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H.R.1478 / 119th Congress

One Seat Ride Act

Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 21, 2025

One Seat Ride Act

This bill requires the Department of Transportation to conduct a study on the benefits of commuter rail passenger transportation and major obstacles to providing commuter rail passenger transportation that does not involve a transfer for passengers. The study must consider economic, logistical, and quality of life factors. It must also include a cost-benefit analysis of single-seat trips on the New Jersey Transit Raritan Valley line during peak hours and the impact such trips would have on other New Jersey Transit lines.

Read the summary on Congress.gov

Who introduced it

Rep. Kean, Thomas H. [R-NJ-7] · R–NJ

Committees

  • Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
1 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

  2. Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

  3. Introduced in House

  4. Introduced in House

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.

Source last updated: Apr 11, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

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Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze H.R.1478 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

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Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine H.R.1478 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

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Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine H.R.1478 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

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Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine H.R.1478 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

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Read the proposal in plain language

AI-generated · Source-checked by AI · Nov 1, 2026

Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-21 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.

What it would do

The proposed One Seat Ride Act would require the Transportation Secretary to study commuter rail benefits and obstacles to trips that passengers can make without changing trains. The study would examine economic, practical, and quality-of-life issues, with specific attention to peak-hour service on New Jersey Transit’s Raritan Valley line and effects on its other lines.

Check the sources
This Act may be cited as the One Seat Ride Act.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-21
The Secretary of Transportation shall conduct a study identifying the benefits of commuter rail passenger transportation and major obstacles to providing commuter rail passenger transportation that does not involve a transfer for passengers.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-21
(1) consider economic, logistical, and quality of life factors in analyzing the major obstacles to implementing single-seat trips on commuter rail passenger transportation for as many passengers as possible; and (2) include in such study an analysis of the costs and benefits with respect to single-seat trips on commuter rail passenger transportation on the New Jersey Transit Raritan Valley line during peak hours and the impact such trips would have on other New Jersey Transit lines.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-21

How it would work

The study would have to consider economic, logistical, and quality-of-life factors when examining obstacles to providing trips without transfers for as many commuter rail passengers as possible.

Check the source
(1) consider economic, logistical, and quality of life factors in analyzing the major obstacles to implementing single-seat trips on commuter rail passenger transportation for as many passengers as possible;
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-21

For New Jersey Transit’s Raritan Valley line, the study would have to analyze the costs and benefits of peak-hour trips without transfers, including their impact on other New Jersey Transit lines.

Check the source
(2) include in such study an analysis of the costs and benefits with respect to single-seat trips on commuter rail passenger transportation on the New Jersey Transit Raritan Valley line during peak hours and the impact such trips would have on other New Jersey Transit lines.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-21

If enacted, the bill would require the Secretary to submit the study report within one year after enactment to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.

Check the source
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report on the study required under subsection (a).
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-21

The bill would use the existing definition of “commuter rail passenger transportation” in section 24102 of title 49 of the United States Code. That definition is not reproduced in the supplied text.

Check the source
In this section, the term commuter rail passenger transportation has the meaning given such term in section 24102 of title 49, United States Code.
Official bill text · Introduced in House · 2025-02-21

What the record shows

The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated April 11, 2025, records introduction in the House and referrals to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee on February 21, 2025.

Check the source
Source snapshot updated 2025-04-11T12:28:54Z. 2025-02-21: Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. 2025-02-21: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 2025-02-21: Introduced in House
Official legislative record · 2025-04-11T12:28:54Z

Riders & Targeted Benefits

Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-21. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.

This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.

Riders

Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.

None identified in the reviewed text

No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version.

Earmarks

Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.

None identified in the reviewed text

No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish the contents of other versions or accompanying disclosure and committee materials.

Other targeted benefits

Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.

None identified in the reviewed text

No materially narrow exemption, carve-out, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. A geographically specific study requirement alone does not establish such a benefit. This conclusion is limited to that version.

What this analysis cannot establish

  • The supplied full text is the introduced House version dated February 21, 2025. The actions snapshot is dated April 11, 2025; these sources do not establish subsequent amendments, advancement, or enactment.
  • The referenced statutory definition of commuter rail passenger transportation is not supplied, limiting assessment of the study’s precise coverage.
  • No study results are supplied, so the evidence does not establish the costs, benefits, feasibility, or service effects of trips without transfers.

Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Apr 11, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI