(a) All funds made available pursuant to Section 99315.6 of the Public Utilities Code and Section 203 of the Streets and Highways Code shall be allocated to transportation research and development projects, including both the research and development of new technologies and the application of existing technologies to transportation purposes. All state funded research and development work conducted on intelligent vehicle highway systems shall be funded with funds made available pursuant to Section 99315.6 of the Public Utilities Code and Section 203 of the Streets and Highways Code or with available federal funds.

(b) The department shall adopt a balanced, multimodal research and development program and shall ensure that adequate resources are devoted to research and development of nonhighway transportation modes, including, but not limited to, transit buses and other public transportation, and nonmotorized modes. The research and development program shall be evaluated to determine to what extent the program benefits highways or alternative modes. As an overall program goal, the department should strive to allocate a minimum of 50 percent of state funds made available pursuant to Section 99315.6 of the Public Utilities Code and Section 203 of the Streets and Highways Code to projects which relate to research and development of alternative modes of transportation.

(c) Funds made available pursuant to Section 203 of the Streets and Highways Code may be used for any research and development project which is designed to enhance or improve the operation of highways.

(Added by Stats. 1992, Ch. 352, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1993.)