Freedom to Move Act

Sponsor: Ayanna Pressley (Democratic-MA)July 23, 2025

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Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Creates grants to help cities offer fare-free public transportation and improve bus service.

This bill would create a new federal grant program to help states, counties, and cities offer public transportation without charging fares. It would also provide money to improve bus services, especially in communities that don't have good transit now. This means more people could ride buses for free and enjoy better, more reliable service.

What Would Change

Today, most public transportation services charge fares, and there is no federal grant program specifically for supporting fare-free transit or covering lost fare revenue. After this bill, the Department of Transportation would establish a competitive grant program with $5,000,000,000 authorized annually for five years. This would allow states, counties, and cities to offer fare-free public transportation and make significant improvements to their transit systems, especially in underserved communities.

Key Provisions

Creates a new federal grant program to help states and cities offer public transportation without charging fares.
Sets aside $5,000,000,000 each year from the government's budget years 2026 to 2030 to pay for these grants and transit improvements.
Allows grant money to be used for making transit free and for improving bus services, like safer stops, painted bus lanes, and hiring more staff.
Requires cities applying for grants to plan how they will end policies that criminalize people for not paying fares.
Prioritizes improving bus service and expanding access for low-income and historically underserved communities.
Requires the Department of Transportation to collect data on how well the program is closing transit gaps and serving different communities.

View on Congress.gov

HR 4719 · 119th Congress · July 23, 2025 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 8/10

Freedom to Move Act

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity