II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 436 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the development of public 

transportation operations safety risk reduction programs, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. REED, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the development of public transportation operations safety risk 

reduction programs, 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 ‘‘Transit Worker and 

5 Pedestrian Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Public transportation workers are vital to 

2 the safe, efficient, and affordable movement of peo3 ple and to the economic prosperity of the country. 

4 (2) Assaults on public transportation workers 

5 are a growing problem, with daily reports of bus op6 erators and rail transit employees being beaten, hav7 ing items thrown at them, being spat upon, and 

8 being verbally abused. 

9 (3) This is not only a tragic situation for public 

10 transportation workers, but also a major safety risk 

11 for passengers, other motorists, and pedestrians. 

12 (4) An additional risk to safe bus operation is 

13 the existence of blind spots in the view from a bus 

14 operator workstation that— 

15 (A) prevent a driver from fully seeing the 

16 driver’s surroundings; and 

17 (B) have caused serious accidents with pe18 destrians. 

19 (5) Blind spots are avoidable, and buses can be 

20 designed to provide the bus operator a clear view 

21 outside the vehicle. 

22 (6) Section 3022 of the FAST Act (49 U.S.C. 

23 5329 note; Public Law 114–94) required the Sec24 retary of Transportation to issue a notice of proVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S436.IS S436

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1 posed rulemaking to address protection of public 

2 transportation operators from the risk of assault. 

3 (7) The Secretary of Transportation has failed 

4 to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking as required 

5 under section 3022 of the FAST Act. 

6 SEC. 3. BUS OPERATIONS SAFETY RISK REDUCTION PRO7 GRAM. 

8 Section 5329 of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(l) BUS OPERATIONS SAFETY RISK REDUCTION

11 PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 2 years 

13 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

14 Secretary shall require each recipient that operates 

15 fixed route bus service to— 

16 ‘‘(A) develop a risk reduction program for 

17 bus operations under paragraph (2) to improve 

18 safety by reducing the number and rates of ac19 cidents, injuries, assaults on bus operators, and 

20 fatalities; 

21 ‘‘(B) submit the program required under 

22 subparagraph (A), including the implementation 

23 plan required under paragraph (3), to the Sec24 retary for review and approval; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) implement the program and plan ap2 proved by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM.—A recipient 

4 required to develop and submit a risk reduction pro5 gram for bus operations under paragraph (1)— 

6 ‘‘(A) shall develop the program by con7 ducting risk analysis on the bus operations of 

8 the recipient; 

9 ‘‘(B) may incorporate the program into an 

10 applicable comprehensive safety plan that the 

11 recipient prepares under subsection (d), if the 

12 plan addresses each requirement under this 

13 subsection; and 

14 ‘‘(C) shall develop the program in coopera15 tion with bus operators and collective bar16 gaining representatives of bus operators, includ17 ing the development of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the risk analysis required under 

19 subparagraph (A); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the implementation plan required 

21 under paragraph (3). 

22 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Each risk re23 duction program for bus operations under paragraph 

24 (1) shall include an implementation plan for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) reduction of vehicular and pedestrian 

2 accidents involving buses that includes— 

3 ‘‘(i) deployment of driver assistance 

4 technologies for bus operators that reduce 

5 or prevent accidents; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) measures to reduce visibility im7 pairments for bus operators that con8 tribute to accidents, including retrofits to 

9 buses in revenue service and specifications 

10 for future procurements that reduce visi11 bility impairments; 

12 ‘‘(B) bus operator assault mitigation, in13 cluding— 

14 ‘‘(i) the deployment of assault mitiga15 tion infrastructure and technology on 

16 buses, including barriers to restrict the un17 wanted entry of individuals and objects 

18 into bus operators’ workstations when a re19 cipient’s risk analysis determines that such 

20 barriers would reduce assaults on and inju21 ries to bus operators; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) conflict de-escalation training for 

23 bus operators; 

24 ‘‘(C) installation of seating and modifica25 tion to design specifications of bus operator 


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1 workstations that reduce or prevent injuries 

2 from ergonomic risks; and 

3 ‘‘(D) other measures that the Secretary de4 termines would significantly reduce the number 

5 and rate of accidents, injuries, assaults on bus 

6 operators, and fatalities related to bus oper7 ations. 

8 ‘‘(4) UPDATING REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec9 retary shall require each recipient required to de10 velop a program under paragraph (1) to— 

11 ‘‘(A) update the program annually; and 

12 ‘‘(B) resubmit the program for approval by 

13 the Secretary not less than once every 3 

14 years.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. RAIL OPERATIONS WORKER ASSAULT RISK REDUC16 TION PROGRAM. 

17 (a) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PROGRAM

18 SECTION.—Section 5329 of title 49, United States Code, 

19 as amended by section 3, is further amended by adding 

20 at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(m) RAIL OPERATIONS WORKER ASSAULT RISK

22 REDUCTION PROGRAM.— 

23 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 2 years 

24 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

25 Secretary shall require each recipient that operates 


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1 a rail fixed guideway public transportation system 

2 that is not subject to regulation by the Federal Rail3 road Administration to— 

4 ‘‘(A) develop a risk reduction program for 

5 assaults on rail workers under paragraph (2) to 

6 improve safety by reducing the number and se7 verity of assaults on rail workers, including op8 erators and station personnel; 

9 ‘‘(B) submit the program required under 

10 subparagraph (A), including the implementation 

11 plan required under paragraph (3), to the Sec12 retary for review and approval; and 

13 ‘‘(C) implement the program and plan ap14 proved by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM.—A recipient 

16 required to develop and submit a risk reduction pro17 gram for assaults on rail workers under paragraph 

18 (1)— 

19 ‘‘(A) shall develop the program by con20 ducting risk analysis on assaults on workers 

21 serving the rail operations of the recipient; 

22 ‘‘(B) may incorporate the program into an 

23 applicable comprehensive safety plan that the 

24 recipient prepares under subsection (d), if the 


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1 plan addresses each requirement under this 

2 subsection; and 

3 ‘‘(C) shall develop the program in coopera4 tion with rail workers and collective bargaining 

5 representatives of rail workers, including the 

6 development of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the risk analysis required under 

8 subparagraph (A); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the implementation plan required 

10 under paragraph (3). 

11 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Each risk re12 duction program for assaults on rail workers under 

13 paragraph (1) shall include an implementation plan 

14 for rail worker assault mitigation. 

15 ‘‘(4) UPDATING REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec16 retary shall require each recipient required to de17 velop a program under paragraph (1) to— 

18 ‘‘(A) update the program annually; and 

19 ‘‘(B) resubmit the program for approval by 

20 the Secretary not less than once every 3 

21 years.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 (a) AMOUNT AND DURATION.—There are authorized 

24 to be appropriated to carry out implementation plans 

25 under the bus operations safety risk reduction program 


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1 described in subsection (l) of section 5329 of title 49, 

2 United States Code (as added by section 3 of this Act), 

3 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023. 

4 (b) FORMULA.—Of the amounts made available to 

5 carry out subsection (l) of section 5329 of title 49, United 

6 States Code, for a fiscal year— 

7 (1) 80 percent shall be distributed under the 

8 formula set forth in section 5336 of title 49, United 

9 States Code, other than subsection (b) of that sec10 tion; and 

11 (2) 20 percent shall be distributed under the 

12 formula set forth in section 5311(c)(3) of that title. 

13 SEC. 6. TRANSIT WORKER ASSAULT DATA. 

14 Section 5335 of title 49, United States Code, is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(d) TRANSIT WORKER ASSAULT DATA.— 

17 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—A recipient shall report to the 

18 Secretary, for inclusion in the National Transit 

19 Database, any information on each assault on a 

20 transit worker. 

21 ‘‘(2) OTHER REPORTS.—A report required 

22 under paragraph (1) shall be separate from the re23 porting on other safety incidents in the National 

24 Transit Database. 

25 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(A) ASSAULT ON A TRANSIT WORKER.— 

2 The term ‘assault on a transit worker’ means 

3 any circumstance in which an individual know4 ingly, without lawful authority or permission, 

5 and with intent to endanger the safety or health 

6 of any individual, or with a reckless disregard 

7 for the safety or health of human life, interferes 

8 with, disables, or incapacitates any transit 

9 worker while the transit worker is performing 

10 his or her duties, including circumstances that 

11 do not require immediate medical attention or 

12 that do not result in a fatality. 

13 ‘‘(B) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘recipient’ 

14 has the meaning given the term in section 

15 5329(a).’’. 

Æ 


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