I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2177 

To review equity best practices in relation to transportation funding and 

to reinstitute the transportation equity research program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2021 

Mrs. TORRES of California (for herself, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. 

BUSH, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. BOWMAN, and Ms. 

WILLIAMS of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To review equity best practices in relation to transportation 

funding and to reinstitute the transportation equity research program. 

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 ‘‘Fair Transportation 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF COVERED POPULATIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2177 IH

1 (1) AFFORDABILITY.—The term ‘‘affordability’’ 

2 means the cost-burden threshold on households by 

3 income, including housing and transportation costs, 

4 which may be determined by the Federal agency car5 rying out a specific task such as a report or guid6 ance. 

7 (2) COVERED POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘cov8 ered populations’’ means, as determined by the Fed9 eral agency applying such term— 

10 (A) communities of color; 

11 (B) low-income communities; 

12 (C) individuals with disabilities; 

13 (D) LGBTQ people; 

14 (E) people experiencing homelessness; 

15 (F) youth and elderly populations; 

16 (G) formerly incarcerated individuals; 

17 (H) women; and 

18 (I) individuals who are members of Indian 

19 tribes. 

20 SEC. 3. GAO REVIEW OF EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS AT 

21 STATE DEPARTMENTS OF TRANSPORTATION. 

22 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

25 General of the United States shall undertake a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2177 IH

1 view, to the extent practicable, of the extent to which 

2 State departments of transportation consider equity 

3 and improve equity outcomes in the use of Federal 

4 surface transportation funds at all phases of project 

5 delivery, including— 

6 (A) the transportation planning, project se7 lection, and project delivery; and 

8 (B) considerations of the diverse transpor9 tation needs of covered populations. 

10 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out the re11 view under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General 

12 shall— 

13 (A) consider relevant State department of 

14 transportation practices and transportation eq15 uity measures and the impacts of such meas16 ures and practices on covered populations expe17 riencing differential impacts in the surface 

18 transportation sector; 

19 (B) evaluate, to the extent possible, wheth20 er any such equity measures and practices con21 sider the access, affordability, safety, conven22 ience, resilience, and reliability of transpor23 tation in covered populations; and 

24 (C) evaluate, to the extent possible, wheth25 er such measures and practices consider the imVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2177 IH

1 pact of surface transportation funding on the 

2 distribution of economic benefits such as from 

3 job creation and receipts of Federal funding by 

4 the community, of transportation in covered 

5 populations. 

6 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

8 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and In9 frastructure and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Committee on Environ11 ment and Public Works, the Committee on Commerce, 

12 Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Banking, 

13 Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on Ap14 propriations of the Senate, and make available on a pub15 licly accessible website, a report detailing— 

16 (1) the findings based on the review in sub17 section (a); 

18 (2) any recommendations for State departments 

19 of transportation to improve equity considerations 

20 and incorporate equity considerations into all phases 

21 of project delivery, including the planning, bidding, 

22 project design, and project selection process as well 

23 as how bids are advertised and awarded, which may 

24 be in the form of model legislation, best practices, or 

25 guidance; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2177 IH

1 (3) recommended actions the Secretary of 

2 Transportation could take, if any, to effectively ad3 dress the recommendations provided under para4 graph (2) to improve equity considerations in the 

5 surface transportation sector. 

6 SEC. 4. TRANSPORTATION EQUITY RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

8 shall carry out a transportation equity research program 

9 for research and demonstration activities that focus on the 

10 impacts that surface transportation planning, investment, 

11 and operations have on covered populations. 

12 (b) ACTIVITIES.—Demonstration activities referred 

13 to in subsection (a) shall include research on surface 

14 transportation equity issues such as infrastructure bar15 riers that cut off individuals and communities from essen16 tial jobs and services, (including inadequate services ren17 dered during natural and man-made disasters), access to 

18 publicly-owned and public benefit data, data gathering and 

19 analyzing particularly to support the development of eq20 uity measures, as well as the development of strategies to 

21 advance economic and community development in public 

22 transportation-dependent populations. 

23 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

25 $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2177 IH

1 (d) INFORMATION COLLECTION.— 

2 (1) DATASETS AND DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS.—In 

3 carrying out this section, the Secretary shall collect, 

4 develop, use, and maintain datasets and data anal5 ysis tools as necessary for the development of evi6 dence for evaluation purposes, in support of the 

7 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act 

8 of 2018 (Public Law 115–435). 

9 (2) APPLICATION OF CHAPTER 35 OF TITLE

10 44.—Any survey, questionnaire, or interview that the 

11 Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out re12 porting requirements relating to this subsection, in13 cluding customer satisfaction assessments, shall not 

14 be subject to chapter 35 of title 44, United States 

15 Code. 

16 SEC. 5. GAO REVIEW OF DISCRETIONARY GRANT PRO17 GRAMS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

20 of the United States shall submit to the Secretary of 

21 Transportation, the Committee on Appropriations and 

22 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on Environ24 ment and Public Works, the Committee on Appropria25 tions, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2177 IH

1 Affairs, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

2 Transportation of the Senate a review of covered discre3 tionary grant programs, as selected by the Comptroller 

4 General, to determine the extent to which the Secretary 

5 is considering the needs of and awarding funding through 

6 such programs to projects that serve any group or popu7 lation experiencing differential impacts in the transpor8 tation sector. 

9 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Comptroller General 

10 shall include as part of the review under subsection (a) 

11 recommendations to the Secretary on possible means to 

12 consider equity and improve equity outcomes. 

13 (c) DEFINITION OF COVERED DISCRETIONARY

14 GRANT PROGRAM.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered dis15 cretionary grant programs’’ means discretionary grant 

16 programs under title 23, United States Code, and chapter 

17 53 of title 49, United States Code. 

18 SEC. 6. GUIDANCE ON EQUITY IN DISBURSING FUNDING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor21 tation shall issue guidance on how to consider equity in 

22 disbursing funding, including the equity measures and 

23 best practices the Secretary shall use to consider equity. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2177 IH

1 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In issuing guidance under 

2 subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure transportation 

3 equity measures, if applicable, consider— 

4 (1) the impact of transportation planning, in5 vestment, and operations on covered populations; 

6 and 

7 (2) the access, affordability, safety, convenience, 

8 and reliability of transportation in underserved com9 munities. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS