Section 1 of the bill increases the flexibility of the ozone season
transit grant program by: •
Allowing an eligible transit agency that operates in an area in which ozone levels are typically highest during a different period than June 1 to August 31 of a calendar year to designate a different period of the calendar year for its ozone season;
•
Allowing a grant recipient to retain any grant money that it does not spend in the year in which it is received for use in a subsequent year;
•
Clarifying that a grant recipient may use grant money for reasonable marketing expenses incurred to raise awareness of free service and increase ridership;
•
Clarifying that an eligible transit agency may use grant money to expand free services or free routes or increase the frequency of service on routes for which free service is already offered; and
•
Allowing the regional transportation district to use grant money to cover the full costs, rather than up to 80% of the costs, of providing at least 30 days of free transit on all services that it offers.
On and after September 1, 2023, section 3 requires the governing
body of the transportation planning organization for each transportation planning region to include at least one voting representative of a transit agency that provides transit service in the transportation planning region. The representative must be appointed by the transit agency or, if multiple transit agencies provide service in the transportation planning region, by agreement of the transit agencies. Section 2 defines the term transportation planning organization as used in section 3.
