House Highway Bill Includes Major Motorcoach Provisions and Opportunities for Further Action

The newly released proposal includes several major provisions that benefit the private motorcoach and group travel industries.

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s newly released surface transportation reauthorization proposal — the BUILD America 250 Act — contains several major provisions benefiting the private motorcoach and group travel industry and reflects a number of long-standing ABA priorities.

The five-year highway bill proposal, which would authorize federal transportation programs for FY2027–2031, includes significant policy changes aimed at improving operational fairness, expanding infrastructure access, strengthening rural intercity service, and enhancing the competitive position of private bus operators nationwide.

ABA’s advocacy team has reviewed the bill and identified several key points. The team is also sending a letter to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure indicating our support for several provisions in the proposal, as well as our recommended additions and clarifications to the proposed bill.

Key Industry Victories Included in the Bill

Maintains Existing Motorcoach Fuel Tax Rebate

The House bill maintains the existing federal fuel tax rebate for private motorcoach operators, protecting meaningful savings for companies across the industry. While ABA continues to support broader fuel tax equity for private operators, maintaining the current rebate is a meaningful outcome, especially for small and mid-sized companies. Based on estimates, the existing fuel tax rebate saves an average-sized motorcoach company more than $30,000 annually.

Toll Parity for Charter Buses

One of the most significant provisions in the legislation would require charter buses to receive the same treatment as public transit buses on toll facilities. For years, private operators have faced higher tolls than publicly operated systems on the same roads.

This provision takes an important step toward ensuring equal treatment for private motorcoach operators in congestion mitigation and tolling programs.

HOV Lane Access for Private Motorcoaches

The bill also clarifies that charter and scheduled-service buses are included in federal high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) facility provisions.

This change would improve travel times, operational reliability, and efficiency for motorcoach operators serving major metropolitan areas and congested travel corridors.

Faster Enforcement of Charter Bus Rule Violations

The legislation establishes a 120-day deadline for the Department of Transportation to issue determinations on charter bus rule complaints involving publicly subsidized transit agencies.

Private operators have long argued that unresolved complaints can drag on for years while unfair competition continues unchecked. The new timeline creates meaningful accountability and strengthens enforcement protections for private carriers.

Stronger Access to Transit Facilities

Another major provision strengthens “reasonable access” requirements for intercity bus operators seeking access to federally funded transit facilities and terminals.

The bill requires transit agencies to respond to access requests within 90 days and directs the Department of Transportation to establish formal access standards — a major step toward improving intermodal connectivity and terminal access for private operators.

Expanded Support for Rural Intercity Bus Infrastructure

The legislation expands eligibility for federal rural transit funding to support intercity bus facilities serving rural communities, including projects crossing state lines.

This provision is especially important for communities where private motorcoach operators are the only intercity transportation service providers.

Current Insurance Liability Requirements Unchanged

Importantly, the House bill does not include any increase in federal motorcoach insurance minimums, leaving the current $5 million liability requirement unchanged for private motorcoach operators.

ABA has consistently opposed efforts to dramatically increase federal insurance mandates without data demonstrating improved safety outcomes. Industry leaders have warned that higher insurance requirements would disproportionately harm small and mid-sized operators, increase costs, and reduce service in rural and underserved communities.

Keeping the current insurance standard in place represents another significant victory for the industry and preserves stability for operators nationwide.

Strengthening Enforcement Against Unsafe Operators

The bill also includes several provisions that support ABA’s priority of strengthening enforcement against unsafe or noncompliant “bad actor” operators. These include improvements to the federal complaint system for truck, moving, and bus companies, a DOT Inspector General review of FMCSA’s New Entrant Safety Assurance Program, and a new rulemaking committee to consider minimum registration standards for motor carriers of property and passengers.

The bill also requires motor carriers to designate a valid principal place of business, which could help address shell companies, reincarnated carriers, and fly-by-night operators that undercut responsible businesses and damage the industry’s safety reputation. ABA supports these provisions while continuing to advocate for passenger-carrier representation in implementation and stronger tools to ensure unsafe operators are identified and removed from the marketplace before they harm passengers or legitimate operators.

Support for PSP Expansion and DataQs Improvement

ABA also supports Section 5203, which would expand the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) and improve the DataQs system to help ensure more accurate, transparent, and timely safety data for motor carriers. Strengthening these programs supports responsible operators by improving the quality of federal safety information, helping carriers identify and address inaccuracies more efficiently, and enhancing overall confidence in the regulatory process. ABA believes these improvements will promote fairness, strengthen safety oversight, and help remove barriers created by incorrect or outdated data.

ABA Advocacy Priorities Moving Forward

While the House proposal includes several important wins for the motorcoach and group travel industry, significant work remains as both the House and Senate continue the surface transportation reauthorization process.

ABA will remain actively engaged with lawmakers and transportation stakeholders to strengthen the bill and address additional industry priorities during committee action, floor consideration, and House-Senate negotiations.

Key Areas of Focus

ABA will continue advocating for:

• Fuel Tax Equity for Private Motorcoach Operators
  Restoring full fuel tax rebate eligibility for private operators that contribute to the Highway Trust Fund but receive fewer direct federal benefits than publicly subsidized transportation modes.
• Additional Intercity Bus Program Reforms
  Expanding eligible uses for federal intercity bus funding, improving route development support, and eliminating outdated restrictions that limit service expansion.
• Strong Implementation of Transit Facility Access Standards
  Ensuring DOT develops clear and enforceable “reasonable access” standards that provide meaningful terminal access for private operators.
• Robust Enforcement of Charter Bus Protections
  Monitoring implementation of the new complaint timeline and strengthening oversight of publicly subsidized transit agencies competing in the private charter market.
• Protection Against Unnecessary Insurance Increases
  Continuing to oppose proposals to raise federal insurance minimums without evidence-based justification.
• Equal Access to Congestion Mitigation Programs
  Ensuring private motorcoach operators are fully included in tolling relief, managed lane access, and other congestion reduction initiatives.
• Rural Mobility and Infrastructure Investment
  Expanding opportunities for rural intercity bus infrastructure, terminal development, and service connectivity nationwide.
• Motorcoach Idling and Federal Safety Preemption
  Advancing a targeted federal solution to ensure local idling rules do not penalize motorcoach operators for federally required safety inspections, air brake and accessibility system operation, safe cabin temperatures, ventilation, or passenger boarding needs.

Other Major Policy Areas ABA Will Be Tracking

In addition to the core operational and competitive equity provisions affecting private motorcoach operators, the House bill also includes several broader transportation policy initiatives that could significantly affect the industry as implementation proceeds.

Motorcoach Safety Standards & Regulatory Development

The legislation directs the federal government to establish a new forward-visibility safety standard for newly manufactured motorcoaches. As rulemaking develops, ABA will work to ensure that any new standards are performance-based, practical for operators, and appropriately tailored to the passenger-carrying motorcoach environment.

Commercial Vehicle Infrastructure & Parking

New federal commercial motor vehicle parking grant programs included in the bill could create opportunities to improve driver safety, hours-of-service compliance, and operational efficiency. ABA will engage in implementation discussions to ensure motorcoach operators and passenger-carrying vehicles are fully considered in parking and layover infrastructure planning.

Domestic Manufacturing & Procurement Policy

The legislation includes restrictions on federally subsidized transit purchases from Chinese-controlled manufacturers and related procurement reforms. ABA will continue monitoring how these policies affect competitive fairness, domestic manufacturing, vehicle availability, and long-term fleet procurement costs for the private motorcoach industry.

Highway Trust Fund Revenue and Road Usage Charges

The bill includes new Highway Trust Fund revenue provisions, including federal registration fees on non-commercial electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. As drafted, these fees do not appear to apply to commercial motorcoaches. However, the bill also continues development of a national per-mile user fee pilot program, which could shape future transportation revenue policy. ABA will monitor these efforts to ensure any future road usage charge recognizes the efficiency of motorcoaches, including their per-passenger-mile benefits, congestion reduction, and role in rural and intercity mobility

Opportunities to Strengthen Motorcoach Fairness

Commercial Motor Vehicle Workforce Development

Section 5407 creates a commercial motor vehicle workforce development program for drivers, mechanics, and related occupations. While motorcoaches are commercial motor vehicles and could potentially benefit, the bill text appears heavily focused on trucking, freight movement, and emerging technology impacts on commercial drivers, without clearly referencing private motorcoach operators, passenger-carrying CMVs, passenger-endorsement CDL training, charter and intercity bus drivers, or motorcoach mechanics.

ABA will work with lawmakers to clarify that the program applies equally to the passenger commercial motor vehicle workforce (including private motorcoach drivers, passenger-endorsement CDL training, motorcoach mechanics, and small passenger carrier operators). This would ensure workforce grants, training partnerships, and DOT implementation guidance support motorcoach driver recruitment, passenger endorsement training, motorcoach maintenance needs, and small passenger carrier operators, rather than unintentionally becoming a trucking-only program.

Emergency Relief Working Group

Section 1318 creates an Emergency Relief Working Group to review how federal transportation programs respond to disasters and emergencies. The group includes federal agencies such as FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, and FEMA, as well as state DOTs, transit agencies, and other stakeholders.

ABA will explore opportunities to ensure the working group includes input from “private transportation providers that play a role in emergency response, evacuation, and disaster recovery, including private motorcoach operators.” Motorcoaches are often used to move large groups quickly during evacuations and emergencies, and their operational realities should be considered when developing federal emergency transportation policies.

Major Event Transportation and Charter Protections

Section 7104 authorizes $50 million annually for FY2027 through FY2031 for transportation assistance related to major international sporting events, including the Olympics, Paralympics, Special Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and FIFA Women’s World Cup. Because these events often require large-scale transportation coordination, ABA will track how this funding could be used for transit projects, planning activities, bus pooling arrangements, or other event transportation services.

ABA will explore opportunities to clarify Section 7104 so that nothing in the section exempts any recipient, subrecipient, project, planning activity, bus pooling arrangement, or transportation service from 49 U.S.C. § 5323(d) and 49 C.F.R. Part 604, the FTA charter service rule. While the bill already applies Chapter 53 requirements to funded transit projects, Section 7104 also covers broader planning and bus pooling activities that may not always be treated as traditional transit projects.

Forward-Visibility Standard for New Buses

The bill includes language that would direct NHTSA to establish a forward-visibility standard for newly manufactured buses. ABA is tracking this provision closely because the underlying safety concern and data are focused on public transit buses operating in dense urban environments, while the bill’s definition could apply more broadly to motorcoaches, minibuses, and other passenger vehicles. ABA will work to improve the language so that any new standard is appropriately targeted, practical for manufacturers and operators, and does not impose transit-focused design requirements on over-the-road motorcoaches where the safety data and operating environment may differ.

Autonomous Vehicle Rulemaking Representation

Subtitle E creates a federal framework for autonomous commercial motor vehicles, and Section 5402 expressly includes “passenger transportation by motorcoach” within that framework. However, while the rulemaking committee includes autonomous vehicle manufacturers and developers, law enforcement, safety advocates, the trucking industry, shippers, labor organizations, transit operators, first responders, insurers, and research/testing entities, it does not expressly include private motorcoach, charter, or intercity bus operators. ABA will work with lawmakers to explore opportunities to add private passenger motorcoach operators to the DOT/FMCSA rulemaking committee, so any future autonomous vehicle standards reflect the operational realities of carrying passengers, not just freight, transit, or technology-sector priorities.

Onboard Human Operator for Autonomous Motorcoaches

Section 5402 requires DOT’s safety standard to mandate a human operator inside an ADS-equipped commercial motor vehicle when it is transporting minors, such as school bus transportation, or placarded hazardous materials primarily. The bill also allows the Secretary to apply additional standards for other integrated service operations when necessary to maintain safety, but passenger motorcoaches are not automatically included in the mandatory human-operator requirement. ABA will explore opportunities to strengthen Section 5402 so passenger transportation by motorcoach is included in the onboard human-operator requirement, or at a minimum, so DOT must make a specific safety determination before allowing fully driverless motorcoach passenger service, given the need to address emergencies, evacuations, ADA boarding, onboard security incidents, baggage handling, breakdowns, and other passenger-service situations.

Strengthening Enforcement of Bus Terminal Access

The bill includes important language requiring recipients of federal transit assistance to respond to private intercity or charter operator requests for access to federally funded public transportation facilities and directing DOT to establish a reasonable access standard. ABA will work to ensure these access rights are meaningful in practice, including exploring whether additional language is needed to provide stronger enforcement tools when private operators are denied reasonable access or face excessive fees and conditions.

ABA will also evaluate whether Congress should add language similar to federal toll-parity protections, requiring federally funded bus terminals and transportation facilities to provide over-the-road buses access at the same rates, terms, and conditions as public transportation buses. Additional enforcement mechanisms, including a possible private right of action in federal court, could help ensure that access protections do not depend solely on agency enforcement and are available to private operators when federally funded facilities restrict or deny access.

Looking Ahead

The House T&I Committee is expected to markup the legislation on Thursday before the bill advances to the full House at a later date.

Current surface transportation authorization expires on September 30, meaning Congress will need to act by then on either a full reauthorization or an extension. While the Senate has not yet introduced its own surface transportation proposal and may ultimately pursue an extension rather than a full reauthorization package this year, this House bill still creates an important opportunity to advance ABA policy priorities, improve provisions affecting private operators, and position the industry for whatever legislative vehicle moves forward.

The current House proposal represents one of the strongest recent acknowledgments of the private motorcoach industry’s essential role in national mobility, tourism, emergency response, rural transportation, and economic development.

ABA will continue working with Congress to advance the industry’s priorities through the BUILD America 250 Act as well as other legislative opportunities that support the private motorcoach and group travel industry.