Transportation for Reentry Act

(1) Access to free public transportation services increases the access that an individual recently released from prison has to a reliable mode of transportation.

(2) Access to a reliable mode of transportation—

(A) promotes the successful reintegration of a returning individual into the community;

(B) reduces the likelihood of recidivism;

(C) increases the ability of a returning individual to access community services; and

(D) helps a returning individual to follow up on referrals from their release plans and to meet initial parole requirements (if applicable).

Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

To be eligible for financial assistance under section 5307 or 5311, a covered recipient shall carry out a reentry service program to provide free public transportation to returning individuals.

A covered recipient shall provide the reentry service described in paragraph (1) to a returning individual for a 1-year period beginning on the release date of the returning individual.

In carrying out this section, a covered recipient shall—

(1) create a system for returning individuals to enroll in the reentry service under this section;

(2) instruct transportation staff on the operation of the reentry service;

(3) collect data on the number of returning individuals who use the reentry service and the frequency of use; and

(4) develop a system to ensure compliance with the 1-year period described in section (a)(2).

The Secretary may reimburse a covered recipient for the cost of providing to returning individuals the reentry service under this section.

The reimbursement that a covered recipient receives may include the costs incurred from the following:

(A) Development of the reentry service.

(B) Implementation of the reentry service.

(C) Operational costs of the reentry service.

(D) Engagement with technical assistance providers.

(E) Training on the implementation of the reentry service.

(F) Outreach to prisons and to the returning individual populations.

(G) Other uses integral to the successful implementation of the reentry service.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue regulations necessary to carry out this section, including regulations that—

(1) promote the coordination of providing technical assistance to a covered recipient;

(2) promote the marketing of the reentry service to ensure that incarcerated and returning individual populations are aware of the reentry service; and

(3) clarify the treatment of a returning individual who resides in different locations, including in different States, during the 1-year period described in subsection (a)(2).

For each year in which a covered recipient receives funds under this section, such recipient shall submit to the National Transit Database an annual report that details the following:

(A) The number of returning individuals who used the reentry service.

(B) The number of trips taken.

(C) An estimate of revenue forgone.

(D) Any other information that the Secretary determines appropriate.

For each such year, the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration shall summarize the data reported under paragraph (1) and submit to Congress a report on such data.

In this section:

The term returning individual means an individual who has been incarcerated for a period of not less than 1 year in Federal or State prison.

The term covered recipient means a recipient of financial assistance under section 5307 or 5311.

The analysis for chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Section 5338 of title 49, United States Code, is amended—

(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and

(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:

There shall be available from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund to carry out section 5341 $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

Section 5302(4) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (M) by striking or at the end;

(2) in subparagraph (N) by striking the period and inserting; or; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

(O) operating, planning, and outreach costs described in section 5341.

Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on implementation of section 5341 of title 49, United States Code, (as added by this section) that includes—

(1) details of the implementation and outcome of the program under such section; and

(2) the impact that providing returning individuals with access to the reentry service under such section has had on recidivism rates of participating returning individuals and on the reentry of such individuals into the community.

Section 5307(c)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—

(A) in subparagraph (K), by striking and at the end; and

(B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

(M) will comply with section 5341; and.

Section 5311 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

A recipient may receive a grant in a fiscal year only if the recipient certifies to the Secretary that such recipient will comply with section 5341.