II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2311 

To establish a demonstration project to develop a national network of economically sustainable transportation providers and qualified transportation providers, to provide transportation services to older individuals, 

and individuals who are blind, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Ms. COLLINS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a demonstration project to develop a national 

network of economically sustainable transportation providers and qualified transportation providers, to provide 

transportation services to older individuals, and individuals who are blind, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Older Americans Sus5 tainable Mobility Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) The population of the United States is 

2 aging in greater numbers than ever before in the 

3 Nation’s history. 

4 (2) Dignified and sustainable mobility is essen5 tial for the health, safety, and quality of life of older 

6 individuals, their families, their communities, and 

7 the Nation. 

8 (3) Older individuals who rely on the private 

9 automobile for transportation need an acceptable al10 ternative to driving so they may safely transition 

11 from driving without unduly compromising their 

12 independence, quality of life, and activity in the com13 munity. 

14 (4) Many older individuals have special, age-re15 lated conditions, such as dementia and frailty, that 

16 special transportation alternatives must effectively 

17 address. 

18 (5) Many older individuals live in rural and 

19 suburban areas that lack the density for traditional 

20 mass transit, and more than half of all people age 

21 65 or older live in communities with no public trans22 portation. 

23 (6) The cost of addressing the transportation 

24 needs of older individuals is outstripping the public 
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1 resources available, and that cost will only increase 

2 in the next 30 years as the Nation’s population ages. 

3 (7) Programs that provide increased mobility 

4 for older individuals will promote economic growth 

5 and development by moderating health care ex6 penses, supporting family caregivers, promoting vol7 unteerism, fostering civic engagement, and enriching 

8 community well-being through the participation of 

9 the Nation’s most experienced citizens. 

10 (8) Models exist by which private nonprofit or11 ganizations can provide economically sustainable, 

12 consumer-oriented senior transportation alternatives, 

13 that address the transportation needs of older indi14 viduals. 

15 (9) Those models can be used to supplement, 

16 but not displace, public transportation, and can also 

17 be successfully replicated in communities where pub18 lic transportation is unavailable. 

19 (10) It is appropriate for the Federal Govern20 ment to accelerate the availability of transportation 

21 alternatives for older individuals through those mod22 els, and to test the viability of constructing a nation23 wide network based on them. 
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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to establish a demonstra3 tion project to develop a national network of economically 

4 sustainable transportation providers and qualified trans5 portation providers, to provide transportation services to 

6 older individuals, and individuals who are blind, in urban, 

7 suburban, and rural settings. 

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE TRANSPOR11 TATION PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘economically sus12 tainable transportation provider’’ means a nonprofit 

13 provider of transportation services that— 

14 (A) submits to the Secretary and obtains 

15 approval of a plan demonstrating that the pro16 vider is capable of providing economically sus17 tainable transportation services through the Na18 tional Network; 

19 (B) on receiving a grant under section 6, 

20 connects to the National Network and provides 

21 economically sustainable transportation services 

22 through the National Network in accordance 

23 with this Act; and 

24 (C) on receiving a grant under section 7, 

25 provides economically sustainable transportation 
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1 services through the National Network in ac2 cordance with this Act. 

3 (2) ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE TRANSPOR4 TATION SERVICES.—The term ‘‘economically sustain5 able transportation services’’ means demand-respon6 sive transportation services that are provided— 

7 (A) by automobile; 

8 (B) to qualified individuals and qualified 

9 passengers; 

10 (C) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; 

11 (D) by a combination of volunteer and paid 

12 drivers; and 

13 (E)(i) for a period of not more than 5 fis14 cal years by a provider who is receiving Federal 

15 financial assistance under this Act; and 

16 (ii) after such period, by that provider 

17 without receiving Federal or other public finan18 cial assistance for the services. 

19 (3) NATIONAL NETWORK.—The term ‘‘National 

20 Network’’ means a network of economically sustain21 able transportation providers and qualified transpor22 tation providers that provides transportation services 

23 to qualified individuals and qualified passengers. 

24 (4) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘quali25 fied individual’’ means an individual who is— 
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1 (A) an older individual, as defined in sec2 tion 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 

3 (42 U.S.C. 3002); or 

4 (B) an individual who is blind, within the 

5 meaning of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

6 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), an individual who has sig7 nificant visual impairment described in section 

8 751 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

9 U.S.C. 796j), or an individual who is eligible for 

10 benefits under title II or XVI of the Social Se11 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq., 1381 et seq.) 

12 on the basis of blindness. 

13 (5) QUALIFIED PASSENGER.—The term ‘‘quali14 fied passenger’’ means an individual who is author15 ized by a qualified individual to receive transpor16 tation services paid for in part or in whole through 

17 the qualified transportation account of the qualified 

18 individual. 

19 (6) QUALIFIED TRANSPORTATION ACCOUNT.— 

20 The term ‘‘qualified transportation account’’ means 

21 an account established for a qualified individual for 

22 the purpose of acquiring transportation services 

23 from an economically sustainable transportation pro24 vider or a qualified transportation provider. 
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1 (7) QUALIFIED TRANSPORTATION PROVIDER.— 

2 The term ‘‘qualified transportation provider’’ means 

3 a nonprofit, public, or licensed private transportation 

4 provider that— 

5 (A) submits to the Secretary and obtains 

6 approval of a plan demonstrating that the pro7 vider is capable of providing transportation 

8 services through the National Network; and 

9 (B) on receiving a grant under section 6, 

10 connects to the National Network and provides 

11 transportation services through the National 

12 Network in accordance with this Act. 

13 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 

15 through the Assistant Secretary for Aging. 

16 (9) TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.—The term 

17 ‘‘transportation services’’ means transportation of a 

18 passenger or a group of passengers, along with the 

19 incidental goods or luggage of a passenger described 

20 in this paragraph. 

21 SEC. 5. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

23 and carry out a demonstration project to enable qualified 

24 individuals and qualified passengers to obtain economi25 cally sustainable transportation services from economically 
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1 sustainable transportation providers and transportation 

2 services from qualified transportation providers. 

3 (b) CONTRACT OR AGREEMENT.—In carrying out the 

4 demonstration project, the Secretary shall enter into a 

5 contract or a cooperative agreement with an eligible entity 

6 to provide recommendations to the Secretary on appro7 priate requirements and other provisions for, and adminis8 tration of, the demonstration project. 

9 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—To be eligible to enter into 

10 a contract or agreement under subsection (b), an organi11 zation shall be a private nonprofit organization with expe12 rience in replicating models for economically sustainable 

13 transportation services. 

14 (d) ACTIVITIES.—An entity that enters into a con15 tract or agreement under this section shall— 

16 (1) provide technical assistance and support to 

17 the Secretary for the administration of the dem18 onstration project; 

19 (2) provide recommendations to the Secretary 

20 about the establishment of, and requirements for, 

21 the National Network, including requirements con22 cerning locations where transportation services will 

23 be provided through the network; 

24 (3) provide recommendations to the Secretary 

25 for provisions for the establishment of qualified 
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1 transportation accounts for the transportation serv2 ices, including provisions that such an account— 

3 (A) may be funded with credits or funds 

4 equal to the value of a vehicle traded to an eco5 nomically sustainable transportation provider 

6 by, or on behalf of, a qualified individual, or by 

7 other means; 

8 (B) shall be used only to provide transpor9 tation services to the qualified individual or a 

10 qualified passenger of the qualified individual; 

11 (C) shall have a designated beneficiary; 

12 and 

13 (D) shall be transferable to an individual 

14 other than the qualified individual; 

15 (4) provide recommendations to the Secretary 

16 for provisions for the use of the qualified transpor17 tation accounts, including the manner in which— 

18 (A) an economically sustainable transpor19 tation provider or a qualified transportation 

20 provider may debit such an account in exchange 

21 for providing transportation services to a quali22 fied individual or qualified passenger; 

23 (B) the account may be terminated; and 

24 (C) the credits or funds in the account 

25 may be exchanged or withdrawn; 
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1 (5) provide recommendations to the Secretary 

2 regarding requirements for, and the administration 

3 of, the national network connection grant program 

4 described in section 6; and 

5 (6) provide recommendations to the Secretary 

6 regarding requirements for, and the administration 

7 of, the matching grant program described in section 

8 7. 

9 (e) PROVISIONS.—After receiving the recommenda10 tions described in subsection (d), the Secretary shall estab11 lish the requirements and other provisions described in 

12 subsection (d). 

13 (f) COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS.—Nothing in this 

14 Act shall affect the rights of the eligible entity under the 

15 copyright or trademark laws of the United States. Nothing 

16 in this Act shall require the disclosure of information to 

17 which Federal law relating to trade secrets (including sec18 tion 552(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code) applies. In 

19 entering into a contract or cooperative agreement under 

20 this section, the Secretary shall not establish any condi21 tions that affect such rights or require such disclosure. 

22 (g) INCENTIVE FOR VEHICLES TRADED TO ECO23 NOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION PRO24 VIDERS.—For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 

25 1986, there shall be allowed as a credit against income 
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1 tax of any qualified individual under chapter 1 of such 

2 Code for any taxable year, an amount equal to 30 percent 

3 of the value of transportation services allocated to a quali4 fied transportation account of such qualified individual in 

5 exchange for the transfer of any motor vehicle by such 

6 qualified individual to an economically sustainable trans7 portation provider during such taxable year. Such credit 

8 shall be treated as a credit under subpart A of part IV 

9 of subchapter A of such chapter. 

10 SEC. 6. NATIONAL NETWORK CONNECTION GRANT PRO11 GRAM. 

12 (a) GRANTS.—In carrying out the demonstration 

13 project, the Secretary shall make grants to economically 

14 sustainable transportation providers and qualified trans15 portation providers to pay for the Federal share of the 

16 costs of acquiring and using technology to connect to the 

17 National Network. 

18 (b) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall make a grant 

19 under this section in an amount of not more than $25,000. 

20 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

21 under this section, a provider shall submit an application 

22 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con23 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

24 (d) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

25 costs described in subsection (a) shall be 50 percent. The 
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1 provider shall provide the non-Federal share of the costs 

2 in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including plant, equip3 ment, or services, except that not more than 10 percent 

4 of the costs may be provided in kind. 

5 SEC. 7. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) GRANTS.—In carrying out the demonstration 

7 project, the Secretary shall make grants to economically 

8 sustainable transportation providers to pay for the Federal 

9 share of the costs of participating in, and providing eco10 nomically sustainable transportation services through, the 

11 National Network (other than the costs described in sec12 tion 6(a)). 

13 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

14 under this section, a provider shall submit an application 

15 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con16 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

17 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

18 costs described in subsection (a) shall be 50 percent. The 

19 provider shall provide the non-Federal share of the costs 

20 in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including plant, equip21 ment, or services, except that not more than 10 percent 

22 of the costs may be provided in kind. The non-Federal 

23 share of the costs provided in cash shall be provided 

24 through passenger fares, including fares from qualified 

25 transportation accounts, and public funds or private con-
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1 tributions from the community in which the provider is 

2 located. 

3 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this Act $25,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2007 

6 through 2011. 

7 SEC. 9. TERMINATION. 

8 This Act ceases to be effective 5 years after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act. 

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