I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7298 
To amend the Federal Public Transportation Act of 2012 to alter project 
eligibility for the transit-oriented development planning grant program, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2026 
Ms. SIMON (for herself and Ms. JACOBS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Public Transportation Act of 2012 
to alter project eligibility for the transit-oriented develop-
ment planning grant program, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Connecting Commu-
nities Through Transit Planning Act of 2026’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVEL-
OPMENT PLANNING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 20005(b) of the Federal 
Public Transportation Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 5303 note) 
is amended— 
(1) in the subsection heading by striking 
‘‘PILOT PROGRAM’’ and inserting ‘‘GRANT PRO-
GRAM’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A) by striking 
‘‘means a new fixed guideway capital project or 
a core capacity improvement project, as those 
terms are defined in section 5309 of title 49, 
United States Code, as amended by this divi-
sion.’’ and inserting ‘‘means— 
‘‘(i) a new fixed guideway capital 
project or a fixed guideway bus rapid tran-
sit project, as those terms are defined in 
section 5309; or 
‘‘(ii) a corridor-based capital invest-
ment in an existing fixed guideway sys-
tem.’’; and 
(B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(B) PREDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—The 
term ‘predevelopment activities’ includes plan-
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ning, site evaluation, engineering and architec-
tural design, community engagement, feasibility 
studies, utility coordination, accessibility assess-
ments, and other activities necessary to prepare 
a site for transit-oriented development.’’; 
(3) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A) by inserting ‘‘and predevelopment activi-
ties’’ after ‘‘planning’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (E)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘infrastructure’’ and 
inserting ‘‘and address infrastructure and 
utility’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(C) in subparagraph (F) by striking the 
period at the end; and 
(D) by inserting at the end the following: 
‘‘(G) support predevelopment activities; 
and 
‘‘(H) improve access to transit and transit- 
oriented development sites for all users, includ-
ing individuals with disabilities, seniors, vet-
erans, and other transit-dependent populations, 
to ensure people of all ages and abilities can 
safely and efficiently reach and navigate transit 
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