I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8262 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a grant program for 

infrastructure improvement projects at transportation access points to 

facilitate or increase the use of transportation facilities by individuals 

with limited mobility. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a grant 

program for infrastructure improvement projects at 

transportation access points to facilitate or increase the 

use of transportation facilities by individuals with limited 

mobility. 

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 ‘‘Accessible Transit For 

5 All Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘ATFA Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) public transportation systems, including 

2 those that service the Nation’s largest cities, are 

3 currently unable to provide individuals with ambula4 tory disabilities equal access to public transportation 

5 infrastructure; and 

6 (2) in many cases, public transportation infra7 structure on subway or rail service is inadequately 

8 equipped to enable access for individuals with mobil9 ity impairments. 

10 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR ACCESSIBLE TRANSPOR11 TATION ACCESS POINTS. 

12 Subtitle III of chapter 53 of title 49, United States 

13 Code, is modified by adding at the end, the following: 

14 ‘‘§ 5341. Grants for accessible public transportation 

15 access 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The 

17 Secretary of Transportation shall establish a program to 

18 provide public transportation agencies with technical as19 sistance, and funding opportunities to provide infrastruc20 ture improvements at transportation access points to fa21 cilitate or increase the use of transportation facilities by 

22 individuals with limited mobility. 

23 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE AGENCIES.—A public 

24 transportation agency is eligible to participate in the pro25 gram if the agency— 


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1 ‘‘(1) receives, or is eligible for, funds pursuant 

2 to the surface transportation block grant program 

3 described in section 133 of title 23 during the fiscal 

4 year in which the applicant applies; 

5 ‘‘(2) for each fiscal year beginning with the 

6 year that is 3 years before the date of application, 

7 has received funding for a public transportation 

8 project under chapter 53 of title 49; and 

9 ‘‘(3) submits an application as described in sub10 section (c). 

11 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—In accordance with such re12 quirements as the Secretary may by rule establish, each 

13 application for a grant under this section shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) include a description of the strategy and 

15 detailed implementation plan that reflects consulta16 tion with community groups and appropriate stake17 holders, and shall specify the demographics of the 

18 immediate geographic area where the project will 

19 serve, including a summary of accessible transpor20 tation access points (or lack thereof) within one mile 

21 of the project; 

22 ‘‘(2) identify how the grant will improve the 

23 agency’s compliance in providing access to public ac24 commodations under the Americans with Disabilities 

25 Act; 


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1 ‘‘(3) demonstrate a gap in current accessibility 

2 coverage; 

3 ‘‘(4) describe the modifications that will be un4 dertaken by the public transportation agency to re5 solve the gap in coverage identified in paragraph (3); 

6 ‘‘(5) identify related governmental and commu7 nity initiatives which compliment or will be coordi8 nated with the proposal; 

9 ‘‘(6) certify that there has been appropriate co10 ordination with all appropriate agencies; 

11 ‘‘(7) detail for which eligible uses under sub12 section (d) the applicant is seeking funds; and 

13 ‘‘(8) additional information as required by the 

14 Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(d) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE.—Funds provided under 

16 this section may be used for the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Construction, rehabilitation or modification 

18 of transportation access points to facilitate use for 

19 persons with limited mobility. Modifications receiv20 ing funding under this paragraph must facilitate en21 trance, departure, or mobility throughout a trans22 portation access point. Such modifications include— 

23 ‘‘(A) wheelchair-accessible ramps in or sur24 rounding a transportation access point, includ25 ing projects replacing stairs with such ramps; 


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1 ‘‘(B) elevator infrastructure inside or im2 mediately adjacent to a transportation access 

3 point that provide access to such access point; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(C) replacement of stairs with escalators 

6 within a transportation access point if such ac7 cess point has multiple levels or platforms. 

8 ‘‘(2) Repair or maintenance of infrastructure 

9 described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of para10 graph (1). 

11 ‘‘(3) Technical assistance and information on 

12 best practices with respect to modifications described 

13 in subparagraph (A) through (C) of paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(4) Provision of new or supplemental public 

15 transportation service bus routes, or bus rapid tran16 sit systems, in areas where no accessible transpor17 tation access point is available within one mile of 

18 such bus route or system. 

19 ‘‘(e) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under this 

21 section may not exceed $5,000,000,000. 

22 ‘‘(2) GRANT DURATION.—Grants awarded 

23 under this section shall be 5 years in duration. 

24 ‘‘(3) RENEWALS OF CERTAIN GRANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A grant that meets 

2 the criteria under subsection (g) may be re3 newed, and awarded an equivalent funding 

4 amount, for an additional 5 years, provided the 

5 public transportation agency includes, in the re6 port required under subsection (j), the project’s 

7 progress on meeting the requirements of sub8 section (g)(1)(A) and— 

9 ‘‘(i) submits to the Secretary an appli10 cation for renewal at such time, in such 

11 manner, and containing such information 

12 as the Secretary may require; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates in such application 

14 for renewal that— 

15 ‘‘(I) all grant funds were used in 

16 the manner required under the most 

17 recently approved application; and 

18 ‘‘(II) the public transportation 

19 agency has made significant progress 

20 in achieving the objectives of the ini21 tial application approved for the pub22 lic transportation agency under this 

23 section. 

24 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL SHARE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the Federal share of the costs of a project 

3 assisted with a grant under the Program may not 

4 exceed 80 percent. 

5 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may waive 

6 paragraph (1) if a public transportation agency dem7 onstrates, as determined by the Secretary, financial 

8 hardship. 

9 ‘‘(3) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Fed10 eral share of the costs of a project assisted with a 

11 grant under the Program may be derived in whole 

12 or in part from in-kind contributions. 

13 ‘‘(g) PRIORITIZATION OF CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

15 prioritize applications from public transportation 

16 agencies that— 

17 ‘‘(A) present projects described under sub18 section (d)(1) that would meet the requirements 

19 of title III of the Americans with Disabilities 

20 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) if such 

21 transportation access point (in its entirety) 

22 were a public accommodation under such title; 

23 ‘‘(B) are for projects in urbanized areas; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(C) are for projects located in areas 

2 where there is no accessible transportation ac3 cess point within one mile of such point. 

4 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

6 appropriated to carry out this section 

7 $40,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

8 through 2030. 

9 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Funds authorized to be 

10 appropriated under this section shall remain avail11 able until expended. 

12 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM ALLOCATION AMOUNTS FOR PRI13 ORITY APPLICATIONS.—Not less than 75 percent of 

14 the total funds appropriated under this subsection 

15 shall be designated for projects under subsection (g). 

16 ‘‘(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to limit a project from receiving 

18 a grant under this section for a project otherwise receiving 

19 Federal funds for associated transit improvement or cap20 ital projects. 

21 ‘‘(j) EVALUATION REPORT.—A public transportation 

22 agency that receives funds under this section during a fis23 cal year shall submit to the Secretary a description and 

24 an evaluation report on a date specified by the Secretary 

25 regarding the progress such projects have made to make 


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1 transportation access points accessible to persons with 

2 limited mobility. 

3 ‘‘(k) DEFINITION OF TRANSPORTATION ACCESS

4 POINT.—In this section, the term ‘transportation access 

5 point’ means a public transportation facility, including— 

6 ‘‘(1) a ferry terminal; 

7 ‘‘(2) a bus terminal; 

8 ‘‘(3) a train, subway, or rail station; and 

9 ‘‘(4) any other similar fixed rail infrastructure 

10 used by passengers to embark and disembark mass11 transit service.’’. 

Æ 


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