TSA Commuting Fairness Act
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Would require the Transportation Security Administration to study whether the time its airport employees spend traveling between their duty posts and airport parking lots or transit stops should count as paid, on-duty work hours.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would direct the TSA Administrator to complete a feasibility study — within 270 days of enactment — and submit it to three congressional committees. The study would examine whether travel time TSA employees spend moving between their regular duty locations and airport parking lots or bus and transit stops should be counted as on-duty, compensable hours. The study must address travel time differences across small, medium, and large hub airports; average commute times; potential employee and agency benefits; technology options for tracking arrivals and departures; and estimated costs, including whether such hours would count toward retirement calculations.
The bill does not itself change pay rules or make that travel time compensable — it only requires TSA to study and report on the feasibility of doing so. Any policy change would require separate action by Congress or the agency.
Key provisions
- 1Would direct the TSA Administrator to submit a feasibility study to Congress within 270 days of enactment on treating airport-employee travel time as on-duty hours.
- 2Would require the study to assess travel time at small, medium, and large hub airports, and the potential benefits to employees and the agency.
- 3Would require the study to evaluate technology options — such as mobile phones and location data — for tracking employee arrivals and departures at parking lots and transit stops.
- 4Would require cost estimates for treating travel time as on-duty hours, including whether those hours would count as basic pay for retirement purposes.
Who would be affected
TSA employees who work at airport locations — particularly those who park off-site or use transit to reach their duty posts — and who currently travel unpaid between those transportation hubs and their work stations. Congressional oversight committees on homeland security and commerce would receive the resulting study.
Why it matters
For TSA airport workers, the gap between parking or transit drop-off and their actual duty post can add meaningful unpaid time to each shift, particularly at large hub airports. If the study ultimately supports a policy change, those employees could see higher compensation or retirement benefits — but the bill itself only compels a report, not a pay change.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- TSA Administrator must submit the feasibility study to Congress
How implementation would work
The TSA Administrator would conduct the study internally, considering data on travel times at small, medium, and large hub airports, average commute figures, technology options for tracking employee movement, and cost estimates including retirement implications. The completed study must be submitted to the House Committee on Homeland Security and two Senate committees no later than 270 days after enactment. No rulemaking, grant cycle, or enforcement mechanism is established by the bill itself.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Official CRS summary
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This bill directs the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to submit to Congress a study on the feasibility of treating as on-duty hours the time TSA employees working at airport locations spend traveling between regular duty locations, airport parking lots, and bus and transit stops.
Legislative subjects
Commuting; Congressional oversight; Government studies and investigations; Transportation and Public Works; Transportation employees