I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3628 To require motor carriers to mitigate hardships due to unwarranted and excessive passenger delays and to assess fines to bolster motor carriers’ accountability to consumers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 9, 2019 Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CLAY, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. RUSH, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. RICHMOND, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. BASS, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To require motor carriers to mitigate hardships due to un- warranted and excessive passenger delays and to assess fines to bolster motor carriers’ accountability to con- sumers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Motor Carriers Ac- 4 countability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:16 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3628 IH SEC. 2. PASSENGER DELAYS IN INTERSTATE MOTOR CAR- 1 RIER TRANSPORTATION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 141 of 3 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 4 end the following: 5 ‘‘§ 14105. Passenger delays in interstate motor carrier 6 transportation 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date on which 8 a motor carrier operates a covered trip, each such motor 9 carrier shall adopt a contingency plan for excessive pas- 10 senger delays on covered trips. 11 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE.—Each motor carrier operating a 12 covered trip shall adhere to the terms of the plan adopted 13 pursuant to subsection (a). 14 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS.—A contingency plan described in 15 subsection (a) shall include the following conditions: 16 ‘‘(1) A motor carrier will not let passengers un- 17 dergo a covered delay unless there are safety-related 18 or security-related issues. 19 ‘‘(2) A motor carrier will provide adequate food 20 and water if passengers undergo a covered delay. 21 ‘‘(3) A motor carrier will ensure there are oper- 22 able lavatory facilities at stations. 23 ‘‘(4) A motor carrier will provide a full refund 24 of the price of a passenger’s ticket if a passenger 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:16 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3628 IH undergoes a covered delay and will provide the re- 1 mainder of the trip to the passenger without charge. 2 ‘‘(5) For a period of 2 years after the date of 3 any covered delay, a motor carrier will retain any 4 records containing the following information: 5 ‘‘(A) The length of such delay. 6 ‘‘(B) The cause of such delay. 7 ‘‘(C) Actions taken to minimize hardships 8 for passengers, including the provision of food 9 and water and the maintenance and servicing of 10 lavatories. 11 ‘‘(6) A motor carrier will include in the contin- 12 gency plan a statement about its compliance with 13 section 374.311 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula- 14 tions. 15 ‘‘(d) REQUIRED NOTIFICATIONS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A motor carrier operating 17 a covered trip shall notify passengers of— 18 ‘‘(A) a known delayed arrival of 1 or more 19 hours after the scheduled arrival time on a sin- 20 gle one-way ticket; 21 ‘‘(B) cancellations; and 22 ‘‘(C) diversions. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:16 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3628 IH ‘‘(2) TRAVEL STATUS.—A motor carrier oper- 1 ating a covered trip shall notify passengers of travel 2 status information— 3 ‘‘(A) in the boarding area of the station; 4 ‘‘(B) on the website of such motor carrier; 5 ‘‘(C) on the mobile application of such 6 motor carrier; and 7 ‘‘(D) through the telephone reservation 8 system of such motor carrier, upon inquiry by 9 any person. 10 ‘‘(3) UPDATE.—In the case of a covered delay, 11 a motor carrier shall provide passengers an update 12 on the delay at a frequency of not less than once 13 every 30 minutes. 14 ‘‘(e) PENALTIES.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 15 sion of law, the following penalties apply with respect to 16 this section: 17 ‘‘(1) A motor carrier is liable to the United 18 States for a civil penalty, in an amount to be deter- 19 mined by the Secretary, for a covered delay that is 20 unwarranted and unannounced. 21 ‘‘(2) A motor carrier shall pay a penalty de- 22 scribed in paragraph (1) not later than the date that 23 is 14 days after the date on which a covered delay 24 occurs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:16 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3628 IH ‘‘(3) The penalty described in paragraph (1) 1 shall be not less than $50,000. 2 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 3 definitions apply: 4 ‘‘(1) COVERED DELAY.—The term ‘covered 5 delay’ means a delayed arrival of 3 or more hours 6 after the scheduled arrival time on a single one-way 7 ticket of a covered trip. 8 ‘‘(2) COVERED TRIP.—The term ‘covered trip’ 9 means a trip on a motor carrier that is operating 10 such trip pursuant to scheduled passenger services 11 on a standard coach bus with 50 or more seats. 12 ‘‘(3) DIVERSION.—The term ‘diversion’ means 13 any unknown delays, including mechanical issues, in- 14 volvement in a car accident, or passenger emer- 15 gencies. 16 ‘‘(4) PASSENGER.—The term ‘passenger’ means 17 a passenger on a covered trip.’’. 18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap- 19 ters for chapter 141 of title 49, United States Code, is 20 amended by adding at the end the following new item: 21 ‘‘14105. Passenger delays in interstate motor carrier transportation.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:16 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS