train personnel. States will also be required to create and maintain publicly accessible, centralized data repositories for this road data.
Potential Benefits
- Improved navigation and access to rural areas.
- Enhanced support for rural commerce through better logistics and transportation.
- Increased public safety due to more accurate and accessible road data for emergency services.
- Creation of standardized geospatial datasets for county roads.
- Promotion of data sharing and coordination between counties, states, and federal agencies.
Potential Disadvantages
- Potential for administrative overhead in managing the grant program and state repositories.
- Possible delays in implementation due to the 180-day timeframe for establishing the program.
- Risk of inconsistent data quality if counties do not adhere to shared geospatial data standards.
- Limited scope of the program, with a sunset provision after six years unless reauthorized.
- Potential for increased costs to states for maintaining and updating the data repositories.
Constitutional Alignment
The Act appears to align with the Constitution, particularly Article I, Section 8, which grants Congress the power to regulate commerce among the several states and to establish post roads. The Act's focus on improving infrastructure and access to public roads supports these constitutional objectives. Additionally, the Tenth Amendment reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states, and this Act respects that by providing grants to states for implementation, rather than directly mandating actions.
Impact Assessment: Things You Care About ⓘ
This action has been evaluated across 19 key areas that matter to you. Scores range from 1 (highly disadvantageous) to 5 (highly beneficial).