I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1637

To improve intermodal transportation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 14, 2005

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. BAKER, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CUMMINGS, 

Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. MATHESON, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. 

MCINTYRE, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. FILNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To improve intermodal transportation.

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 ‘‘Intermodal Transpor5 tation Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTERMODAL PASSENGER FACILITIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 49, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—INTERMODAL PASSENGER 

2 FACILITIES 

3 ‘‘§ 5571. Policy and purposes 

4 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF INTER5 MODAL PASSENGER FACILITIES.—It is in the economic in6 terest of the United States to improve the efficiency of 

7 public surface transportation modes by ensuring the con8 nection with and access to intermodal passenger terminals, 

9 thereby streamlining the transfer of passengers among 

10 modes, enhancing travel options, and increasing passenger 

11 transportation operating efficiencies. 

12 ‘‘(b) GENERAL PURPOSES.—The purpose of this sub13 chapter is to accelerate intermodal integration among 

14 North America’s passenger transportation modes 

15 through—

16 ‘‘(1) assuring intercity public transportation ac17 cess to intermodal passenger facilities; 

18 ‘‘(2) encouraging the development of an inte19 grated system of public transportation information; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(3) providing intercity bus intermodal pas22 senger facility grants. 

23 ‘‘§ 5572. Definitions 

24 ‘‘In this subchapter—
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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘capital project’ means a project 

2 for—

3 ‘‘(A) acquiring, constructing, improving, or 

4 renovating a publicly or privately owned or op5 erated intermodal facility that is related phys6 ically and functionally to intercity bus service in 

7 order to establish or enhance coordination be8 tween intercity bus service and transportation, 

9 including aviation, local public transportation 

10 by bus or rail, commuter bus or rail, intercity 

11 rail, seaports, and the National Highway Sys12 tem, including physical infrastructure associ13 ated with private bus operations at existing and 

14 new intermodal facilities, such as building con15 struction or renovation, special lanes, curb cuts, 

16 ticket kiosks and counters, passenger waiting 

17 areas, baggage and package express storage, 

18 employee parking, office space, security, and 

19 signage; and 

20 ‘‘(B) establishing or enhancing coordination be21 tween intercity bus service and transportation, in22 cluding aviation, commuter bus or rail, intercity rail, 

23 and the National Highway System through a pub24 licly or privately owned or operated integrated sys25 tem of public transportation information; 
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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘commuter service’ means service 

2 designed primarily to provide daily work trips within 

3 the local commuting area; 

4 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Intercity bus service’ means—

5 ‘‘(A) regularly scheduled bus service for 

6 the general public which—

7 ‘‘(i) operates with limited stops over 

8 fixed routes connecting two or more urban 

9 areas, or connecting rural areas with urban 

10 areas, not in close proximity; 

11 ‘‘(ii) has the capacity for transporting 

12 baggage carried by passengers; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) makes meaningful connections 

14 with scheduled intercity bus service to 

15 more distant points; and 

16 ‘‘(B) charter and tour bus service; 

17 ‘‘(4) the term ‘intermodal passenger facility’ 

18 means a passenger terminal that does, or can be 

19 modified to, accommodate several modes of transpor20 tation and related facilities, including some or all of 

21 the following: intercity rail, commuter bus or rail, 

22 intercity bus, local public transportation, either bus 

23 or rail, airport limousine service and airline ticket 

24 offices, rent-a-car facilities, taxis, private parking, 

25 and other transportation services; 
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1 ‘‘(5) the term ‘local governmental authority’ in2 cludes—

3 ‘‘(A) a political subdivision of a State; 

4 ‘‘(B) an authority of at least one State or 

5 political subdivision of a State; 

6 ‘‘(C) an Indian tribe; and 

7 ‘‘(D) a public corporation, board, or com8 mission established under the laws of the State; 

9 ‘‘(6) the term ‘owner or operator of a public 

10 transportation facility’ means an owner or operator 

11 of intercity-rail, intercity-bus, commuter-rail, rail12 transit, bus-transit, or ferry services; 

13 ‘‘(7) the term ‘recipient’ means any public or 

14 private entity that receives a grant to carry out this 

15 section directly from the Federal Government; 

16 ‘‘(8) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 

17 of Transportation; 

18 ‘‘(9) the term ‘State’ means a State of the 

19 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 

20 Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Amer21 ican Samoa, and the Virgin Islands; and 

22 ‘‘(10) the term ‘urban area’ means an area that 

23 includes a municipality or other area that the Sec24 retary, after considering local patterns and trends of 

25 urban growth, decides is appropriate for a local pub-
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1 lic transportation system to serve individuals in the 

2 locality. 

3 ‘‘§ 5573. Assurance of access to intermodal passenger 

4 facilities 

5 ‘‘Intercity buses and other modes of transportation 

6 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, have access to 

7 publicly funded intermodal passenger facilities including 

8 passenger facilities described in section 5574. 

9 ‘‘§ 5574. Intercity bus intermodal passenger facility 

10 grants 

11 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

12 Transportation may make grants under this section to re13 cipients in financing a capital project, as defined in section 

14 5572, only if the Secretary finds that the proposed project 

15 is justified and has an adequate financial commitment. 

16 ‘‘(b) COMPETITIVE GRANT SELECTION.—The Sec17 retary shall conduct a national solicitation for applications 

18 for grants under this section. Grantees shall be selected 

19 on a competitive basis. 

20 ‘‘(c) SHARE OF NET PROJECT COSTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) A grant shall not exceed 80 percent of the 

22 net project cost, as determined by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(2) The portion of the net costs of an eligible 

24 project that is not funded under this section shall be 

25 from an undistributed cash surplus, a replacement 
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1 or depreciation cash fund or reserve, or new public 

2 or private capital and may include amounts appro3 priated to or made available to a department or 

4 agency of the Federal government that are eligible 

5 to be expended for transportation. 

6 ‘‘(d) CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS.—A grant 

7 provieded under this section that is financed with amounts 

8 made available under section 5575(a) is a contractual obli9 gation of the United States Government to pay the Gov10 ernment’s share of the cost of the project. 

11 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may issue regu12 lations necessary to carry out this section. 

13 ‘‘§ 5575. Funding 

14 ‘‘(a) MASS TRANSIT ACCOUNT.—To carry out this 

15 subchapter, there is authorized to be appropriated for each 

16 of fiscal years 2006 through 2009 from the Mass Transit 

17 Account of the Highway Trust Fund, $75,000,000, of 

18 which no more than $5,000,000 may be used to carry out 

19 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 5571(b). The require20 ments of section 5309 shall apply to a project that receives 

21 funds pursuant to this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(b) HIGHWAY ACCOUNT.—

23 ‘‘(1) There is authorized to be appropriated 

24 from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass 

25 Transit Account) to carry out section 5571(b)(3) 
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1 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 

2 2009. 

3 ‘‘(2) The funding made available under para4 graph (1) shall be available for obligation in the 

5 same manner as if such funds were apportioned 

6 under chapter 1 of title 23 and shall be subject to 

7 any obligation limitation imposed on funds for Fed8 eral-aid highways and highway safety construction 

9 programs. 

10 ‘‘(c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made 

11 available by subsection (a) of this section shall remain 

12 available until expended. 

13 ‘‘(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con14 tents for chapter 55 of title 49, United States Code, is 

15 amended by inserting at the end the following:

‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—INTERMODAL PASSENGER FACILITIES

‘‘5571. Policy and purposes. 

‘‘5572. Definitions. 

‘‘5573. Assurance of access to intermodal facilities. 

‘‘5574. Intercity bus intermodal passenger facility grants. 

‘‘5575. Funding.’’

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