Citing a waste of taxpayer dollars and taxpayer safety, U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced legislation recently that would heighten safety standards for public transit.
Hagerty’s bill, the Safe Transit Act, would incentivize public transit systems to adopt stronger crime prevention measures and create safety performance benchmarks, moves he said would ensure public transit systems are held to the same standards. The bill also withholds federal funding from transit systems that fail to meet the benchmarks proposed in the legislation and safety protocols.
“Too many Democrat-led cities and states take taxpayer dollars while letting crime run rampant on public transit. This must end,” said Hagerty. “My legislation would direct federal funding to communities that actually protect passengers and promote public safety. It’s time to put Americans’ safety first.”
Hagerty’s office said lax public transit safety measures waste millions in taxpayer dollars each year and post threats to transit users by not having adequate security protocols in place to keep passengers safe. In his legislation, every city that receives federal funding for transit would have to prove that it is protecting passengers and combatting crime.
The legislation would allow the U.S. Department of Transportation to withhold 100 percent of the federal funds to cities and local governments that fail to criminalize fare evasion, ban violent offenders from transit systems, or allow personal recognizance and cash-free release for transit crimes. Additionally, the legislation would require transit agencies in urban areas to invest at least 3 percent of federal formula funding into safety and crime prevention initiatives, including lighting improvements, security cameras, emergency call boxes, and protective barriers for bus drivers, and require all new federally funded buses and rail vehicles to be equipped with inward- and outward-facing security cameras and event recorders. The legislation would also establish binding nationwide performance standards for turnstiles, gates and fare collection infrastructure to stop fare jumpers.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we’ve used every tool in our toolbox to make transit systems safer, cleaner, and more family friendly. Our work has slashed fare evasion, increased law enforcement patrols, and reduced crime — including right here in our nation’s capital. But for the stubborn states, cities, and systems that refuse to meet basic safety standards, we need more flexibility to hold them accountable,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.