Transit priority measures

(a) In general Section 5323 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (w) Prioritizing transit vehicles (1) In general The owners of public rights-of-way shall cooperate to the maximum extent feasible with transit providers to ensure that transit vehicles that run at grade are able to complete routes in as reliable and frequent a manner as possible. (2) By-right transit priority measures A transit provider may request that the owner of a public right-of-way implement transit priority measures on suitable corridors and the owner of said public right-of-way shall carry out specified collaboration with the transit provider to complete such request to the satisfaction of the transit provider. (3) Consultation of Federal Transit Administration If a transit provider determines that a request for transit priority measures has not been adequately incorporated into a project on a suitable corridor or the owner of a public right-of-way believes that a transit provider is making unreasonable requests, the transit provider or the public right-of-way owner may request that the regional office of the Federal Transit Administration make a determination on the matter. Such regional office shall defer to the transit provider unless the owner of the public right-of-way can provide evidence— (A) that allocating funding to implement requested transit priority measures would threaten the state of good repair of the overall public transportation system, even if funds from all projects to construct new capacity, or maintain existing capacity through reconstruction, for single-occupancy passenger vehicles were reallocated to either— (i) implementing requested transit priority measures; or (ii) maintaining the state of good repair of the overall transportation system; or (B) that— (i) the benefits a transit provider expects to see from the implementation of requested transit priority measures are factually incorrect as based on— (I) transportation demand modeling; and (II) real-world examples of similar projects in the United States and other countries; and (ii) the corridor where transit priority measures have been requested is not actually a suitable corridor. (4) Prevention of compliance-avoiding service alterations A transit provider may not alter the frequency of service on fixed-route transit service with the purpose of ensuring a public right-of-way does not meet the requirements of a suitable corridor. (5) Penalties for non-compliance If a regional office of the Federal Transit Administration finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a public right-of-way owner is not complying with paragraph (2) or a transit provider is in violation of paragraph (4), the Secretary shall not award any discretionary grants to that public right-of-way owner for the following year. (6) In-kind match Of the non-Federal share required for any projects that complete transit priority measures requested through this subsection, 25 percent may be derived from amounts expended for associated capital improvements related to a project or program that implements transit priority measures. (7) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Specified collaboration The term specified collaboration means— (i) the owner of a public right-of-way about which a transit provider has made a formal request shall— (I) respond not later than 180 days after the date on which such owner submits such request with— (aa) the expected cost of implementing the requested transit priority measures; (bb) an identification of any funding sources such owner expects to use to construct the requested transit priority measures; and (cc) any timelines for completion of the construction of such measure, depending on any variations in circumstances, taking into consideration— (AA) how existing funds from chapter 53 of title 49 and chapter 1 of title 23 are spent; and (BB) how long it may take to access additional needed funding; and (II) work with transit providers to create the maximum feasible impact of implementing transit priority measures in the most expeditious manner possible by— (aa) adding transit priority measures to all projects scheduled to begin construction not later than 365 days of the date of enactment of this subsection, including— (AA) all new construction and reconstruction or retrofit projects; and (BB) all maintenance projects and ongoing operations, such as resurfacing, repaving, restriping, or rehabilitation; and (bb) proposing amendments to the applicable transportation improvement program and statewide transportation improvement program to— (AA) ensure projects on rights-of-way identified as suitable corridors in formal requests include transit priority measures requested by transit providers; and (BB) prioritize implementing projects identified in formal requests by transit providers; and (ii) not later than 120 days before carrying out a project on a suitable corridor for which the owner of a public right-of-way is required to produce a plan under section 5303 or 5304, such owner shall alert any transit provider operating on that corridor or operating in the same jurisdiction as that corridor and work cooperatively with the transit provider to incorporate any transit priority measures requested by the transit provider into the project. (B) Formal request The term formal request means a request submitted to the owner of the public right-of-way that a suitable corridor is on, with copies sent to the applicable regional offices of the Federal Transit Administration and Federal Highway Administration, indicating— (i) the location at which the transit provider would like the right-of-way owner to implement transit priority measures; (ii) which transit priority measures such provider would like the right-of-way owner to implement; (iii) whether or not the requested transit priority measures— (I) would be immediately implementable through projects that would qualify for funding under section 5309; or (II) would set up the suitable corridor for the implementation of additional transit priority measures that would qualify for funding under section 5309; (iv) the order of priority for the implementation of requested transit priority measures; (v) an explanation of how the transit priority measures align with the program of projects required by sections— (I) 5307(b); (II) 5310(b)(6); and (III) 5311(2); (vi) the benefits for transit riders that they expect to see from the implementation of the transit priority measures; and (vii) the conditions that make the identified right-of-way a suitable corridor for transit priority measures. (C) Suitable corridors The term suitable corridors means— (i) the right-of-way and quarter-mile on either end of a right-of-way where— (I) at least six buses are scheduled to run each hour; or (II) there are at least 2 lanes in each direction for all-purpose vehicle travel; or (ii) any right-of-way where light rail vehicles are scheduled to run at a frequency of at least 6 vehicles per hour. (D) Transit-friendly intersections projects The term transit-friendly intersections projects means projects that include— (i) converting a stop-sign to a traffic signal; (ii) adding a turn arrow signal, which may or may not be bus-activated; and (iii) traffic signal priority. (E) Transit-friendly streets projects The term transit-friendly streets projects means projects that include— (i) the addition, improvement, or widening of sidewalks; (ii) the conversion of on-street parking spaces to designated loading zones; (iii) the consolidation or removal of underutilized or duplicative driveways; (iv) the installation of transit-only lanes that have restricted access for nonemergency vehicles, including— (I) curbside transit-only lanes; (II) median transit-only lanes with either left- or right-side door boarding; (III) offset transit-only lanes that are paired with either transit stop bump outs or boarding islands to ensure that parked vehicles do not prevent transit riders from onboarding or offboarding a transit vehicle; and (IV) dedicated transit-only lanes on limited-access highways; (v) the introduction of turn restrictions to prevent through-traffic by nontransit vehicles; and (vi) the conversion of a right-of-way to a transit mall, wherein transit vehicles are the only vehicles allowed, with limited exceptions for timed deliveries. (F) Transit-friendly transit stop projects The term transit-friendly transit stop projects means projects that include— (i) the installation of lighting, seating, shelter, signage that tracks arrival time of buses, and additional wayfinding; (ii) raising the height of the sidewalk and curb at a bus stop to make boarding easier; (iii) the construction of transit stop bump-outs or boarding islands; and (iv) the installation of bicycling parking, either protected or unprotected, around bus stops that are served by routes with at least four buses per hour. (G) Transit priority measures The term transit priority measures means changes to the design of a public right-of-way that reallocate space away from all-purpose vehicle traffic and towards transit vehicles through transit-friendly transit stop projects, transit-friendly streets projects, and transit-friendly intersections projects in order to improve the efficiency and reliability of transit service. (H) Transit vehicles The term transit vehicles means transit buses, light rail trains, and, when operated on limited access highways, intercity buses.. (b) Metropolitan transportation planning (1) More options before more lanes Section 134(h) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (4) More options before more lanes Before carrying out a project to construct new capacity, or maintain existing capacity through reconstruction, for single-occupancy passenger vehicles, a metropolitan planning organization shall submit to the Secretary, and make publicly available, documents that demonstrate that the metropolitan planning organization has completed all projects to implement transit priority measures requested by transit providers under section 5323(w). Not later than 15 days after the submission of such documents, the Secretary shall provide for a 180-day of public comment period on the veracity of the information provided in such submission. The Secretary shall approve or reject the submission not later than 365 days after such submission.. (2) Transit priority measures Section 5303 of title 49, United States Code is amended— (A) in subsection (i)(2), by adding at the end the following: (I) Transit priority measures An identification of the locations in which a transit provider may request the implementation of transit priority measures under section 5323(w).; and (B) in subsection (j)— (i) in paragraph (1)(A)— (I) in clause (ii), by striking and at the end; (II) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the end and inserting; and; and (III) by adding at the end the following: (iv) includes any projects for transit priority measures, as defined in section 5323(w), on public rights-of-way within the jurisdiction of the metropolitan planning area that are requested by transit providers;; and (ii) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following: (E) Transit priority measures The program shall include any projects requested by transit providers for transit priority measures, as defined in section 5323(w), on public rights-of-way within the jurisdiction of the metropolitan planning area that are requested by transit providers.. (c) Statewide and nonmetropolitan transportation planning (1) More options before more lanes Section 135(d) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (4) More options before more lanes Before carrying out a project to construct new capacity, or maintain existing capacity through reconstruction, for single-occupancy passenger vehicles, a State shall submit to the Secretary, and make publicly available, documents that demonstrate that the State has completed all projects to implement transit priority measures requested by transit providers under section 5323(w). Not later than 15 days after the submission of such documents, the Secretary shall provide for a 180-day of public comment period on the veracity of the information provided in such submission. The Secretary shall approve or reject the submission not later than 365 days after such submission.. (2) Transit priority measures Section 5304 of title 49, United States Code is amended— (A) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the following: (10) Transit priority measures The statewide transportation plan shall identify all areas on public right-of-way in which a transit provider may request the implementation of transit priority measures under section 5323(w).; and (B) in subsection (g)(5), by adding at the end the following: (I) Transit priority measures A statewide transportation improvement program shall include any projects requested by transit providers for transit priority measures, as defined in section 5323(w), on public rights-of-way.. (d) Urbanized area formula grants Section 5307(b) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following: (6) ensure that the final program of projects uses the authority granted to transit agencies under section 5323(w) to improve the ridership experience for the maximum feasible number of transit riders;.