This bill creates a new federal grant program to help state, county, and local governments, transit agencies, and eligible nonprofit partners implement fare‑free public transportation and expand access to reliable bus service. The program pairs coverage of lost fare revenue with funding for operational and street-level improvements aimed at low‑income and historically underserved communities.
Professionals in transit planning, municipal finance, and community advocacy should note the bill couples operational support (fuel, personnel, maintenance) with explicit equity requirements and community consultation in award applications. That combination shifts federal support from capital‑only grants toward underwriting day‑to‑day transit operations tied to policy goals like eliminating fare enforcement penalties.
At a Glance
What It Does
Establishes a competitive grant program administered by the Secretary of Transportation to subsidize lost fare revenue for fare‑free public transportation and to finance service improvements and safety/access projects. Awards require applicants to submit equity analyses, community engagement plans, and information about fare evasion enforcement practices.
Who It Affects
Eligible applicants include states, counties, local municipalities, transit agencies, private nonprofit rural operators, and partnerships among those entities; riders in low‑income and historically underserved census tracts are the intended beneficiaries. Transit planners, operations managers, and workforce/training teams will face new program requirements.
Why It Matters
The bill re‑frames federal transit support to underwrite recurring operating costs tied to policy outcomes (fare elimination and equity improvements) rather than solely funding capital projects. That makes DOT grant management, local budgeting, and service planning central to whether fare‑free policies are operationally sustainable and equitable.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The core of the bill is a DOT‑administered competitive grant program (branded "Freedom to Move Grants") that must begin awarding funds within a year of enactment. Grants are explicitly intended to offset lost fare revenue for local fare‑free programs and to finance improvements that make bus service safer, more frequent, and more reliable.
The statute requires recipients to use funds for both operational items (fuel, personnel, maintenance) and targeted capital or street‑level interventions (painted bus lanes, signal priority, bus stop accessibility, shelters, and signage).
Applicants must submit detailed applications that go beyond a simple budget. DOT will require an equity evaluation that quantifies transit and mobility gaps — including commute times, ridership disaggregated by mode and demographic group (youth, seniors, people with disabilities, low‑income), route lengths and average delays — and a community engagement plan showing consultation with transit advocates, disability advocates, labor, housing agencies, schools, and workforce boards.
Applications also must disclose current fare evasion enforcement practices (fines, criminal vs. civil treatment) and provide plans to eliminate criminalization of fare evasion.Grants run for five years, and the agency must award funds across both urbanized and rural areas. The law authorizes a substantial appropriation stream to support the program: $5 billion per fiscal year for five fiscal years (2026–2030).
Recipients must report progress; DOT will collect demographic and outcome data and track whether equity gaps identified in applications are closing. The statute narrows the definition of "public transportation" to exclude intercity rail and bus, charter, school buses, and similar services, focusing funds on regular, shared‑ride surface services open to the public or to specific segments by age, disability, or income.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Secretary must begin awarding grants within 360 days of enactment and run award periods on a competitive basis.
Each grant covers up to a 5‑year period and is intended to replace lost fare revenue while also funding operational and limited capital/service improvements.
Applications must include an equity evaluation with disaggregated ridership and commute metrics and a plan to meaningfully consult specified local stakeholders and advocates.
Applicants must disclose fare evasion enforcement policies (fines, civil vs. criminal treatment, and counts disaggregated by age, race, gender, and disability) and state how they will end criminalization of fare evasion.
The bill authorizes $5,000,000,000 per fiscal year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out the program.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
Designates the Act as the "Freedom to Move Act." This is administrative only, but it frames the policy purpose that follows and will appear in statutory citations and appropriation requests.
Declared purposes
Sets two explicit goals: (1) invest in state/county/local efforts to provide fare‑free transit, and (2) support expansion and improvement of safe, accessible, reliable mass transit to improve community livability. Those purposes are the touchstone for DOT’s discretionary grant criteria and later reporting expectations.
Grant program established; scope of support
Requires DOT to create the competitive Freedom to Move Grant program and to use it to cover lost fare revenue and to improve public transportation. Practically, DOT has discretion on award criteria within the statutory framework, but the language directs awards toward both operational subsidies and service improvements rather than only capital investments.
Application content and community engagement requirements
Mandates specific application elements: a plan to implement fare‑free access; a bus service improvement plan (including network redesign options and priorities for low‑income and underserved communities); a documented community consultation strategy listing stakeholders to be engaged; and an equity evaluation with quantifiable metrics. These requirements raise the administrative bar for applicants and embed community input and equity measurement into award decisions.
Grant duration, geographic distribution, and allowable uses
Grants are limited to 5‑year award periods and DOT must award across rural and urbanized areas. Allowable uses include operational costs tied to increased ridership (fuel, personnel, maintenance), staffing and training, bus stop and street infrastructure improvements, and network redesign activities. This dual focus forces applicants to balance recurring operating needs with one‑time service or infrastructure upgrades.
Definitions, reporting, and funding authorization
Provides statutory definitions (eligible entities, underserved communities, low‑income threshold at 150% of poverty, foster care youth, and an exclusion list for "public transportation") that shape eligibility and program focus. A DOT report requirement directs data collection on demographics and progress toward closing equity gaps within three years of fund disbursement. Congress authorizes $5 billion per year for FY2026–2030, creating a multi‑billion dollar funding stream contingent on appropriation.
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Explore Transportation in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Low‑income and historically underserved riders — The funding is targeted to communities in census tracts identified as low‑income and communities of color and requires equity analyses intended to prioritize service where gaps are largest.
- Transit‑dependent populations (seniors, youth, people with disabilities, foster care youth) — The statute mandates disaggregated tracking and outreach, which raises the likelihood that service changes and fare elimination will be designed with these groups in mind.
- Transit agencies in jurisdictions ready for fare‑free pilots — Agencies with plans to redesign networks or expand frequency can receive federal underwriting for both lost fares and increased operating costs, reducing local funding risk.
- Local workforce and labor — The bill explicitly contemplates hiring and training costs and consultation with labor unions, which can translate into funded positions and training programs tied to increased service.
- Community organizations and advocates — The application requires meaningful consultation and outreach plans, creating formal entry points for local advocates into project design and public awareness efforts.
Who Bears the Cost
- Federal budget/appropriations — The program relies on multi‑billion dollar annual authorizations; implementing it will require Congress to appropriate substantial new funds.
- Local and regional transit agencies — Agencies must prepare detailed equity analyses, community engagement plans, and assume responsibility for expanded operations, staffing, and maintenance once grants end or if federal funding lapses.
- Municipal planners and public works departments — Street redesign, signal priority, and bus lane projects require local permitting, design work, and sometimes capital match or right‑of‑way coordination.
- Fare collection vendors and systems operators — Eliminating fares reduces or eliminates revenue streams tied to farebox operations and may strand investments in fare technology unless repurposed.
- Small rural nonprofit operators — They become eligible but will face new administrative burdens applying competitively alongside larger agencies and may need partnerships to access funds.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between using federal dollars to remove price barriers and increase mobility for disadvantaged riders versus ensuring stable, long‑term funding for the day‑to‑day operations that make transit reliable. The bill incentivizes immediate access gains through federal underwriting, but that same approach can create fiscal cliffs for local providers and shifts hard choices about who pays for ongoing service from riders to taxpayers.
The bill pushes federal support toward covering recurring operating costs (lost fare revenue plus added operating demands) while also funding street‑level and service improvements. That mix improves the likelihood that fare‑free policies translate to usable service, but it raises questions about long‑term sustainability: a five‑year grant can seed a program, but many jurisdictions will struggle to replace that revenue source when the grant period ends.
DOT’s discretion in award criteria means outcomes will depend heavily on guidance and scorecards the agency issues.
The application and reporting requirements are data‑heavy. Applicants must compile disaggregated ridership and enforcement statistics and conduct equity evaluations; DOT must collect demographic outcome data.
Those demands improve accountability but will also create administrative costs and potential privacy considerations for small agencies. The mandate to end criminalization of fare evasion could require local ordinance changes and retooling of enforcement and social‑services responses, which are politically and legally complex at the municipal level.
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