“To increase access to higher education and center-based Head Start programs by providing public transit grants.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes Promoting Advancement Through Transit Help to Education grants under the Federal Transit Administration's urbanized area formula grants program (49 U.S.C. 5307(i)) and rural and small urban formula grants program (49 U.S.C. 5311(k)). (As background, these programs provide formula funding to public transit providers for capital and operating expenses.) The grants are available to public transit providers partnered with eligible institutions—including community colleges, minority-serving institutions (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)), Head Start agencies operating center-based programs (including Early Head Start), area career and technical education schools, and rural-serving institutions of higher education—for projects adding bus/rail stops or routes (including complementary paratransit), increasing service frequency or adjusting schedules to align with classes or Head Start programs, or covering related operating costs (if otherwise eligible under the program). The Secretary must prioritize applications from partnerships where more than 25% of an institution's students receive Federal Pell Grants, and specified amounts are set aside under 5311(k)—$1 million for FY2027, $2 million for FY2028, $3 million for FY2029, $4 million for FY2030, and $5 million for FY2031.