PATH Act

119th Congress Introduced by Mike Kennedy and 3 co-sponsors

The PATH Act lets federal rail funding decisions count ridership forecasts that use population density, growth, and development plans when judging project justification.

Introduced in House

What this bill would do

Short title: Promoting Access to Transit in High-Growth Communities Act, or the PATH Act.

Purpose: Amend the fixed guideway capital investment grants program (Section 5309) to explicitly allow and emphasize the use of ridership forecasting methods that account for population density, population growth, and development planning activities when determining whether a project is justified for federal funding.

Key provisions and changes

Amends Section 5309 of Title 49, United States Code, to broaden the criteria used to justify a project under the fixed guideway capital investment grants program.

Specifically authorizes the recipient’s justification to include:

Ridership forecasting methods that take into account population density.
Population growth rate.
Development planning activities described in MAP–21 (as codified in MAP–21’s notes to 49 U.S.C. 5303).

The bill directs that, in determining project justification, the most beneficial population factor (either density or growth rate) may be used for ridership forecasting, in addition to:

Current public transportation ridership in the corridor.
Development planning activities described in MAP–21 notes.

The changes apply to both the core justification language in subsection (d)(2)(B) and related language in subsection (e)(2)(B)(i) of Section 5309.

Who and what would be affected

Federal grants program: The fixed guideway capital investment grants (commonly associated with high-capacity transit projects, e.g., rail or fixed-guideway expansions) would explicitly consider more detailed ridership forecasting that incorporates demographic and development planning factors.

Applicants (state and local project sponsors): Benefit from explicit permission to use growth-oriented and density-based forecasting in project justification, potentially improving the case for funding in high-growth corridors.

Planning and transportation agencies: Encouraged to integrate population density, population growth projections, and development plans into ridership forecasts for grant applications.

Procedural and timeline aspects

Status: Introduced July 23, 2026; referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

No fiscal appropriations or deadlines are specified in the text provided; emphasis is on statutory criteria for project justification under the 5309 program.

The bill’s changes are limited to the evaluation standards used by the federal program; it does not create new funding levels or separate programs, but broadens acceptable forecasting methodologies.

Practical implications

Could improve competitiveness of projects in rapidly growing areas by allowing more nuanced ridership projections that reflect future development patterns.

Encourages alignment between transit investments and urban/land-use planning, potentially supporting more accurate long-term projections.

The emphasis on “most beneficial” population factor (density versus growth rate) provides flexibility to tailor forecasts to corridor-specific dynamics.

If you’d like, I can map this to a side-by-side comparison with the current statutory language (as of the last known version) and illustrate examples of how different forecasting methods might be applied in typical corridor scenarios.