I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3960 

To provide authority and sanction for the granting and issuance of programs 

for residential and commuter toll, user fee and fare discounts by States, 

municipalities, other localities, as well as all related agencies and departments thereof, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 28, 2009 

Mr. MCMAHON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To provide authority and sanction for the granting and 

issuance of programs for residential and commuter toll, 

user fee and fare discounts by States, municipalities, 

other localities, as well as all related agencies and departments thereof, 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘The Residential and Commuter Toll Fairness Act of 

6 2009’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Residents of, or commuters residing in, var2 ious localities and political subdivisions throughout 

3 the United States are subject to pay tolls, user fees 

4 and fares to access certain roads, highways, bridges, 

5 rail, bus, ferry or other transportation systems. 

6 (2) Revenue generated from transportation 

7 tolls, user fees and fares is used to support various 

8 infrastructure maintenance and capital improvement 

9 projects that benefit not only the users of these fa10 cilities, but the regional and national economy as 

11 well. 

12 (3) Due to specific geographic factors, as well 

13 as the location of access points to roads, highways, 

14 bridges, rail, bus, ferry or other transportation sys15 tems, residents of, or commuters residing in, certain 

16 municipalities, counties or other localities or subdivi17 sions thereof are forced to endure significant or 

18 undue toll burdens when compared with residents of, 

19 or commuters residing in, other areas who can 

20 choose among a greater number of transportation 

21 options. 

22 (4) Residents of, or commuters residing in, cer23 tain municipalities, counties or other localities or 

24 subdivisions thereof that endure significant or undue 

25 toll, user fee or fare burdens often are residents of, 


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1 or commuters residing in, islands, peninsulas, or 

2 other places that have no other way of accessing 

3 those areas other than through a means that re4 quires them to pay a toll, user fee or fare. 

5 (5) Residents of, or commuters residing in, cer6 tain municipalities, counties or other localities or 

7 subdivisions thereof that endure significant or undue 

8 toll, user fee or fare burdens often pay far more for 

9 transportation access than residents of surrounding 

10 jurisdictions, or in jurisdictions across the country, 

11 for similar transportation options. 

12 (6) To address this inequality, and to reduce 

13 the financial hardship often imposed on residents of, 

14 or commuters residing in certain municipalities, 

15 counties or other localities or subdivisions thereof 

16 that endure significant or undue toll burdens, sev17 eral State and municipal governments, as well as 

18 agencies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivi19 sions thereof, as well as bi-State or multi-State 

20 transportation authorities or agencies, have devel21 oped and implemented programs to issue or grant 

22 discounted tolls, user fees or fares to these residents 

23 and commuters. 

24 (7) Transportation toll, user fee or fare dis25 count programs issued based on residential status do 


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1 not discriminate against those individuals who do 

2 not receive these discounts, but instead address ac3 tual unequal and undue financial burdens placed on 

4 residents of, or commuters residing in, certain juris5 dictions that have no other way of accessing those 

6 areas other than through a means that requires 

7 them to pay a toll, user fee or fare. 

8 (8) Transportation toll, user fee or fare dis9 count programs issued based on residential status by 

10 State and municipal governments, as well as agen11 cies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivisions 

12 thereof, as well as all bi-State or multi-State trans13 portation authorities or agencies, in order to allevi14 ate significant or undue toll burdens for residents or 

15 particular jurisdictions, do not disadvantage or dis16 criminate against those individuals ineligible for resi17 dential toll, user fee or fare discount programs. 

18 (9) Transportation toll, user fee or fare dis19 count programs issued based on residential status by 

20 State and municipal governments, as well as agen21 cies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivisions 

22 thereof, as well as all bi-State or multi-State trans23 portation authorities or agencies, in order to allevi24 ate significant or undue toll burdens for residents or 

25 particular jurisdictions, are not designed to favor the 


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1 interests, promote the domestic industry or the eco2 nomic development of the State implementing these 

3 programs. 

4 (10) Transportation toll, user fee or fare dis5 count programs issued based on residential status by 

6 State and municipal governments, as well as agen7 cies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivisions 

8 thereof, as well as all bi-State or multi-State trans9 portation authorities or agencies, do not interfere or 

10 impose undue burdens on commerce with foreign na11 tions, nor do they interfere or impose any undue 

12 burdens on commerce among the several States, or 

13 commerce within particular States. 

14 (11) Transportation toll, user fee or fare dis15 count programs issued based on residential status by 

16 State and municipal governments, as well as agen17 cies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivisions 

18 thereof, as well as all bi-State or multi-State trans19 portation authorities or agencies, do not interfere or 

20 impose undue burdens on the ability of individuals 

21 to travel among, or within, the several States. 

22 (12) Transportation toll, user fee or fare dis23 count programs issued based on residential status by 

24 State and municipal governments, as well as agen25 cies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivisions 


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1 thereof, as well as all bi-State or multi-State trans2 portation authorities or agencies, do not constitute 

3 inequitable treatment nor do they deny any person 

4 within the jurisdiction of the United States the equal 

5 protection of the laws. 

6 (13) Transportation toll, user fee or fare dis7 count programs issued based on residential status by 

8 State and municipal governments, as well as agen9 cies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivisions 

10 thereof, as well as all bi-State or multi-State trans11 portation authorities or agencies, do not in any way 

12 abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of 

13 the United States. 

14 (14) The Residential and Commuter Toll Fair15 ness Act of 2009 seeks to provide clarification of the 

16 existing authority of, and where necessary to provide 

17 express Congressional authorization for, State and 

18 municipal governments, as well as agencies, depart19 ments, bureaus, offices, or subdivisions divisions 

20 thereof, as well as all bis-tate or multi-State trans21 portation authorities or agencies, to issue or grant 

22 transportation toll, user fee or fare discount pro23 grams based on residential status. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF LOCAL RESIDENTIAL OR COM2 MUTER TOLL, USER FEE OR FARE DISCOUNT 

3 PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE RESIDENTIAL OR COM5 MUTER TOLL, USER FEE OR FARE DISCOUNT PRO6 GRAMS.—State and municipal governments, as well as all 

7 agencies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivisions di8 visions thereof empowered to operate or manage roads, 

9 highways, bridges, rail, bus, ferry, or other transportation 

10 systems, as well as all bi-State or multi-State transpor11 tation authorities or agencies empowered to operate or 

12 manage roads, highways, bridges, rail, bus, ferry, or other 

13 transportation systems, shall each be authorized to design 

14 and implement programs to issue or grant reductions or 

15 discounts in tolls, user fees, or other transportation fares 

16 to residents of, or commuters residing in, specific local17 ities, municipalities or subdivisions thereof in order to re18 duce or alleviate toll burdens imposed upon residents of, 

19 or commuters residing in, those areas. 

20 (b) RULEMAKING WITH RESPECT TO THE STATE, 

21 LOCAL, OR AGENCY PROVISION OF TOLL, USER FEE OR

22 FARE DISCOUNT PROGRAMS TO LOCAL RESIDENTS OR

23 COMMUTERS.—State and municipal governments, as well 

24 as all agencies, departments, bureaus, offices, or subdivi25 sions thereof empowered to operate or manage roads, 

26 highways, bridges, rail, bus, ferry, or other transportation 


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1 systems, as well as all bi-State or multi-State transpor2 tation authorities or agencies empowered to operate or 

3 manage roads, highways, bridges, rail, bus, ferry, or other 

4 transportation systems, shall each be authorized to enact 

5 such rules or regulations that may be necessary to carry 

6 out the authority provided in subsection (a). 

7 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

8 shall be construed as limiting in any way or otherwise 

9 interfering with existing authority of State and municipal 

10 governments, as well as all agencies, departments, bu11 reaus, offices, or subdivisions divisions thereof empowered 

12 to operate or manage roads, highways, bridges, rail, bus, 

13 ferry, or other transportation systems, as well as all bi14 State or multi-State transportation authorities or agencies 

15 empowered to operate or manage roads, highways, bridges, 

16 rail, bus, ferry, or other transportation systems as of the 

17 enactment date of this Act. 

Æ 


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