Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act
This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a grant program to support operating projects for public transportation and related service improvements, particularly in underserved communities and areas of persistent poverty.
Specifically, the bill requires DOT to allocate funding under the program for urbanized areas, states, and Indian tribes that are recipients of funds under either the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA's) Urbanized Area Formula Funding program or Formula Grants for Rural Areas program. Eligible recipients may use funding for operating costs associated with projects that improve public transportation service for transit-dependent populations and support increased transit ridership (e.g., service expansion, information technology enhancements, and workforce development). The bill requires DOT to apportion the funding so that recipients receive funds that are proportional to their share of operating costs.
The bill also provides for an increased federal cost share for operating assistance for projects or programs carried out in areas of persistent poverty or underserved communities.
DOT must set up a multimodal access measurement interface for public agencies to aid transit agencies in determining and reporting on access to jobs and essential services.
A grant recipient must also (1) report specific information to the FTA for inclusion in the National Transit Database, and (2) survey transit riders and non-riding residents regarding transit service improvements.
Further, the bill expands the purposes of the public transportation programs to include supporting public transportation's role in combating climate change through growing/retaining transit ridership.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7039 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7039
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a program to
provide grants to eligible recipients for eligible operating support
costs of public transportation, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 18, 2024
Mr. Johnson of Georgia (for himself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms.
Barragan, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Blunt
Rochester, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Brown, Ms. Bush,
Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Cohen, Mr.
Davis of Illinois, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Foushee,
Mr. Frost, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Goldman of
New York, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Norton, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Ivey,
Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Kamlager-
Dove, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Lee of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Lynch, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of
Wisconsin, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms.
Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Mr. Payne, Ms. Pelosi, Ms. Ross, Mr.
Ruppersberger, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff,
Ms. Stansbury, Mr. Thanedar, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Torres of New
York, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Vasquez, Ms. Velazquez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms.
Wilson of Florida, and Ms. Porter) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a program to
provide grants to eligible recipients for eligible operating support
costs of public transportation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stronger Communities through Better
Transit Act''.
SEC. 2. HIGH QUALITY TRANSIT OPERATING SUPPORT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 5307 the following:
``Sec. 5308. High quality transit operating support program
``(a) In General.--The Secretary of Transportation shall establish
a program under which the Secretary may make grants to eligible
recipients to enhance mobility and improve environmental sustainability
through investing in public transportation service improvements.
``(b) Allocation of Funding.--For each fiscal year, the Secretary
shall allocate funding as follows:
``(1) Each urbanized area, State, and Indian Tribe that is
an eligible recipient shall receive an apportionment based on
data contained in the National Transit Database such that--
``(A) each urbanized area shall receive an amount
equal to 50 percent of the urbanized area's average
annual operating costs over the 3-year period preceding
such fiscal year;
``(B) each State shall receive an amount equal to
50 percent of the subrecipients in such State under
section 5311 average operating costs over the 3-year
period preceding such fiscal year; and
``(C) each Indian Tribe shall receive an amount
equal to 50 percent of the Indian Tribe's average
operating costs over the 3-year period preceding such
fiscal year.
``(2) For funds remaining after the apportionment described
in paragraph (1), such funds shall be apportioned such that
each urbanized area, State, and Indian Tribe that is an
eligible recipient shall receive an apportionment equal to the
proportion of all operating costs reported to the National
Transit Database over the 3-year period preceding the fiscal
year in which such funds are apportioned.
``(3) In any given year, no urbanized area, State, or
Indian Tribe may receive an apportionment under this subsection
that is greater than 80 percent of the average operating costs
over the 3-year period preceding the fiscal year in which such
funds are apportioned.
``(c) Eligible Projects.--
``(1) In general.--Eligible recipients may use funding
provided under this section for operating costs associated with
projects eligible under this chapter and title 23 that improve
public transportation service for transit dependent populations
and support increased transit ridership, including--
``(A) projects that decrease headways;
``(B) projects for new or expanded service area,
hours, or days;
``(C) projects to improve transit reliability or
travel time savings, including transit prioritization;
``(D) IT enhancements to improve customer
information and customer and employee safety such as
implementation of real-time transit data;
``(E) projects to support seamless complete trips,
including--
``(i) projects to improve transit network
connectivity;
``(ii) signage and wayfinding;
``(iii) fare coordination; and
``(iv) multimodal payment integration;
``(F) service planning related to funding provided
under this section, including planning to address
changing demographics, changing travel movement,
network redesign (including the implementation of a
plan that results in a net increase in service hours
across a region, subregion, or study area), and
accommodating essential service trips (including
service trips for employment, healthcare facilities,
child care, education and workforce training, food
sources, banking and other financial institutions, and
other retail shopping establishments);
``(G) measuring access to work and essential
services, particularly for non-drivers, for the purpose
of developing projects to be funded under this section,
including data acquisition and acquiring outside
support for conducting analysis of such data;
``(H) measures to enhance customer sense of safety
and security, including public safety measures and
outreach to unhoused persons in the transit system;
``(I) initiatives to improve the transit
environment, such as additional or enhanced cleaning;
and
``(J) workforce development initiatives necessary
to improve or maintain service.
``(2) No effect on other laws.--The use of funds from this
section for operating costs of projects described in paragraph
(1) may not affect the eligibility of such projects to receive
funding from other sections of this chapter or title 23.
``(d) Requirement.--A preponderance of a grant received by a
recipient under this section in a fiscal year shall be used for
projects that benefit underserved communities or areas of persistent
poverty.
``(e) Federal Share.--
``(1) In general.--The Federal share of a project or
program carried out using a grant awarded under this section
shall be not greater than 50 percent.
``(2) Federal share for operating expenses.--In the case
that a project includes both operating components funded from
this section and non-operating components, the Federal share
for operating components shall be 50 percent and for non-
operating components shall be consistent with the requirements
of the funding source for those components.
``(3) Increased federal share for certain areas.--
Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the Federal share of an
operating assistance component of a project or program carried
out in an area of persistent poverty or an underserved
community using a grant awarded under this section shall be not
greater than 80 percent.
``(4) Federal share for indian tribes.--Notwithstanding
paragraphs (1) through (3), for Indian Tribes receiving funding
allocated under subsection (b)(1)(C), the Federal share of a
project or program carried out using a grant awarded under this
section shall be 100 percent.
``(5) In kind match.--Of the non-Federal share required
under this subsection, 25 percent may be derived from amounts
(other than amounts received from the Federal Transit
Administration) expended for associated capital improvements
related to a project or program carried out using a grant
awarded under this section.
``(f) Period of Availability.--An amount apportioned under this
section may be obligated by the recipient for 2 years after the fiscal
year in which the amount is apportioned. Not later than 30 days after
the end of the 2-year period, an amount that is not obligated at the
end of that period shall be added to the amount that may be apportioned
under this section in the following fiscal year.
``(g) Conditions for Operating Assistance.--As a condition of
receiving a grant under this section, an eligible recipient shall--
``(1) in the case of a recipient in an urbanized area--
``(A) agree to report to the Federal Transit
Administration, for inclusion in the National Transit
Database--
``(i) service frequency and revenue vehicle
hours, including revenue vehicle hours and
unlinked passenger trips originating and
terminating in areas of persistent poverty and
underserved communities, together with such
other specific data as the Secretary shall find
necessary and appropriate; and
``(ii) the number of jobs and essential
services accessible by transit, and improvement
in such access, including specific reporting on
access by transit for areas of persistent
poverty and underserved communities; and
``(B) demonstrate that such recipient has surveyed,
within the past year and at least every 2 years
thereafter, current transit riders as well as non-
riding residents of areas of persistent poverty and
underserved communities regarding transit service
improvements, using means designed to maximize
participation from both riders and non-riders, and has
published the survey in an online format;
``(2) in the case of a recipient that is an Indian Tribe--
``(A) agree to report to the Federal Transit
Administration, for inclusion in the National Transit
Database, revenue vehicle hours and unlinked passenger
trips, together with such other specific data as the
Secretary shall find necessary and appropriate; and
``(B) demonstrate that such recipient has surveyed,
within the past year and at least every 2 years
thereafter, current transit riders as well as non-
riding residents of the Tribe's service area regarding
transit service improvements, using means designed to
maximize participation from both riders and non-riders,
and has published the survey in an online format; and
``(3) in the case of a recipient that is a State or other
possession receiving assistance under section 5311--
``(A) agree to report to the Federal Transit
Administration, for inclusion in the National Transit
Database, revenue vehicle hours for each subrecipient
receiving assistance under this section, including
revenue vehicle hours and unlinked passenger trips
originating and terminating in areas of persistent
poverty and under-served communities, together with
such other specific data as the Secretary shall find
necessary and appropriate;
``(B) provide an annually updated report to the
Secretary identifying those underserved communities and
areas of persistent poverty in the non-urbanized areas
of the State or possession that do not have any
reported public transit services, or in which either
the availability or utilization of rural public transit
is in the bottom quintile as compared to all rural
public transit services in the United States, using
such measurements as shall be identified by the
Secretary, together with annually updated progress
toward achieving the State's or possession's strategy
for establishing high-quality transit service in these
unserved and underserved communities and areas of
persistent poverty; and
``(C) demonstrate that every subrecipient of the
State or possession has surveyed, within the past year
and at least every 2 years thereafter, current transit
riders as well as non-riding residents of areas of
persistent poverty and underserved communities within
the sub-recipient's service area regarding transit
service improvements, using means designed to maximize
participation from both riders and non-riders, and has
published the survey in an online format.
``(h) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue such regulations
as are necessary to carry out the program established under subsection
(a), including defining the terms `preponderance of a grant', and
`access to jobs and essential service' for purposes of this section and
taking into account any necessary difference in the definition of such
terms required for urbanized areas, rural areas located near urbanized
areas, and remote rural areas.
``(i) Access Measurement.--
``(1) In general.--In carrying out the program under this
section, the Secretary shall set up a multimodal access
measurement interface that is open to any public agency through
the program under section 5505 to aid transit agencies in
determining and reporting on access to jobs and essential
services.
``(2) Interim data.--Until the access measurement interface
under paragraph (1) is established, an eligible recipient may
use other data sources to determine and report on access to
jobs and essential services.
``(j) Maintenance of Effort.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the
beginning of each fiscal year, recipients of funds under this
section shall certify to the Secretary that such recipients
will, with funding pledged by all sources, maintain effort with
regard to transit service. As part of such certification, the
transit agency shall submit to the Secretary a statement
identifying the amount of funds from all sources (other than
funds provided under this section and related non-Federal
match) expended on transit operations during the prior fiscal
year, and the amount expected to be expended on transit
operations from all sources during the current fiscal year.
``(2) Failure to maintain effort.--If a recipient of funds
under this section is unable to maintain the level of effort
certified pursuant to paragraph (1) for any fiscal year, the
amount such recipient would have received under this section in
the following fiscal year shall be reduced by one-third.
``(k) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to prevent an eligible recipient from increasing service
through the use of any other Federal or non-Federal funds.
``(l) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2024 through 2027.
``(m) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Areas of persistent poverty.--The term `area of
persistent poverty' means--
``(A) a county that has consistently had greater
than or equal to 20 percent of the population of such
county living in poverty during the most recent 30-year
period for which data is available, as measured by the
1990 and 2000 decennial censuses; or
``(B) a census tract with a poverty rate of at
least 20 percent as measured by the 2014 through 2018
5-year data series available from the American
Community Survey of the Bureau of the Census.
``(2) Associated capital improvements.--The term
`associated capital improvements' means a capital project
described in subparagraphs (B) through (G) of section 5302(4).
``(3) Eligible recipient.--The term `eligible recipient'
means a recipient or subrecipient of funds under section 5307
or 5311.
``(4) Underserved community.--The term `underserved
community' means--
``(A) a census tract or block numbering area in
which the median income does not exceed 80 percent of
the area median income;
``(B) families with income not greater than 100
percent of the area median income that reside in
minority census tracts;
``(C) families with income not greater than 100
percent of the area median income that reside in areas
affected by disasters, as determined by the
Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration;
``(D) a census tract that has a minority population
of at least 30 percent or a median income of less than
100 percent of the area median income;
``(E) a community that has low access to jobs and
essential services, as determined by the Secretary; or
``(F) a census block or group of geographically
contiguous census blocks in which the population of any
racial or ethnic minority individuals, individually or
in combination, comprises 30 percent or more of the
population of persons in the census block or group of
geographically contiguous census blocks.''.
(b) Federal Transit Program General Purposes.--Section 5301(b) of
title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(9) support public transportation's role in combating
climate change through growing/retaining transit ridership.''.
(c) Applicability of Law.--The Secretary of Transportation shall
ensure that the requirements of section 5333 of title 49, United States
Code, are applied to section 5308 of such title (as added by subsection
(a)).
(d) GAO Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate a report that reviews the outcomes of the program
established under section 5308 of title 49, United States Code, as
added by subsection (a), including new service produced and
improvements in access to work and essential services, particularly for
areas of persistent poverty and underserved communities.
(e) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 53 of title 49,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 5307 the following:
``5308. High quality transit operating support program.''.
(f) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that capital
funding for transit should be increased.
SEC. 3. INCREASED FEDERAL SHARE OF OPERATING COSTS FOR RURAL AREAS.
Section 5311(g)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended to
read as follows:
``(2) Operating assistance.--A grant made under this
section for operating assistance may not exceed 80 percent of
the net operating costs of the project, as determined by the
Secretary.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
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