An ICS project Active

FRAMEFor Mobility

Let's build a Surface Transportation Act for the 21st Century.

At a glance

StatusActive
Latest draftDecember 2025, v2.6
ScopeFederal surface transportation law
Length60 pages

Why this project

America’s surface transportation system is governed by a patchwork of dozens of siloed federal programs, a product of decades of accretion, not design. The result is money that follows formulas instead of results, and a Highway Trust Fund insolvent since 2008.

+142%Annual traffic delays per commuter since 1990, from 26 to 63 hours.2025 Texas A&M Transportation Institute Urban Mobility Report, via the FRAME Introduction

$269BAnnual national congestion cost in wasted time and fuel, a record high.2025 Texas A&M Transportation Institute Urban Mobility Report, via the FRAME Introduction

-24%Transit ridership since 2000, while service increased 18 percent.APTA 2024 Fact Book, via the FRAME Introduction

+57%Pedestrian deaths since 2000, while total roadway deaths stayed near 40,000 a year.NHTSA and GHSA data, via the FRAME Introduction

$176BTransit maintenance backlog, up 125 percent in real terms since 2000. 43 percent of the road network is in poor or mediocre condition.FTA and ASCE, via the FRAME Introduction

2008The Highway Trust Fund was exhausted in 2008 and has since required $275 billion in General Fund bailouts. The gas tax has lost over 50 percent of its purchasing power since 1993.Congressional Budget Office, via the FRAME Introduction

FRAME for X

The Act consolidates dozens of programs into three formula block grants plus three competitive grants.

Strategic Infrastructure Investment Program

Large, complex, and transformative infrastructure projects that are difficult to fund through traditional formula programs.

Community Mobility Program

Projects that solve community-level transportation challenges, with a focus on improving safety, enhancing mobility options, and bringing local transportation networks into a state of good repair.

National Commerce Corridors Program

Projects that improve the efficiency, reliability, and resiliency of the Nation’s commerce corridors.

Legislative impact

Five breakthroughs FRAME put in the bill

On May 22, 2026, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee approved the BUILD America 250 Act (H.R. 8870) by a vote of 62 to 2, and wrote FRAME’s core structural mechanics into the bill. The five breakthroughs below are what made it in.

Bits as Bricks

The Problem: Federal capital funding recognises concrete and steel — not the software, data, and digital systems modern mobility runs on.

The FRAME Model: Sec. 107 & 607 — software, data, and digital twins funded as capital assets, with AV-Ready infrastructure standards.

Adopted in H.R. 8870: Modernized capital eligibility and connected and automated vehicle (CAV) frameworks.

Program Consolidation

The Problem: Dozens of siloed programmes, each with its own rules, fragment formula funding and bury local priorities.

The FRAME Model: Title II & Sec. 105 — NHPP, STBG, CMAQ, and Formula Transit repealed into three block grants with baseline suballocations.

Adopted in H.R. 8870: A Consolidated Funding Pilot with a 25% pass-through guarantee.

User-Pays Covenant

The Problem: The gas tax can no longer pay for the system: the Highway Trust Fund has been insolvent since 2008, and the 18.4¢ rate has lost more than half its real value since 1993.

The FRAME Model: Title VII — a transitional EV fee through certified odometer readings (Sec. 704–706) and the dual-track “American VMT Choice” pilot.

Adopted in H.R. 8870: The first federal EV registration fee, dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund, plus a per-mile pilot.

Project Delivery

The Problem: Federal environmental review is slow, sequential, and duplicative — and states lack the capacity and certainty to take it on.

The FRAME Model: Sec. 501–502 & 505 — permanent NEPA assignment under 23 U.S.C. 327, state capacity grants, and a digital Buy America waiver portal.

Adopted in H.R. 8870: Expanded 327 assignment, codified One Federal Decision, and streamlined procurement.

Rationalizing Discretionary Grants & Local Bridges

The Problem: Discretionary grants are scattered across dozens of small, unpredictable pots — and locally owned, off-system bridges are starved of capital.

The FRAME Model: Title III — fragmented discretionary pots unified into the Strategic Infrastructure Investment Program, prioritizing local bridges.

Adopted in H.R. 8870: A $2.4B/yr Surface Transportation Accelerator, with a 25% set-aside for off-system locally owned bridges within a $9.2B/yr bridge program.

Timeline

How FRAME got here

October 2025First official draft of the Act.
October 22, 2025Congressional leadership brief.
October 24, 2025Analysis of the draft.
November 16, 2025Amendments.
December 2025Official draft v2.6, the current version on record.
January 22, 2026Introduction deck presented.
May 22, 2026The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee approved H.R. 8870, 62 to 2.
NextThe 62 to 2 committee vote is an inflection point, not the finish line. ICS continues the work with the committees, the Department of Transportation, federal agencies, and our practitioner partners as the bill moves.

Reports

Reports from the project

FRAME Act, official draft

December 15, 2025 · 60 pages · Version 2.6

Read the report page

FRAME for Mobility: Introduction

January 22, 2026 · 19 pages · PDF, 2.2 MB

Download the Introduction (PDF)

Get involved

Four ways to help

Comment

For practitioners: share comments on the draft. The crowdsource form lives on frameformobility.org.

Endorse

For organizations that want to stand behind the work.

Convene

For partners who can bring people together around the draft.

Brief

For policymakers and staff, from any party, who want a briefing on the Act.

Visit FRAME for Mobility

The draft Act, the crowdsource, and the latest from the project.

frameformobility.org