No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings recognizing barriers to mobility for the estimated 18.6 million Americans with travel-limiting disabilities, the limitations of next-day ADA paratransit requirements, the potential of technological advancements to enable same-day services, and proven efficiencies such as a 53% increase in trips and 6% decrease in operational spending in pilot programs.
This section increases the maximum federal share for capital projects directly related to same-day paratransit services to 90% of net capital costs (from 80%) under the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities program (49 U.S.C. § 5310), Urbanized Area Formula Grants program (49 U.S.C. § 5307), and Formula Grants for Rural Areas program (49 U.S.C. § 5311). (These programs provide formula funding to state and local governments for public transportation projects benefiting seniors, individuals with disabilities, urban transit systems, and rural transit providers, respectively; paratransit services offer comparable transportation for persons with disabilities unable to use fixed-route transit, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.) The section also revises the maximum federal share for operating assistance under those programs to the greatest of (1) 50% of net operating costs generally; (2) 70% of net operating costs (from 50%) for same-day paratransit services compliant with minimum standards established by the Federal Transit Administration Administrator; or (3) 80% of net operating costs (from 50%) for such compliant same-day services using vehicles operated exclusively by recipient-employed personnel. Under the rural program only, states qualifying for higher federal-aid highway shares under 23 U.S.C. § 120(b) (e.g., high-population-density states) receive an operating share equal to 62.5% of the share specified for them under the program's capital provisions.
This section requires the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Administrator to issue, no later than one year after enactment, minimum standards for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit software and technologies procured under the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program (49 U.S.C. 5310), which provides formula grants to recipients for public transportation projects serving seniors and individuals with disabilities. The standards must address (1) accessibility compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) or successors; (2) cybersecurity compliant with System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2), ISO 27001, or successors; (3) data storage on U.S.-based cloud infrastructure; (4) integration of multiple service providers (e.g., transit agencies, taxis, transportation network companies); (5) real-time route optimization and dynamic scheduling; (6) digital booking interfaces; (7) data sharing via open APIs with privacy protections; (8) recipient ownership of all service-generated data; and (9) other factors to future-proof investments, developed in consultation with transit agencies, disability riders and advocates, the U.S. Access Board, labor organizations, technology and for-hire providers, and cybersecurity experts. Beginning one year after final standards are published, no funds under sections 5307 (urbanized area formula grants) or 5310 may be used for noncompliant third-party paratransit software, extending to section 5311 (rural area formula grants) funds two years after publication.