related non-Federal match) expended on transit op-
erations during the prior fiscal year, and the amount 
expected to be expended on transit operations from 
all sources during the current fiscal year. 
‘‘(2) FAILURE TO MAINTAIN EFFORT.—If a re-
cipient of funds under this section is unable to main-
tain the level of effort certified pursuant to para-
graph (1) for any fiscal year, the amount such re-
cipient would have received under this section in the 
following fiscal year shall be reduced by one-third. 
‘‘(k) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to prevent an eligible recipient 
from increasing service through the use of any other Fed-
eral or non-Federal funds. 
‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$20,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 
2028. 
‘‘(m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AREAS
OF
PERSISTENT
POVERTY.—The 
term ‘area of persistent poverty’ means— 
‘‘(A) a county that has consistently had 
greater than or equal to 20 percent of the pop-
ulation of such county living in poverty during 
the most recent 30-year period for which data 
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is available, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 
decennial censuses; or 
‘‘(B) a census tract with a poverty rate of 
at least 20 percent as measured by the 2014 
through 2018 5-year data series available from 
the American Community Survey of the Bureau 
of the Census. 
‘‘(2) ASSOCIATED
CAPITAL
IMPROVEMENTS.— 
The term ‘associated capital improvements’ means a 
capital project described in subparagraphs (B) 
through (G) of section 5302(4). 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘eligible 
recipient’ means a recipient or subrecipient of funds 
under section 5307 or 5311. 
‘‘(4) UNDERSERVED
COMMUNITY.—The term 
‘underserved community’ means— 
‘‘(A) a census tract or block numbering 
area in which the median income does not ex-
ceed 80 percent of the area median income; 
‘‘(B) families with income not greater than 
100 percent of the area median income that re-
side in minority census tracts; 
‘‘(C) families with income not greater than 
100 percent of the area median income that re-
side in areas affected by disasters, as deter-
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mined by the Administrator of the Federal 
Transit Administration; 
‘‘(D) a census tract that has a minority 
population of at least 30 percent or a median 
income of less than 100 percent of the area me-
dian income; 
‘‘(E) a community that has low access to 
jobs and essential services, as determined by 
the Secretary; or 
‘‘(F) a census block or group of geographi-
cally contiguous census blocks in which the pop-
ulation of any racial or ethnic minority individ-
uals, individually or in combination, comprises 
30 percent or more of the population of persons 
in the census block or group of geographically 
contiguous census blocks.’’. 
(b) FEDERAL TRANSIT PROGRAM GENERAL PUR-
POSES.—Section 5301(b) of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9) support public transportation’s role in 
combating climate change through growing/retaining 
transit ridership.’’. 
(c) APPLICABILITY
OF
LAW.—The Secretary of 
Transportation shall ensure that the requirements of sec-
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tion 5333 of title 49, United States Code, are applied to 
section 5308 of such title (as added by subsection (a)). 
(d) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs of the Senate a report that reviews the out-
comes of the program established under section 5308 of 
title 49, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 
including new service produced and improvements in ac-
cess to work and essential services, particularly for areas 
of persistent poverty and underserved communities. 
(e) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap-
ter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 5307 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘5308. High quality transit operating support program.’’. 
(f) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that capital funding for transit should be increased. 
SEC. 3. INCREASED FEDERAL SHARE OF OPERATING COSTS 
FOR RURAL AREAS. 
Section 5311(g)(2) of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) OPERATING ASSISTANCE.—A grant made 
under this section for operating assistance may not 
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exceed 80 percent of the net operating costs of the 
project, as determined by the Secretary.’’. 
Æ 
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