A sweeping federal transportation reauthorization bill advancing through Congress includes several provisions that could directly affect school bus operations, driver requirements, safety enforcement, and the future use of autonomous vehicle technology in pupil transportation.

On May 22, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the bipartisan BUILD America 250 Act following a 14-hour legislative markup session, moving the five-year surface transportation package one step closer to a full House vote.

The legislation would reauthorize federal highway, transit, rail, and motor carrier safety programs through 2031 while investing in infrastructure, transportation innovation, and roadway safety initiatives. Committee leaders said the bill includes the largest federal investment in bridges in U.S. history, new Highway Trust Fund revenue measures, and the nation’s first federal framework for autonomous commercial vehicles.

For the school bus industry, the legislation includes a new national public safety messaging effort focused on illegal school bus passing and safe student loading and unloading procedures. The U.S. Department of Transportation would be required to consult with school bus industry representatives, state highway safety offices, and other stakeholders while developing the campaigns.

Plus, the Natural Resources Defense Council said the legislation “would place a new $130 annual fee on electric vehicles, eliminate key programs to cut emissions and trim overall transportation spending, including on EV chargers.”

The bill would also expand the federal High-Visibility Enforcement Program to include speeding reduction efforts and establish a new traffic safety enforcement Center of Excellence to provide technical assistance to state highway safety offices and law enforcement agencies focused on reducing roadway fatalities and injuries.

Another provision would allow states to waive the “under-the-hood” commercial driver’s license pre-trip inspection testing requirement for school bus and public transit bus drivers operating within certain geographic limits. Specifically, the requirement is waived for “school buses or public transit buses in intrastate commerce or interstate commerce within a 150 air-mile radius of the point of origination.”

States participating in the waiver program would still be required to maintain driver records and submit annual safety data to the federal government.

The legislation also addresses automated driving systems in commercial vehicles. Under the proposal, the U.S. Department of Transportation would have two years to establish safety standards for autonomous commercial motor vehicles operating in interstate commerce.

However, any autonomous commercial vehicle transporting primarily minors, especially school buses, or hazardous materials would still be required to have a human operator physically present inside the vehicle during operation.