TRAIN Act of 2020

Transit Reliability, Acknowledgment, Investment and Need Act of 2020 or the TRAIN Act of 2020

This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a program to provide public transportation agencies with grants for use during a state disaster declaration such as the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency.

Grants may be expended for

• providing continued services during the pandemic or disaster declaration,
• stabilization of fare prices for passengers during the period of such disaster declaration,
• no-cost public transportation services during such disaster declaration;
• provision of new or supplemental public transportation service bus routes, or bus rapid systems; and
• procurement of personal protective gear and equipment needed to protect employees from hazards generated or originating from the disaster declaration.

Additionally, grant awards may not exceed $5 billion.

Public transportation agencies receiving funds must (1) provide assistance to the general public during the disaster declaration period and, subsequently, for a period of six months after the termination of such disaster declaration; (2) certify with DOT every seven days that any use of funds meet applicable health and safety standards and guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued during the disaster declaration for passengers and employees of the public transportation agency that includes a description of the compliance mechanisms employed by such agency; and (3) submit to DOT an annual report regarding the progress its grant projects have made to make transportation access points accessible to persons with limited mobility.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov