I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6008 

To provide transit benefits to Federal employees who use the services of 

transportation network companies within the national capital region, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 

Mr. MEADOWS (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mrs. COMSTOCK, and Mr. 

BEYER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide transit benefits to Federal employees who use 

the services of transportation network companies within 

the national capital region, 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 ‘‘Transit Benefits Modernization Act’’. 

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


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1 (1) The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 

2 Authority (‘‘WMATA’’) provides approximately 2.3 

3 million Metrorail and Metrobus trips per year across 

4 the National Capital Region to Federal employees, 

5 commuters, and millions of visitors to the Nation’s 

6 capital. 

7 (2) Approximately 40 percent of WMATA peak8 hour commuters are Federal employees. 

9 (3) WMATA began building its rail system in 

10 1969, currently serves 91 stations, and has 117 

11 miles of track. 

12 (4) The Federal Transit Administration 

13 (‘‘FTA’’) and the National Transportation Safety 

14 Board have found significant safety concerns result15 ing from a backlog of deferred maintenance. 

16 (5) WMATA has designed a plan, called 

17 SafeTrack, in an effort to address this backlog of 

18 deferred maintenance. 

19 (6) SafeTrack would close the system earlier on 

20 weekends and expand weekday maintenance by re21 ducing the number of rails in use at certain stations 

22 from two to one. 

23 (7) The plan includes 15 ‘‘Safety Surges’’ with 

24 around-the-clock single tracking or segment shut25 downs that will impact rush hour commutes. 


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1 (8) FTA’s review of SafeTrack’s first two 

2 ‘‘safety surge’’ areas found a number of defects in 

3 the plan’s execution. 

4 (9) SafeTrack is scheduled to conclude in 

5 March 2017. 

6 (10) During SafeTrack, WMATA is encour7 aging customers to utilize other commuting options, 

8 including ride-sharing services. 

9 (11) WMATA has indicated that service disrup10 tions will continue to occur following SafeTrack as 

11 routine maintenance is needed. 

12 (12) The Federal Government, which is nega13 tively affected when employees cannot easily com14 mute to and from work, has an interest in assisting 

15 employees with alternate commuting options. 

16 SEC. 2. PROVIDING A FRINGE TRANSIT BENEFIT FOR USE 

17 OF TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES. 

18 For purposes of section 132(a) of the Internal Rev19 enue Code of 1986, the use of a transportation network 

20 company by Federal employees as provided for in this Act 

21 shall be treated as a fringe benefit which qualifies as a 

22 qualified transportation fringe for the period established 

23 in section 3(a) of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. TRANSIT BENEFITS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES FOR 

2 THE USE OF TRANSPORTATION NETWORK 

3 COMPANIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the period beginning on 

5 the date of enactment of this Act and ending on December 

6 31, 2018, any agency that has a program, including a pro7 gram established under section 7905 of title 5, United 

8 States Code, or Executive Order 13150 (April 21, 2000; 

9 65 Fed. Reg. 24613), to provide transit benefits to em10 ployees of the agency shall provide transit benefits to em11 ployees who use the services of any transportation network 

12 company within the Washington Metropolitan Area in the 

13 same manner as such agency provides transit benefits to 

14 employees who use public transportation services within 

15 the Washington Metropolitan Area. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (1) ELECTION.—Unless otherwise statutorily 

18 authorized, an employee may receive transit benefits 

19 under this section only if the employee agrees in 

20 writing to not accept any other transit or parking 

21 benefit offered by the head of any agency with a 

22 transit benefit program while receiving the transit 

23 benefits under this section. 

24 (2) LIMITATION.—The amount of the transit 

25 benefit provided to an employee under this section 

26 during any month for the use of services provided by 


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1 any transportation network company may not exceed 

2 the amount of the monthly average transit benefit 

3 received by the employee during the 6-month period 

4 immediately preceding the month during which an 

5 election is made under paragraph (1). 

6 (3) IMPLEMENTATION.—Transit benefits under 

7 this section shall be provided in a manner substan8 tially similar to the manner in which transit benefits 

9 are provided to employees who use mass transpor10 tation services. The head of any agency with a tran11 sit benefit program may consult with any transpor12 tation network company and any other head of any 

13 agency with a transit benefit program to establish 

14 the procedures necessary to provide transit benefits 

15 under this section. 

16 (4) SUBSTANTIATION.—The head of any agency 

17 with a transit benefit program, the Secretary of the 

18 Department of Transportation, and the Secretary of 

19 the Treasury shall, in connection with the establish20 ment of a process for implementing the transit ben21 efit for any transportation network company, work 

22 with any such transportation network company in 

23 establishing a process to substantiate the use of 

24 transit benefits by Federal employees using the benVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:19 Sep 15, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6008.IH H6008

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1 efit for services provided by a transportation net2 work company each month. 

3 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 (1) the term ‘‘Washington Metropolitan Area’’ 

5 means the District of Columbia; Montgomery, Prince 

6 George’s, Frederick, and Charles Counties in Mary7 land; Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince Wil8 liam Counties in Virginia; and all cities now or here9 after existing in Maryland or Virginia within the ge10 ographic area bounded by the outer boundaries of 

11 the combined area of said counties; and 

12 (2) the term ‘‘transportation network company’’ 

13 means a corporation, partnership, sole proprietor14 ship, or other entity that uses a digital network to 

15 connect riders to drivers affiliated with the entity in 

16 order for a driver to provide transportation services 

17 to a rider. 

Æ 


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