How your transportation dollars get spent—now with receipts.
H.R. 5711 — Metropolitan Planning Enhancement Act · Filed by Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) · Introduced Oct 8, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires federal transportation agencies and state/local planning bodies to select infrastructure projects through transparent, publicly documented processes using clear performance criteria. When a lower-ranked project is chosen over a higher-ranked one, agencies must publicly explain why—citing geographic balance or economic distress as justification. The bill applies the same transparency rules to both metropolitan and statewide transportation planning.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is procedural accountability—it does not fund, defund, or redirect money, but instead mandates transparent criteria and public justification for project selection decisions already being made by transportation agencies.
What the text implies
- Agencies may face litigation if project selections cannot be justified under stated criteria, creating potential delays in project approval and funding.
- The requirement to explain deviations for 'geographic balance' and 'economically distressed areas' may create pressure to fund lower-performing projects in underserved regions, potentially reducing overall transportation system efficiency.
- Public disclosure of project rankings and selection rationale may expose political pressure or favoritism that was previously opaque, increasing public scrutiny of state and local officials.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens gain enforceable transparency and public accountability in how billions in federal transportation funds are allocated. The requirement to publicly justify project selection and explain deviations from performance rankings reduces opaque decision-making and creates a record citizens can scrutinize.
Named in the bill
Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, State Departments of Transportation, 23 USC Section 134, 23 USC Section 135, 49 USC Section 5303, 49 USC Section 5304
Where it stands
- Oct 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 8, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,445 characters) on Aug 29, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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 2026-10-20.
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