This bill creates a competitive grant program run by the Secretary of Transportation called "Freedom to Move Grants." The grants are meant to cover lost fare revenue for fare-free public transportation and to pay for improvements to local transit. The Secretary must start awarding grants within 360 days of enactment. Grants last for five years. Eligible applicants include States, counties, local municipalities, transit agencies, certain private nonprofits in rural areas, and partnerships of those entities. Applications must describe the plan to implement fare-free service, a bus network redesign that serves low-income and historically underserved areas, outreach partnerships, an equity evaluation of transit gaps, current fare-evasion enforcement and plans to end criminalization, estimates of extra costs from higher ridership, and information on assaults on transit employees and related trainings or policies. Funds may be used to implement fare-free transit, improve bus stop safety and accessibility, add pedestrian and bike shelters, signage, painted bus lanes, signal priority, street redesign, meet increased operational demand (including hiring and training), and conduct a bus network redesign. The Secretary must award grants in both rural and urbanized areas and must collect demographic and progress data and report on closing transit equity gaps. The bill authorizes $5,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out the program.
The bill's stated purpose is to invest in State, county, and local efforts to provide fare-free public transportation and to support improving and expanding access to safe, accessible, and reliable mass transit systems to improve community livability.
No publicly available information.