I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6016 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the development of a 

bus operations safety risk reduction program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 6, 2018 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. KHANNA) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the development of a bus operations safety risk reduction program, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bus Operator and Pe5 destrian Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BUS OPERATIONS SAFETY RISK REDUCTION PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PROGRAM

4 SECTION.—Section 5329 of title 49, United States Code, 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(l) BUS OPERATIONS SAFETY RISK REDUCTION

7 PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 2 years 

9 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

10 the Secretary shall require each recipient that oper11 ates fixed route bus service to— 

12 ‘‘(A) develop a risk reduction program for 

13 bus operations under paragraph (2) to improve 

14 safety by reducing the number and rates of ac15 cidents, injuries, assaults on bus operators, and 

16 fatalities; 

17 ‘‘(B) submit the program, including the 

18 implementation plan required under paragraph 

19 (3), to the Secretary for review and approval; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(C) implement the program and plans ap22 proved by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM.—A recipient 

24 required to develop and submit a risk reduction pro25 gram for bus operations under paragraph (1)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall develop such program by con2 ducting risk analysis on the bus operations of 

3 the recipient; 

4 ‘‘(B) may incorporate such program into 

5 an applicable comprehensive safety plan that 

6 such recipient prepares pursuant to subsection 

7 (d), if all requirements under this subsection 

8 are addressed in the recipient’s comprehensive 

9 safety plan; and 

10 ‘‘(C) shall develop such program in co11 operation with bus operators and collective bar12 gaining representatives of bus operators, includ13 ing the development of— 

14 ‘‘(i) the risk analysis required under 

15 subparagraph (A); and 

16 ‘‘(ii) implementation plans required 

17 under paragraph (3). 

18 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Each risk re19 duction program for bus operations under paragraph 

20 (1) shall include an implementation plan for— 

21 ‘‘(A) reduction of vehicular and pedestrian 

22 accidents involving buses that includes— 

23 ‘‘(i) deployment of driver assistance 

24 technologies for bus operators that reduce 

25 or prevent accidents; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) measures to reduce visibility im2 pairments for bus operators that con3 tribute to accidents, including retrofits to 

4 buses in revenue service and specifications 

5 for future procurements that reduce visi6 bility impairments; 

7 ‘‘(B) bus operator assault mitigation, in8 cluding— 

9 ‘‘(i) the deployment of assault mitiga10 tion infrastructure and technology on 

11 buses, including barriers to restrict the un12 wanted entry of individuals and objects 

13 into bus operators’ workstations when a re14 cipient’s risk analysis determines that such 

15 barriers would reduce assaults and injuries 

16 to bus operators; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) conflict de-escalation training for 

18 bus operators; 

19 ‘‘(C) installation of seating and modifica20 tion to design specifications of bus operator 

21 workstations that reduce or prevent injuries 

22 from ergonomic risks; and 

23 ‘‘(D) other measures that the Secretary de24 termines would significantly reduce the number 

25 and rate of accidents, injuries, assaults on bus 


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1 operators, and fatalities related to bus oper2 ations; 

3 ‘‘(4) UPDATING REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec4 retary shall require each recipient required to de5 velop a program under paragraph (1) to— 

6 ‘‘(A) update such program annually; and 

7 ‘‘(B) resubmit such program for approval 

8 by the Secretary not less than once every 3 

9 years.’’. 

10 (b) FAST ACT.—Section 3022(a) of the Fixing 

11 America’s Surface Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. 5329 

12 note) is amended by adding the following new sentence: 

13 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

14 of the Bus Operator and Pedestrian Protection Act, the 

15 Secretary shall issue a final rule regarding the protection 

16 of public transportation operators from the risk of as17 sault.’’ 

18 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 (a) AMOUNT AND DURATION.—There are authorized 

20 to be appropriated to carry out implementation plans 

21 under the risk reduction program described in section 

22 5329(l) of title 49, United States Code, as added by sec23 tion 2 of this Act, $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

24 2019 through 2023. 


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1 (b) FORMULA.—Of the amounts made available to 

2 carry out this subsection for a fiscal year— 

3 (1) 80 percent shall be distributed under the 

4 formula set forth in section 5336 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, other than subsection (b) of such sec6 tion; and 

7 (2) 20 percent shall be distributed under the 

8 formula set forth in section 5311(c)(3) of such title. 

9 SEC. 4. OPERATOR ASSAULT DATA. 

10 Section 5335 of title 49, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(d) OPERATOR ASSAULT DATA.— 

13 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—The recipient of a grant under 

14 this chapter shall report to the Secretary, for inclu15 sion in the National Transit Database, any informa16 tion on each assault on an operator. 

17 ‘‘(2) OTHER REPORTS.—A report required 

18 under paragraph (1) shall be separate from the re19 porting on other safety incidents in the National 

20 Transit Database. 

21 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub22 section: 

23 ‘‘(A) The term ‘assault on an operator’ 

24 means any circumstance when an individual 

25 knowingly and without lawful authority or perVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Jun 07, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6016.IH H6016

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1 mission with intent to endanger the safety or 

2 health of any individual, or with a reckless dis3 regard for the safety or health of human life, 

4 interferes with, disables, or incapacitates any 

5 dispatcher, driver, captain, locomotive engineer, 

6 railroad conductor, or other individual while the 

7 individual is employed in dispatching, operating, 

8 controlling, or maintaining on-track equipment 

9 or a public transportation vehicle, including cir10 cumstances that do not require immediate med11 ical attention or that do not result in a fatality. 

12 ‘‘(B) The term ‘recipient’ has the meaning 

13 given the term in section 5329(a).’’. 

Æ 


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