BUFFER Act (H.R.5216): eliminates the Federal Transit Administration’s arbitrary spare bus ratio cap, helping buses run on time even during extreme heat waves.
Eliminate the Federal Transit Administration spare bus ratio cap to help transit agencies keep buses running on time during extreme heat waves.
Occurrences
Evidence
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
H.R.5216 was sponsored by Rep. Dina Titus and introduced September 8, 2025. Congress.gov lists the latest action as referral to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit on September 9, 2025, with status Introduced. The bill would require DOT/FTA to allow eligible regional transportation planning organizations to increase the spare bus ratio to 30 percent after enactment.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Rep. Titus’s office said the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the Build America 250 Act and listed a Titus-championed provision: “BUFFER Act (H.R.5216): eliminates the Federal Transit Administration’s arbitrary spare bus ratio cap, helping buses run on time even during extreme heat waves.”
Assessments
Titus sponsored H.R.5216 and materially advanced the BUFFER Act provision by getting it incorporated into H.R.8870, the BUILD America 250 Act, which the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved on May 22, 2026. But as of August 24, 2026, the cited vehicles had not passed both chambers, become law, or produced FTA implementation eliminating the spare bus ratio cap. This is meaningful same-term legislative progress, not full delivery.