Title: Motor Carriers Accountability Act
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Motor Carriers Accountability Act
This bill requires motor carriers that operate passenger services on standard coach buses with 50 or more seats to adopt contingency plans for excessive passenger delays.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3628 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3628

To require motor carriers to mitigate hardships due to unwarranted and 
    excessive passenger delays and to assess fines to bolster motor 
     carriers' accountability to consumers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2019

 Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Carson of 
  Indiana, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Fudge, Ms. 
  Clarke of New York, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Payne, Ms. Adams, Ms. 
 Norton, Mr. Clay, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mrs. 
  Lawrence, Mr. Rush, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Johnson of 
Georgia, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Richmond, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Butterfield, Ms. 
 Bass, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Ms. Lee of California, and Ms. Pressley) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require motor carriers to mitigate hardships due to unwarranted and 
    excessive passenger delays and to assess fines to bolster motor 
     carriers' accountability to consumers, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Motor Carriers Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. PASSENGER DELAYS IN INTERSTATE MOTOR CARRIER TRANSPORTATION.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 141 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 14105. Passenger delays in interstate motor carrier 
              transportation
    ``(a) In General.--Not later than the date on which a motor carrier 
operates a covered trip, each such motor carrier shall adopt a 
contingency plan for excessive passenger delays on covered trips.
    ``(b) Compliance.--Each motor carrier operating a covered trip 
shall adhere to the terms of the plan adopted pursuant to subsection 
(a).
    ``(c) Contents.--A contingency plan described in subsection (a) 
shall include the following conditions:
            ``(1) A motor carrier will not let passengers undergo a 
        covered delay unless there are safety-related or security-
        related issues.
            ``(2) A motor carrier will provide adequate food and water 
        if passengers undergo a covered delay.
            ``(3) A motor carrier will ensure there are operable 
        lavatory facilities at stations.
            ``(4) A motor carrier will provide a full refund of the 
        price of a passenger's ticket if a passenger undergoes a 
        covered delay and will provide the remainder of the trip to the 
        passenger without charge.
            ``(5) For a period of 2 years after the date of any covered 
        delay, a motor carrier will retain any records containing the 
        following information:
                    ``(A) The length of such delay.
                    ``(B) The cause of such delay.
                    ``(C) Actions taken to minimize hardships for 
                passengers, including the provision of food and water 
                and the maintenance and servicing of lavatories.
            ``(6) A motor carrier will include in the contingency plan 
        a statement about its compliance with section 374.311 of title 
        49, Code of Federal Regulations.
    ``(d) Required Notifications.--
            ``(1) In general.--A motor carrier operating a covered trip 
        shall notify passengers of--
                    ``(A) a known delayed arrival of 1 or more hours 
                after the scheduled arrival time on a single one-way 
                ticket;
                    ``(B) cancellations; and
                    ``(C) diversions.
            ``(2) Travel status.--A motor carrier operating a covered 
        trip shall notify passengers of travel status information--
                    ``(A) in the boarding area of the station;
                    ``(B) on the website of such motor carrier;
                    ``(C) on the mobile application of such motor 
                carrier; and
                    ``(D) through the telephone reservation system of 
                such motor carrier, upon inquiry by any person.
            ``(3) Update.--In the case of a covered delay, a motor 
        carrier shall provide passengers an update on the delay at a 
        frequency of not less than once every 30 minutes.
    ``(e) Penalties.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
following penalties apply with respect to this section:
            ``(1) A motor carrier is liable to the United States for a 
        civil penalty, in an amount to be determined by the Secretary, 
        for a covered delay that is unwarranted and unannounced.
            ``(2) A motor carrier shall pay a penalty described in 
        paragraph (1) not later than the date that is 14 days after the 
        date on which a covered delay occurs.
            ``(3) The penalty described in paragraph (1) shall be not 
        less than $50,000.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions 
apply:
            ``(1) Covered delay.--The term `covered delay' means a 
        delayed arrival of 3 or more hours after the scheduled arrival 
        time on a single one-way ticket of a covered trip.
            ``(2) Covered trip.--The term `covered trip' means a trip 
        on a motor carrier that is operating such trip pursuant to 
        scheduled passenger services on a standard coach bus with 50 or 
        more seats.
            ``(3) Diversion.--The term `diversion' means any unknown 
        delays, including mechanical issues, involvement in a car 
        accident, or passenger emergencies.
            ``(4) Passenger.--The term `passenger' means a passenger on 
        a covered trip.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of chapters for chapter 141 of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new item:

``14105. Passenger delays in interstate motor carrier 
                            transportation.''.
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