Federal transit grants aim to remove transportation barriers to education for low-income students
H.R. 7099 — PATH to Education Act · Filed by Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) · 10 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 15, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill creates federal transit grants to help low-income students and Head Start families reach educational institutions. Public transit agencies partnering with community colleges, minority-serving institutions, career schools, rural colleges, and Head Start programs can apply for grants to add bus/rail routes, increase service frequency, or cover operating costs—with priority given to schools where over 25% of students receive Pell Grants. The bill funds this through $1–5 million annual set-asides (2027–2031) in existing transit programs.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward federal grant program funding public transit service to educational institutions, with explicit targeting of low-income student populations. It is a public investment in removing barriers to education.
What the text implies
- The bill creates parallel grant programs in two separate transit statutes (5307 and 5311) with identical definitions and eligibility criteria, potentially creating administrative confusion or duplication if not carefully coordinated.
- Funding is capped at $5M annually by 2031—modest relative to national transit needs, suggesting this may serve as a pilot or proof-of-concept rather than a comprehensive solution to transit-education access gaps.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
public transit agencies (operating grants and capital funding); community colleges and minority-serving institutions (improved student access and recruitment potent