119th (2025–2027)
H.R. 3648
The Transit Captions Innovations Act directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide grants to public transit systems for deploying real-time transcription and translation technology on buses, trains, and other transit vehicles. This technology is designed to help three groups of riders: deaf and hard of hearing individuals who need captions, and people with limited English proficiency who benefit from translations. The bill authorizes $4 million in funding for fiscal year 2027, increasing gradually to $4.4 million by 2031, to support these accessibility improvements across the nation's transit systems. The legislation modifies existing federal transit grant programs to make language accessibility technology a eligible use of federal funding, ensuring that transit agencies can access support to implement these innovations.