---
kind: "section"
citation: "49 U.S.C. § 5501"
title: "49"
title_heading: "Transportation"
number: "5501"
heading: "National Intermodal Transportation System policy"
release: "119-102"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/49/5501"
units:
  - "Subtitle III — General and Intermodal Programs"
  - "Chapter 55 — Intermodal Transportation"
  - "Subchapter I — General"
---

# §5501. National Intermodal Transportation System policy

- (a) **General.—** It is the policy of the United States Government to develop a National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System that is economically efficient and environmentally sound, provides the foundation for the United States to compete in the global economy, and will move individuals and property in an energy efficient way.
- (b) **System Characteristics.—**
  - (1) The National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System shall consist of all forms of [transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) in a unified, interconnected manner, including the [transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) systems of the future, to reduce energy consumption and air pollution while promoting economic development and supporting the United States’ preeminent position in international commerce.
  - (2) The National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System shall include a National Highway System consisting of the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways and those principal arterial roads that are essential for interstate and regional commerce and travel, national defense, intermodal transfer facilities, and international commerce and border crossings.
  - (3) The National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System shall include significant improvements in [public transportation](/usc/49/5331.md?p=a-3) necessary to achieve national goals for improved air quality, energy conservation, international competitiveness, and mobility for elderly individuals, individuals with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged individuals in urban and rural areas of the United States.
  - (4) The National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System shall provide improved access to ports and [airports](/usc/49/47501.md?p=1), the Nation’s link to commerce.
  - (5) The National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System shall give special emphasis to the contributions of the [transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) sectors to increased productivity growth. Social benefits must be considered with particular attention to the external benefits of reduced air pollution, reduced traffic congestion, and other aspects of the quality of life in the United States.
  - (6) The National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System must be operated and maintained with insistent attention to the concepts of innovation, competition, energy efficiency, productivity, growth, and accountability. Practices that resulted in the lengthy and overly costly construction of the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways must be confronted and stopped.
  - (7) The National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System shall be adapted to “intelligent vehicles”, “magnetic levitation systems”, and other new technologies, wherever feasible and economical, with benefit cost estimates given special emphasis on safety considerations and techniques for cost allocation.
  - (8) When appropriate, the National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System will be financed, as regards Government apportionments and reimbursements, by the Highway Trust Fund. Financial assistance will be provided to [State](/usc/49/31132.md?p=8) and local governments and their instrumentalities to help carry out national goals related to mobility for elderly individuals, individuals with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged individuals.
  - (9) The National Intermodal [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) System must be the centerpiece of a national investment commitment to create the new wealth of the United States for the 21st century.
- (c) **Distribution and Posting.—** The Secretary of [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) shall distribute copies of the policy in subsections [(a)](#a) and [(b)](#b) of this section to each employee of the Department of [Transportation](/usc/49/13907.md?p=e-2) and ensure that the policy is posted in all offices of the Department.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(d), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 848.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 5501 | 49:101 (note). | Dec. 18, 1991, Pub. L. 102–240, § 2, 105 Stat. 1914. |

In this section, the words “Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways” are substituted for “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways” because of the Act of October 15, 1990 (Public Law 101–427, 104 Stat. 927).