Sponsors (14)
The bill increases transit riders' immediate access to the national suicide prevention hotline and raises public awareness of crisis resources, at the cost of new design, installation, and potential ongoing maintenance expenses that disproportionately burden small and rural transit providers and may constrain ad revenue options.
Public transit riders (including urban and rural riders, people with mental‑health needs, and people with disabilities) will see the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline information on vehicles and at facilities, improving immediate access to crisis help and potentially reducing suicides and emergency incidents.
Local transit agencies gain a simple, relatively low-cost tool to connect riders in crisis to mental-health services, which can reduce emergency responses and help transit staff manage crises more effectively.
Members of the public who are undiagnosed or untreated for mental-health issues will have increased awareness of national hotline resources, making them more likely to seek help.
Local transit agencies must absorb administrative, design, printing, and installation costs to create and deploy displays across vehicles and facilities, imposing new one-time and administrative expenses.
Small or rural transit providers will face proportionally higher costs and logistical challenges to update fleets or facilities within the one-year timeframe, straining limited budgets and capacity.
Requirements to avoid interfering with revenue-generating advertising could limit placement options for the displays and complicate compliance for agencies that rely on ad revenue.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires federally assisted transit providers to display the 24/7 national suicide prevention hotline visibly on vehicles or in facilities, with limited exceptions.
Requires public transit agencies that receive federal assistance to display the nationwide suicide prevention hotline (free, confidential, 24/7) where passengers can see it. Agencies may display the information on either all vehicles (rolling stock) or in all transit facilities, and short-term damage or vandalism is excused if they reasonably try to restore the display. The requirement must not interfere with revenue-generating advertising space and becomes effective one year after the law is enacted.
Official title: To amend title 49, United States Code, to require recipients of assistance under chapter 53 of such title to display information regarding the suicide prevention hotline on public transportation owned or operated by the recipient.
Introduced September 1, 2026 by Brittany Pettersen · Last progress September 1, 2026