The first goal of any transportation agency is safety. Yet almost 40,000 Americans die on the transportation system every year. New proposals for safer streets, better vehicle design, and crash avoidance technology are reshaping the narrative around safety in an effort to reverse the downward trend of transportation safety. Governments are also concerned about the security of the system. Terrorism, hacking, and international affairs can threaten the transportation systems that support the national economy.
1998 TEA21 Restoration Act
1995 National Highway System Designation Act
1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)
1987 Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act
1982 Surface Transportation Assistance Act
1978 Surface Transportation Assistance Act
1976 Federal-Aid Highway Act
1974 Federal-Aid Highway Amendments
1973 Federal-Aid Highway Act
1970 Federal-Aid Highway Act
1968 Federal-Aid Highway Act
Federal Ban on Chinese Railcars

The Implications of the Federal Ban on Chinese Railcars (September 2018) concludes that until the federal government better understands the potential national security risks of using Chinese railcars in American transit systems, a one-year appropriations ban is more appropriate than a permanent policy change.
