I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7039 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a program to provide 
grants to eligible recipients for eligible operating support costs of public 
transportation, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 18, 2024 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 
Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
BROWN, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARSON, Mrs. CHERFILUS- 
MCCORMICK, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mr. FROST, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi-
nois, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. IVEY, Mr. JACKSON of Illi-
nois, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. 
KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
LYNCH, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. 
MOULTON, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. OCASIO- 
CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Ms. ROSS, Mr. RUPPERS-
BERGER, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, 
Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TORRES 
of New York, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VASQUEZ, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. WAT-
SON COLEMAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Ms. PORTER) 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 pro-
gram to provide grants to eligible recipients for eligible 
operating support costs of public transportation, and for 
other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stronger Communities 
through Better Transit Act’’. 
SEC. 2. HIGH QUALITY TRANSIT OPERATING SUPPORT PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5307 
the following: 
‘‘§ 5308. High quality transit operating support pro-
gram 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 
shall establish a program under which the Secretary may 
make grants to eligible recipients to enhance mobility and 
improve environmental sustainability through investing in 
public transportation service improvements. 
‘‘(b) ALLOCATION
OF FUNDING.—For each fiscal 
year, the Secretary shall allocate funding as follows: 
‘‘(1) Each urbanized area, State, and Indian 
Tribe that is an eligible recipient shall receive an ap-
portionment based on data contained in the National 
Transit Database such that— 
‘‘(A) each urbanized area shall receive an 
amount equal to 50 percent of the urbanized 
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area’s average annual operating costs over the 
3-year period preceding such fiscal year; 
‘‘(B) each State shall receive an amount 
equal to 50 percent of the subrecipients in such 
State under section 5311 average operating 
costs over the 3-year period preceding such fis-
cal year; and 
‘‘(C) each Indian Tribe shall receive an 
amount equal to 50 percent of the Indian 
Tribe’s average operating costs over the 3-year 
period preceding such fiscal year. 
‘‘(2) For funds remaining after the apportion-
ment described in paragraph (1), such funds shall be 
apportioned such that each urbanized area, State, 
and Indian Tribe that is an eligible recipient shall 
receive an apportionment equal to the proportion of 
all operating costs reported to the National Transit 
Database over the 3-year period preceding the fiscal 
year in which such funds are apportioned. 
‘‘(3) In any given year, no urbanized area, 
State, or Indian Tribe may receive an apportionment 
under this subsection that is greater than 80 percent 
of the average operating costs over the 3-year period 
preceding the fiscal year in which such funds are ap-
portioned. 
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‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Eligible recipients may use 
funding provided under this section for operating 
costs associated with projects eligible under this 
chapter and title 23 that improve public transpor-
tation service for transit dependent populations and 
support increased transit ridership, including— 
‘‘(A) projects that decrease headways; 
‘‘(B) projects for new or expanded service 
area, hours, or days; 
‘‘(C) projects to improve transit reliability 
or travel 
time 
savings, 
including 
transit 
prioritization; 
‘‘(D) IT enhancements to improve cus-
tomer information and customer and employee 
safety such as implementation of real-time tran-
sit data; 
‘‘(E) projects to support seamless complete 
trips, including— 
‘‘(i) projects to improve transit net-
work connectivity; 
‘‘(ii) signage and wayfinding; 
‘‘(iii) fare coordination; and 
‘‘(iv) multimodal payment integration; 
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‘‘(F) service planning related to funding 
provided under this section, including planning 
to address changing demographics, changing 
travel movement, network redesign (including 
the implementation of a plan that results in a 
net increase in service hours across a region, 
subregion, or study area), and accommodating 
essential service trips (including service trips 
for employment, healthcare facilities, child care, 
education and workforce training, food sources, 
banking and other financial institutions, and 
other retail shopping establishments); 
‘‘(G) measuring access to work and essen-
tial services, particularly for non-drivers, for the 
purpose of developing projects to be funded 
under this section, including data acquisition 
and acquiring outside support for conducting 
analysis of such data; 
‘‘(H) measures to enhance customer sense 
of safety and security, including public safety 
measures and outreach to unhoused persons in 
the transit system; 
‘‘(I) initiatives to improve the transit envi-
ronment, such as additional or enhanced clean-
ing; and 
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‘‘(J) workforce development initiatives nec-
essary to improve or maintain service. 
‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—The use of 
funds from this section for operating costs of 
projects described in paragraph (1) may not affect 
the eligibility of such projects to receive funding 
from other sections of this chapter or title 23. 
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT.—A preponderance of a grant 
received by a recipient under this section in a fiscal year 
shall be used for projects that benefit underserved commu-
nities or areas of persistent poverty. 
‘‘(e) FEDERAL SHARE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Federal share of a 
project or program carried out using a grant award-
ed under this section shall be not greater than 50 
percent. 
‘‘(2) FEDERAL
SHARE
FOR
OPERATING
EX-
PENSES.—In the case that a project includes both 
operating components funded from this section and 
non-operating components, the Federal share for op-
erating components shall be 50 percent and for non- 
operating components shall be consistent with the 
requirements of the funding source for those compo-
nents. 
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‘‘(3) INCREASED FEDERAL SHARE FOR CERTAIN 
AREAS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the Fed-
eral share of an operating assistance component of 
a project or program carried out in an area of per-
sistent poverty or an underserved community using 
a grant awarded under this section shall be not 
greater than 80 percent. 
‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE FOR INDIAN TRIBES.— 
Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (3), for In-
dian Tribes receiving funding allocated under sub-
section (b)(1)(C), the Federal share of a project or 
program carried out using a grant awarded under 
this section shall be 100 percent. 
‘‘(5) IN
KIND
MATCH.—Of the non-Federal 
share required under this subsection, 25 percent 
may be derived from amounts (other than amounts 
received from the Federal Transit Administration) 
expended for associated capital improvements related 
to a project or program carried out using a grant 
awarded under this section. 
‘‘(f) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—An amount appor-
tioned under this section may be obligated by the recipient 
for 2 years after the fiscal year in which the amount is 
apportioned. Not later than 30 days after the end of the 
2-year period, an amount that is not obligated at the end 
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of that period shall be added to the amount that may be 
apportioned under this section in the following fiscal year. 
‘‘(g) CONDITIONS FOR OPERATING ASSISTANCE.—As 
a condition of receiving a grant under this section, an eli-
gible recipient shall— 
‘‘(1) in the case of a recipient in an urbanized 
area— 
‘‘(A) agree to report to the Federal Transit 
Administration, for inclusion in the National 
Transit Database— 
‘‘(i) service frequency and revenue ve-
hicle hours, including revenue vehicle hours 
and unlinked passenger trips originating 
and terminating in areas of persistent pov-
erty and underserved communities, to-
gether with such other specific data as the 
Secretary shall find necessary and appro-
priate; and 
‘‘(ii) the number of jobs and essential 
services accessible by transit, and improve-
ment in such access, including specific re-
porting on access by transit for areas of 
persistent poverty and underserved com-
munities; and 
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‘‘(B) demonstrate that such recipient has 
surveyed, within the past year and at least 
every 2 years thereafter, current transit riders 
as well as non-riding residents of areas of per-
sistent poverty and underserved communities 
regarding transit service improvements, using 
means designed to maximize participation from 
both riders and non-riders, and has published 
the survey in an online format; 
‘‘(2) in the case of a recipient that is an Indian 
Tribe— 
‘‘(A) agree to report to the Federal Transit 
Administration, for inclusion in the National 
Transit Database, revenue vehicle hours and 
unlinked passenger trips, together with such 
other specific data as the Secretary shall find 
necessary and appropriate; and 
‘‘(B) demonstrate that such recipient has 
surveyed, within the past year and at least 
every 2 years thereafter, current transit riders 
as well as non-riding residents of the Tribe’s 
service area regarding transit service improve-
ments, using means designed to maximize par-
ticipation from both riders and non-riders, and 
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has published the survey in an online format; 
and 
‘‘(3) in the case of a recipient that is a State 
or other possession receiving assistance under sec-
tion 5311— 
‘‘(A) agree to report to the Federal Transit 
Administration, for inclusion in the National 
Transit Database, revenue vehicle hours for 
each subrecipient receiving assistance under 
this section, including revenue vehicle hours and 
unlinked passenger trips originating and termi-
nating in areas of persistent poverty and under- 
served communities, together with such other 
specific data as the Secretary shall find nec-
essary and appropriate; 
‘‘(B) provide an annually updated report to 
the Secretary identifying those underserved 
communities and areas of persistent poverty in 
the non-urbanized areas of the State or posses-
sion that do not have any reported public tran-
sit services, or in which either the availability or 
utilization of rural public transit is in the bot-
tom quintile as compared to all rural public 
transit services in the United States, using such 
measurements as shall be identified by the Sec-
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retary, together with annually updated progress 
toward achieving the State’s or possession’s 
strategy for establishing high-quality transit 
service in these unserved and underserved com-
munities and areas of persistent poverty; and 
‘‘(C) demonstrate that every subrecipient 
of the State or possession has surveyed, within 
the past year and at least every 2 years there-
after, current transit riders as well as non- 
riding residents of areas of persistent poverty 
and underserved communities within the sub-re-
cipient’s service area regarding transit service 
improvements, using means designed to maxi-
mize participation from both riders and non-rid-
ers, and has published the survey in an online 
format. 
‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 
such regulations as are necessary to carry out the program 
established under subsection (a), including defining the 
terms ‘preponderance of a grant’, and ‘access to jobs and 
essential service’ for purposes of this section and taking 
into account any necessary difference in the definition of 
such terms required for urbanized areas, rural areas lo-
cated near urbanized areas, and remote rural areas. 
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‘‘(i) ACCESS MEASUREMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro-
gram under this section, the Secretary shall set up 
a multimodal access measurement interface that is 
open to any public agency through the program 
under section 5505 to aid transit agencies in deter-
mining and reporting on access to jobs and essential 
services. 
‘‘(2) INTERIM DATA.—Until the access meas-
urement interface under paragraph (1) is estab-
lished, an eligible recipient may use other data 
sources to determine and report on access to jobs 
and essential services. 
‘‘(j) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 
after the beginning of each fiscal year, recipients of 
funds under this section shall certify to the Sec-
retary that such recipients will, with funding pledged 
by all sources, maintain effort with regard to transit 
service. As part of such certification, the transit 
agency shall submit to the Secretary a statement 
identifying the amount of funds from all sources 
(other than funds provided under this section and 
related non-Federal match) expended on transit op-
erations during the prior fiscal year, and the amount 
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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 2024 through 
2027. 
‘‘(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 
is available, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 
decennial censuses; or 
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‘‘(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-
mined by the Administrator of the Federal 
Transit Administration; 
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‘‘(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-
tion 5333 of title 49, United States Code, are applied to 
section 5308 of such title (as added by subsection (a)). 
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(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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