Photo by Thomas Le Ngo via Flickr

While a lot of attention is being paid to new surface transportation authorizations from the House and Senate, Representative David Wu (D-Oregon) introduced another transportation-related bill Monday that aims to fund research on alternative transportation.

Wu’s “Promoting Green Transportation Infrastructure through Research and Development Act” (H.R. 2317) aims to create and expand university-based transportation research centers, develop programs that can fund green transportation projects, and address the connections between our transportation systems and climate change.

H.R. 2317 is being touted as a jobs-creator, but not in the way that other transportation bills might. Instead of creating jobs in construction or engineering, it would instead create jobs in research and development at new or expanded transportation centers across the country. Unlike other programs that throw money at filling potholes and fixing bridges, this legislation would aim to provide a “foundation for meeting the 21st century challenge of moving people and goods” based on “education, innovative research, and jobs,” Wu says.

We have not succeeded as a nation in modernizing our transportation systems. It’s time for new approaches, not a fresh coat of paint.

The draft bill defines “green transportation infrastructure” as infrastructure that preserves natural features such as wetlands, minimizes impervious surfaces like asphalt, and cuts back on life-cycle energy consumption and air pollution. It even includes a program to advance research on paving materials and construction techniques.

Wu, the top Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, represents Portland, Oregon, a city that’s no stranger to transportation innovation and research. Portland State University is home to the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium, which has focused much of its research on fuel-switching our transportation systems from petroleum to electricity, making the connection between livability and transportation, and advanced modeling techniques.