Bill lets the government fund transportation tests in small towns.
H.R. 10598 — Improving Rural Transportation Act · Filed by Josh Riley (D-NY) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill says the Secretary of Transportation can set up a grant program. The program would pay for test projects in towns with fewer than 200,000 people. These projects would test new transportation ideas like self-driving cars, ride-sharing, and electric buses. Grants would cover up to 80% of project costs. Local groups would pay for the other 20%.
Who it affects
People in small towns and rural areas could get better transportation choices. State transportation departments, local governments, and transit agencies could apply for grants.
One thing to notice
The Secretary does not have to start the program. This is true even if Congress gives money for it. Local areas would need to pay 20% of costs. This might be hard for the poorest towns.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Sep 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 24, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- grant program — A plan where the government gives money to groups for specific projects.
- Secretary of Transportation — The federal official who leads the Department of Transportation.
- self-driving cars — Vehicles that can drive themselves without a human driver.
- electric buses — Buses powered by electricity instead of gasoline or diesel fuel.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,773 characters) on Sep 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 15,163 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-26.
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