Why FRAME?

The Courage to Start From Zero

The Institute for Civic Service led the development of the Framework for Rebuilding America's Mobility Economy (FRAME) Act because we believe that true institutional stewardship requires the courage to look at a problem and say: "We need to start from scratch."

We did not look at the previous transportation bill and ask, "What can we add?"
We looked at the American economy and asked, "What do we need?"

The Diagnosis

The High Cost of Obsolescence

The current state of American mobility—crumbling bridges, stalled supply chains, and rising traffic deaths—is not a mystery. It is the direct result of antiquated policies that were designed for a world that no longer exists.

For too long, Washington has tried to solve 21st-century problems with 20th-century tools. We have layered new mandates on top of obsolete structures, hoping that "more of the same" would yield different results. Instead, it has yielded outcomes that no American wants:

A Safety Crisis

A roadway network where human error results in preventable fatalities.

An Asset Backlog

A "build-first" mentality that has left our existing infrastructure in a state of decay.

A Disconnected Nation

A focus on vehicle speed rather than the ability of people to access jobs, schools, and services.

The Solution

Structural Reform, Not a Patch

The FRAME Act is not a patch. It is a complete structural reform.

We stripped away the accumulated bureaucracy of the last century to ask a simple question: What does a mobility system look like if we build it for the future, not the past?

The answer is a bill that replaces "Highways" with a holistic "Mobility Economy". It replaces the metric of "vehicle throughput" with the goal of "community access". It replaces the definition of static infrastructure with dynamic "digital twins" and technology. It is a hard reset designed to align federal policy with the consensus of the mobility profession by delivering three non-negotiable outcomes:

Safety by Design

Mandating the Safe System Approach as the national standard, shifting the focus from blaming drivers to designing forgiving infrastructure that eliminates fatalities.

Stewardship Over Sprawl

Enacting a "Fix-It-First" financial structure that incentivizes the maintenance and modernization of existing assets over the construction of expensive new capacity.

Universal Access

Redefining success as Connectivity, ensuring that transportation networks reconnect divided communities and provide equitable access to economic opportunity for all users.

We advanced FRAME because we believe the American people deserve a government that serves.

We did not wait for the political cycle to produce this long-term solution. We built it upon three foundational principles—the very DNA of good public service:

Skill and Dedication

We believe complex public challenges require the highest professional caliber and non-partisan judgement, not fleeting political promises. Our aim is to staff the nation's services with enduring capability.

Accountability for Results

We believe that the effectiveness of government must be measured by the tangible improvements citizens experience. That is why FRAME ensures clear metrics and transparency, guaranteeing that public resources deliver a safer, faster, and demonstrably better quality of life.

Honesty and Trust

We believe in a truthful accounting of the nation's health and resources. By insisting on candid assessments of public finance and rejecting misleading figures, we affirm that our dedicated mobility professionals are the essential guardians of the nation's future well-being.