Directs the Department of Transportation to award competitive five-year grants, known as Freedom to Move Grants, to various entities including states, local governments, transit agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
Aims to cover the lost fare revenue for implementing fare-free public transportation and to improve public transportation.
Grants are intended to support fare-free transit programs and efforts to enhance public transportation, especially in underserved communities.
Eligible uses of funds include improving bus service safety, reliability, and frequency; bus stop safety and accessibility; pedestrian and bike shelters; signage; painted bus lanes; signal priority systems; street redesign; operational costs for increased ridership; and conducting bus network redesigns.
Eligible entities for the grants include state, county, local municipalities, transit agencies, private nonprofit organizations engaged in public transportation in rural areas, or partnerships among these entities.
Defines underserved communities as those not served or infrequently served by existing bus routes, located in low-income and community of color census tracts.
Specifies that low-income individuals are those with family income at or below 150 percent of the poverty line.
Includes provisions for collecting data on the demographics of communities served and the progress towards closing transit equity gaps.
Authorizes $5,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to fund the program.
