I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6064 

To provide certain rights to commuters who ride public transportation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2010 

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

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To provide certain rights to commuters who ride public 

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 ‘‘Commuter Bill of 

5 Rights Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this Act the following definitions 

8 apply: 

9 (1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

10 recipient’’ means a provider of public transportation. 


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1 (2) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.—The term 

2 ‘‘public transportation’’ means transportation by a 

3 conveyance that provides regular and continuing 

4 general or special transportation to the public, but 

5 does not include schoolbus, charter, sightseeing, or 

6 intercity bus transportation or intercity passenger 

7 rail transportation provided by the entity described 

8 in chapter 243 (or a successor to such entity). 

9 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Transportation. 

11 SEC. 3. COMMUTER TRANSIT RIGHTS COMMISSION. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inde13 pendent commission to be known as the ‘‘Commuter Tran14 sit Rights Commission’’ (hereinafter in this Act referred 

15 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

16 (b) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.—The duties of the 

17 Commission shall be— 

18 (1) to evaluate current Federal rules and regu19 lations on commuter safety in emergency situations 

20 that govern transit providers; 

21 (2) to evaluate contingency plans that transit 

22 providers use across the United States and identify 

23 best practices; and 


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1 (3) to make recommendations to the Secretary 

2 of Transportation (referred to in this Act as the 

3 ‘‘Secretary’’) pursuant to subsection (h). 

4 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

5 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—Not later 

6 than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 

7 Act, the Commission, which shall be composed of 12 

8 members, shall be appointed by the Secretary as fol9 lows: 

10 (A) 2 members shall be commuters of pub11 lic transportation. 

12 (B) 2 members shall be experts in rail 

13 safety. 

14 (C) 2 members shall be experts in water 

15 transportation. 

16 (D) 2 members shall be employees of State 

17 transportation agencies. 

18 (E) 2 members shall be experts in pas19 senger safety. 

20 (F) 2 members shall be experts in emer21 gency medicine. 

22 (2) RESTRICTION.—No employee of the Depart23 ment of Transportation may serve as a member of 

24 the Commission. 


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1 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

2 Commission shall be elected by the members at the 

3 initial meeting. 

4 (d) TERMS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be ap6 pointed for the life of the commission. 

7 (2) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 

8 shall be filled in the same manner as the original ap9 pointment. 

10 (3) PAY AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 

11 (A) PAY.—Except as provided in subpara12 graph (C), each member of the Commission 

13 shall be paid at a rate equal to the daily equiva14 lent of the minimum annual rate of basic pay 

15 for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 

16 section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for 

17 each day, including travel time, during which he 

18 or she is engaged in the actual performance of 

19 duties vested in the Commission. 

20 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members shall 

21 receive travel expenses, including per diem in 

22 lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sub23 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

24 Code. 


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1 (C) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF

2 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Members of the Com3 mission who are full-time officers or employees 

4 of the United States or Members of Congress 

5 may not receive additional pay, allowances, or 

6 benefits by reason of their service on the Com7 mission. 

8 (e) MEETINGS.— 

9 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days 

10 after the date on which all members of the Commis11 sion are appointed, the Commission shall hold its 

12 first meeting. 

13 (2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.—The commission 

14 shall meet monthly at the call of the Chairperson. 

15 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the Commission 

16 shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may 

17 hold hearings. 

18 (f) STAFF.—The Chairperson may appoint and fix 

19 the pay of additional personnel as the Chairperson con20 siders appropriate. 

21 (g) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

22 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commis23 sion may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, 

24 hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, take 


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1 testimony, and receive evidence as the Commission 

2 considers appropriate. 

3 (2) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any 

4 member or agent of the Commission may, if author5 ized by the Commission, take any action which the 

6 Commission is authorized to take by this section. 

7 (h) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

8 (1) COMMUTER BILL OF RIGHTS.—Not later 

9 than 160 days after its initial meeting, the Commis10 sion shall make recommendations to the Secretary 

11 that shall be known as the ‘‘Commuter Bill of 

12 Rights’’. The Commuter Bill of Rights shall include 

13 the following: 

14 (A) A list of situations in which a provider 

15 of public transportation shall implement its con16 tingency plan. 

17 (B) Recommendations for the minimum 

18 standards that a contingency plan of a provider 

19 of public transportation must meet, including 

20 the following: 

21 (i) Provision of food, water, rest22 rooms, ventilation, and medical services. 

23 (ii) Distribution of critical information 

24 to commuters on a disabled or delayed 

25 train or other transit vehicle, including a 


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1 time frame for when commuters will be 

2 permitted to exit such disabled or delayed 

3 transit vehicle and how such commuters 

4 will be redirected to their final destinations 

5 in a timely manner. 

6 (C) Recommendations for Federal regula7 tions on commuter safety in an emergency situ8 ation. 

9 (2) PROCEDURE.—A majority of the Commis10 sion shall approve each recommendation before it is 

11 included in the Commuter Bill of Rights and sub12 mitted to the Secretary. 

13 (3) SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT.—The Commission 

14 shall submit a supplemental report to the Secretary 

15 along with the Commuter Bill of Rights that con16 tains all of the recommendations that the Commis17 sion considered, including those recommendations 

18 that did not receive a majority vote for inclusion in 

19 the Commuter Bill of Rights. 

20 (i) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

21 on the date that the Commission submits the Commuter 

22 Bill of Rights and supplemental report to the Secretary 

23 under subsection (h). 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The 

3 Secretary may provide grants on a competitive basis to 

4 providers of public transportation to develop and imple5 ment contingency plans that fulfill the Commuter Bill of 

6 Rights. 

7 (b) APPLICATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

9 grant under this section, an eligible recipient shall 

10 submit an application not later than 90 days after 

11 the Secretary has issued a notice of availability at 

12 such time and in such manner as the Secretary may 

13 reasonably require. 

14 (2) CONTINGENCY PLAN IMPLEMENTATION.— 

15 An eligible recipient shall include in its application 

16 a cost estimate of implementing the contingency 

17 plan to fulfill the Consumer Bill of Rights. 

18 (3) CERTIFICATION.—When submitting an ap19 plication, a provider of public transportation shall 

20 certify to the Secretary that the provider will imple21 ment its contingency plan not later than 90 days 

22 after receiving a grant under this section. 

23 (d) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—An eligible recipient may 

24 only receive one grant under this section. The amount of 

25 such grant shall be the greater of $50,000 or 50 percent 

26 of the total amount of costs estimated in implementing 


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1 the Commuter Bill of Rights as determined by the Sec2 retary. 

3 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall review the 

5 Commuter Bill of Rights submitted by the Commission 

6 under section 3 and issue regulations to require providers 

7 of public transportation to comply with the standards rec8 ommended by the Commuter Bill of Rights. 

9 (b) FEDERAL POLICIES.—The Secretary shall use the 

10 Bill of Rights as recommended by the Commission to de11 velop federal policies that will require compliance with the 

12 Bill of Rights by commuter transit providers. Such policies 

13 shall include— 

14 (1) a requirement for providers of public trans15 portation to submit for approval by the Secretary a 

16 proposed contingency plan meeting minimum stand17 ards according to the Bill of Rights; 

18 (2) a requirement that contingency plans be re19 viewed and updated as necessary and re-submitted 

20 to the Secretary every 5 years; and 

21 (3) a requirement that providers of public 

22 transportation comply with the final rule issued pur23 suant to subsection (a) not later than 180 days after 

24 the rule is issued under subsection (a). 


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1 (c) PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS.—The Secretary 

2 may assess appropriate penalties or sanctions for non3 compliance as determined by the Secretary against pro4 viders of public transportation who fail to submit, obtain 

5 approval of, or adhere to its contingency plan. 

6 (d) BILL OF RIGHTS TO CONGRESS.—When the Sec7 retary receives the Consumer Bill of Rights from the Com8 mittee, the Secretary shall forward a copy of such bill of 

9 rights to Congress. 

10 (e) CONSUMER HOTLINE.—The Secretary shall es11 tablish a consumer hotline telephone number for public 

12 transportation complaints in which the Secretary responds 

13 to consumer complaints not later than 30 days after sub14 mission of a complaint. 

15 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec17 retary, such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

18 Act, to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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