H.R. 8699

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8699 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8699

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require certain recipients of 
Federal assistance for public transit systems to establish a program to 
collect data on passenger harassment on public transit systems, and for 
other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 7, 2026

Mr. Min (for himself, Ms. Norton, and Mr. Johnson of Georgia) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require certain recipients of 
Federal assistance for public transit systems to establish a program to 
collect data on passenger harassment on public transit systems, and for 
other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Transit for All Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF ASSAULTS ON TRANSIT PASSENGERS IN PUBLIC 
TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PROGRAM.

(a) Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan.--Section 5329(d) of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) in subparagraph (I)(ii) by striking the period 
and inserting ``; and''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(J) in the case of a recipient receiving 
assistance under section 5307 that is serving an 
urbanized area with a population of 200,000 or more, a 
program to collect data on street harassment on public 
transit systems targeted at passengers, including--
``(i) establishing accessible digital and 
in-person reporting mechanisms to collect data 
from passengers who have experienced or 
witnessed an incident of street harassment on a 
public transit system operated by the 
recipient, including the ability to collect 
data on--
``(I) the frequency, type, 
location, and time of the incident 
experienced or witnessed by the 
passenger, including whether such 
street harassment was verbal 
harassment, a physical assault, or a 
sexual assault;
``(II) the demographic information 
of the passenger or passengers that 
experienced the incident, including 
race, ethnicity, religion, age, 
disability, income, primary language, 
sex, and sexual orientation;
``(III) the actual or perceived 
characteristics that may have served as 
the basis for the incident; and
``(IV) the impact of the incident 
on the passenger, including whether and 
in what way street harassment affects 
the use of public transit by the 
passenger;
``(ii) collecting data and conducting 
outreach in multiple languages to understand 
safety concerns and experiences of passengers 
with limited English language proficiency;
``(iii) in a timely manner after data is 
collected pursuant to clauses (i) and (ii), 
publishing on a publicly available website the 
data collected, excluding any personally 
identifiable information; and
``(iv) establishing protocols for 
responding to reports of street harassment 
received through the reporting mechanisms 
established in clause (i).''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Definition of street harassment.--In this subsection, 
the term `street harassment' means any word, gesture, or other 
action directed at an individual because of an actual or 
perceived personal characteristic of the individual, including 
a characteristic protected under title VI or VII of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) or the Age 
Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et 
seq.), in a public place, without the consent of the 
individual, in which the individual experiences such word, 
gesture, or action as intimidating or threatening to the safety 
of the individual.''.
(b) National Transit Database.--Section 5335 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (2) by striking ``and'';
(B) in paragraph (3) by striking the period and 
inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) any data on street harassment of passengers collected 
by the recipient pursuant to section 5329(d).''.
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