HR 8699 — Safe Transit for All Act of 2026

Bill Text

• Introduced Introduced in House Current html May 07, 2026

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill requires public transit systems receiving federal assistance to collect data on passenger harassment and amend public transportation safety plans accordingly.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (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--

  This adds a requirement for certain transit agencies to implement a data collection program on street harassment.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (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--

  This specifies that data collection mechanisms must be accessible for reporting incidents of street harassment.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (1) 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;

  This mandates detailed data collection on incidents of harassment.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (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;

  This adds a requirement to collect demographic data of victims to better understand the impacts of harassment.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (III) the actual or perceived characteristics that may have served as the basis for the incident; and

  This ensures data includes characteristics that might have contributed to incidents of harassment.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (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;

  This requires an assessment of how harassment impacts public transit usage.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (ii) collecting data and conducting outreach in multiple languages to understand safety concerns and experiences of passengers with limited English language proficiency;

  This mandates language-sensitive data collection efforts to accommodate passengers with limited English proficiency.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (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;

  This ensures transparency in data collection by requiring public access to the data collected.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (iv) establishing protocols for responding to reports of street harassment received through the reporting mechanisms established in clause (i).

  This adds a requirement for protocols to handle harassment reports.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5335

  (4) any data on street harassment of passengers collected by the recipient pursuant to section 5329(d).

  This amendment requires the collection of passenger harassment data to be included in the National Transit Database.

• 49 U.S.C. § 5329

  (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.

  This establishes a clear definition of street harassment, clarifying the scope of what is being monitored.

Action History

1. May 07, 2026

   Introduced in House

2. May 07, 2026

   Introduced in House

3. May 07, 2026

   Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Sponsors

• Eleanor Holmes Norton · Cosponsor
• Henry C. "Hank" Johnson · Cosponsor
• André Carson · Cosponsor
• Timothy M. Kennedy · Cosponsor
• Dave Min · Primary

Subjects