[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 160 (Tuesday, August 19, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49146-49151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19605]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[Docket No. FTA-2014-0006]
Notice of Request for Comments on Updates to National Transit
Database Information Collection
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of request for comments.
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This notice announces the intent of the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) to revise certain aspects of National Transit
Database (NTD) reporting guidance as described in the NTD Reporting
Manual. The proposed revisions are prompted, in part, by enactment of
the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). The
changes in this notice primarily relate to urbanized area transit
providers. FTA is seeking public comment before implementing these
changes to 49 U.S.C. 5335 National Transit Database.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 18, 2014. Any comments
filed after this deadline will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments by only one of the following
methods, identifying your submission by Docket Number (FTA-2014-0006)
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Submit electronic comments and
other data to http://www.regulations.gov.
U.S. Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations; U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket
Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building, Ground Floor, at 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations, U.S. Department of
Transportation, at (202) 493-2251.
Instructions: You must include the agency name (Federal Transit
Administration) and Docket Number (FTA-2014-0006) for this notice, at
the beginning of your comments. If sent by mail, submit two copies of
your comments. Due to security procedures in effect since October 2001,
mail received through the U.S. Postal Service may be subject to delays.
Parties submitting comments should consider using an express mail firm
to ensure their prompt filing of any submissions not filed
electronically or by hand. If you wish to get confirmation that FTA
received your comments, you must include a self-addressed stamped
postcard. All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. You
may review U.S. DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement published in the
Federal Register on April 11, 2000, at 65 FR 19477-8 or http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Gates, National Transit Database
Program Manager, Office of Budget and Policy, (202) 366-1794, or email:
[email protected]
Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The National Transit Database (NTD) is the Federal Transit
Administration's (FTA's) primary database for statistics on the transit
industry. Congress established the NTD to ``help meet the needs of . .
. the public for information on which to base public transportation
service planning . . .'' (49 U.S.C. 5335). Currently, 821 transit
providers in urbanized areas report to the NTD through its online
reporting system. Each year, performance data from these submissions
are used to apportion over $7 billion of FTA funds for Urbanized Area
Formula (Section 5307) grants, Rural Area Formula (Section 5311)
grants, Tribal Transit Formula grants, Bus and Bus Facilities Formula
(Section 5339) grants, and State of Good Repair (Section 5337) grants.
These data are made available on the NTD Web site at www.ntdprogram.gov
for the benefit of the public, transit systems, and all levels of
government. These data are also used in the annual National Transit
Summaries and Trends report, the biennial Conditions and Performance
Report to Congress, and in meeting FTA's obligations under the
Government Performance and Results Act. Reporting requirements are
governed by a Uniform System of Accounts (USOA) and Reporting Manuals
that are issued each year. Both the USOA and the Reporting Manual are
available for review on the NTD Web site at www.ntdprogram.gov.
[[Page 49147]]
Every year, FTA refines and clarifies reporting requirements for
the NTD in an ongoing effort to improve our reporting system, to be
responsive to the needs of transit providers reporting to the NTD, and
to address the needs of the transit data user community. This notice
proposes a number of updates to the NTD Urban Reporting Manual
necessary to implement policy changes established by the Moving Ahead
for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), to clarify ambiguous
reporting guidance, and to eliminate unnecessary reporting
requirements.
II. Background
This notice proposes various changes to the requirements for the
Urbanized Area Systems reporting to the NTD. These changes are
primarily updates to the guidance in the NTD Reporting Manual, and FTA
proposes that these changes will take effect for the FY 2014 data
reporting cycle, which will begin this Fall. These changes do not apply
to rural transit systems reporting through the NTD Rural Module. The
proposed changes are as follows:
A. Clarification for reporting subset data on ADA paratransit services
B. Clarification on the reporting of contractual relationships
C. Updates to definition of the bus rapid transit mode
D. Guidance for service on HOT lanes
E. Updates to the definition of commuter service and allocation of data
attributable to an urbanized area
F. Proposed elimination of consolidated reporting and update of small
systems waiver reporting
G. Clarification on consistent use of transit system names and
organization types
I. Policy clarification allowing delegation of CEO certification
responsibility
J. Elimination of unnecessary reporting requirements
K. Updated guidance for sampling of passenger miles
L. Expansion of capital asset reporting required by MAP-21
Although this notice proposes an expansion of capital asset
reporting in the NTD, it is independent of the separate rulemaking
process that is underway to define FTA asset management guidance and
requirements. It is, likewise, not a part of transit safety regulatory
rulemaking or any other FTA rulemaking activities. Nothing in this
notice should be construed as being a preliminary activity that will
eventually lead to new FTA regulations.
III. Proposed Changes to National Transit Database Reporting
A. Clarification for Reporting Subset Data on ADA Paratransit Services
Urbanized area transit systems that operate demand response (or
demand response taxi) service must report their total number of annual
unlinked passenger trips and their total annual operating expenditures
for that mode to the NTD. These urban transit systems must also report
the portion of their total demand response passenger trips and total
demand response operating expenses that are attributable to the
requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA.)
The ADA requires public agencies operating fixed-route transit
systems to provide complementary and comparable ADA paratransit
services to eligible persons with disabilities between points that are
within \3/4\-mile of their fixed routes or between a point that is
within a \3/4\-mile radius of one rail station to a point within a \3/
4\-mile radius of another rail station. Many agencies provide
additional demand-responsive (dial-a-ride) service that is beyond the
minimum required under the ADA by serving a larger service area than
the above minimums or by providing service to a broader segment of the
public than required by the ADA. These additional services do not meet
the legal definition of ADA paratransit. Other transit systems provide
demand-responsive service to the general public, or provide demand-
responsive service with no fixed-route service at all.
Service data required by the ADA have been reported inconsistently
to the NTD in the past. In order to generate consistent and useful data
from these questions, FTA is proposing the following guidance for how
urban transit systems should report these data. This guidance only
applies to full reports from urbanized areas; it does not apply to
rural reporting, nor to reporting under a small systems waiver.
(1) Transit systems that operate demand response services that are
not intended to fulfill the ADA paratransit requirements of any fixed
route service should report that zero (0) of their service and
operating expenses are attributable to ADA requirements.
(2) Transit systems that operate demand response services to
fulfill the ADA paratransit requirements of a fixed-route service must
report their unlinked trips provided to all eligible paratransit
passengers (eligibility determined by local policy), excluding only the
following:
(i) Trips that are sponsored by a third party (e.g. Medicare-
sponsored trips);
(ii) Trips whose origin or destination (or both) are outside the
minimum service area required by the ADA; and,
(iii) Trips taken during times when the fixed-route system is not
operating.
(3) Transit systems that operate demand response services to
fulfill the ADA paratransit requirements of a fixed-route service would
then report their operating expenses for such services as attributable
to the ADA on the same basis. In general, if a transit system does not
have an accounting system for tracking this, then it may report on the
basis of the percentage of total demand response trips that were
identified as ADA trips, per the above criteria. That is, if ADA trips
were 76% of all demand-response mode trips, then ADA operating expenses
would be reported as 76% of total demand-response mode operating
expenses.
FTA seeks comment from transit systems on how difficult it would be
to report data based on the above criteria, particularly #2.
You should comment on whether transit systems that provide paratransit
service beyond the minimum requirements under the ADA (for example, to
and from points that are outside of the minimum \3/4\-mile service
area) would be able to reasonably differentiate such services.
B. Clarification on the Reporting of Contractual Relationships
Public transportation services reported to the NTD by an urbanized
area transit system are classified as either directly operated (DO) by
a transit provider or as purchased transportation (PT) service from a
third-party contractor. Services provided by a purchased transportation
contract are reported to the NTD in the name of the buyer. FTA would
like to clarify that in order for service to be classified as PT, the
service must meet three criteria:
(1) The contract or agreement must provide for the buyer to be
responsible for the fully-allocated cost of providing the service,
either through direct contract payments to the seller, or else through
allowing the seller to retain fare and advertising revenue; (e.g. the
seller of the service is not using any outside funding sources to
support the service, and if the seller provides services to other
buyers, then the seller must maintain separate accounting records for
each service);
(2) The service must be operated in the name of the buyer; (e.g.
the presence of the seller must generally be transparent to the riding
public); and,
(3) The seller must operate and manage the service (e.g.
Professional Employer Organization (PEO) services are not considered to
be purchased
[[Page 49148]]
transportation, a grantee using a PEO would report the service to the
NTD as directly operated).
To be clear, public transportation services that do not meet the
above criteria may still be reported to the NTD. However, these
services would instead be reported to the NTD as directly operated, and
would be reported by the organization that is actually operating the
service.
C. Updates to Definition of the Bus Rapid Transit Mode
The NTD introduced the new Bus Rapid Transit (RB) mode in the 2011
Report Year. However, MAP-21 provides a new legal definition of bus
rapid transit, which includes requirements such as separated right-of-
way along a majority of the route during peak periods and features that
emulate the services provided by rail fixed guideway public
transportation systems. MAP-21 also directs the Secretary to determine
other features that produce high-quality public transportation services
that emulate the services provided by rail fixed guideway public
transportation systems.
To be consistent with the new provisions from MAP-21, on March 3,
2014, FTA published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comment on
Circular FTA C 5300.1 State of Good Repair Grants Programs: Circular
and Application Instructions. In that draft circular FTA proposed the
following definition of the bus rapid transit (RB) mode as a service
that meets five criteria. These criteria are re-published below in
order to provide additional notice to impacted parties, in particular
with regards to changing the definition of the BRT Mode in the NTD.
However, comments on whether the below criteria should be used for
funding eligibility in the State of Good Repair Formula Program will be
handled through notice and comment on the circular. The five criteria
are as follows:
(1) Over 50 percent of the route operates in a separated right-of-
way dedicated for transit use during peak periods; (However, other
traffic may make turning movements through the separated right-of-way.)
(2) the route has defined stations that are accessible for persons
with disabilities, offer shelter from the weather, and provide
information on schedules and routes;
(3) the route offers faster passenger travel times through
congested intersections by using active signal priority in separated
guideway, and either queue-jump lanes or active signal priority in non-
separated guideway;
(4) the route offers short headway, bi-directional, service that is
provided for at least a 14 hour span on weekdays and a 10 hour span on
weekends; (Short headway service on weekdays, consists of maximum
headways that are either: 15 minutes or less throughout the day; or, 10
minutes or less during peak periods and 20 minutes or less at all other
times. Short headway service on weekends consists of maximum headways
that are 30 minutes or less for at least 10 hours for the day.) and,
(5) a separate and consistent brand identity applied to stations
and vehicles.
Bus services that implement features of bus rapid transit systems,
but which do not meet all of the above criteria, particularly corridor-
based bus rapid transit projects, would still be reported to the NTD
under the fixed-route bus (MB) mode.
D. Guidance for Service on HOT Lanes
On January 11, 2007, FTA published a final policy on the inclusion
of transit service operated on High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes in the
apportionment of formula funds. In this policy, FTA said that it would
allow transit service operated on HOV Lanes that were reported to the
NTD as of January 11, 2007, and were converted to HOT Lanes after that
to be counted as transit service operated on an HOV Lane. FTA indicated
at that time that this policy was intended to be temporary in
anticipation of further statutory direction from Congress.
With the passage of MAP-21, Congress repealed the Fixed Guideway
Modernization Program and replaced it with a new State of Good Repair
Formula Grant Program, which includes a High-Intensity Motorbus (HIMB)
service tier for transit service operated on HOV Lanes. This new
formula does not make any reference to transit service on HOT lanes.
Thus, FTA proposes, beginning with the Fiscal Year 2015 apportionment,
to no longer consider transit service operated on any HOT lane to be
the same as transit service operated on an HOV lane, for purposes of
the formula apportionment for the High-Intensity Motorbus Tier.
Comments on this were solicited in the previously mentioned March 3,
2014, FTA Federal Register notice, C 5300.1 State of Good Repair Grants
Programs: Circular and Application Instructions. FTA is currently
reviewing the comments received and is not seeking additional comments
on the impact of this policy change on the State of Good Repair Formula
Program. However, FTA is proposing to continue to collect the amount of
transit service operated on HOT Lanes in the NTD for future use. FTA is
accepting comments on this proposal to continue collecting data on
transit service operated in HOT Lanes through this notice.
E. Updates to the Definition of Commuter Service and Allocation of Data
Attributable to an Urbanized Area
The definition of Public Transportation at 49 U.S.C. 5302 excludes
intercity passenger rail operated by Amtrak, and also intercity bus
service. FTA proposes to amend the definition of public transportation
in the NTD Reporting Manual to implement this definition, and to
clarify the distinction between commuter and intercity services as
follows:
Commuter rail is local passenger rail transportation usually having
multiple-ride tickets and having, at a minimum, operations during
morning and evening peak periods. Commuter rail is characterized by
service with relatively long distances between stops, connecting a
central city with outlying areas. Local transportation generally means
that 50% or more of the passengers boarding at each key rail station
over the full route must make a same-day return trip; otherwise, the
service is intercity service. A key rail station is a station at the
end of a line, a major transfer point, or one that otherwise accounts
for a substantial portion of boardings.
Commuter rail excludes services provided by Amtrak; services
provided by Amtrak are considered to be intercity rail. Provided by
Amtrak means any service that uses one or more of the following: Amtrak
branding, Amtrak schedules, Amtrak tickets, Amtrak's customer loyalty
program, or Amtrak's priority access to Class I railroads. Services
provided pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 24702 are also considered to be provided
by Amtrak, whereas services provided pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 24101(a)6
and 24104(f) are not. However, services that were reported to the
National Transit Database as of the 2012 Report Year, but which are
excluded from the definition of commuter rail, may continue to report
to the NTD and their data will continue to be treated as commuter rail
only for purposes of the apportionment of, and eligibility for, FTA's
formula grant programs.
Commuter bus is local fixed-route bus transportation primarily
connecting outlying areas with a central city. Commuter bus is
characterized by usually using a motorcoach (aka over-the-road-bus),
having multiple trip tickets, multiple stops in outlying areas, limited
stops in the central city, and
[[Page 49149]]
having at least five miles of closed-door service. Local transportation
generally means that 50% or more of the passengers boarding at each key
bus stop over the full route must make a same-day return trip;
otherwise, the service is intercity service. A key bus stop is a bus
stop at the end of a line, a major transfer point, or one that
otherwise accounts for a substantial portion of the boardings.
A determination that a service qualifies as public transportation
will ordinarily be made when a system first reports to the NTD. This
determination will usually be based on a ticket analysis or rider
survey conducted by the transit system. This analysis or survey must be
based on the totality of the service (i.e. the full length of the
route, including all runs on all days of the week across the entire
year). When a transit system's route structure changes, by extension or
other significant restructuring, the transit system must submit a new
analysis or survey to FTA. If it has been more than five years since
the last analysis or survey, FTA may require the transit system to
submit a new one.
For purposes of Federal funding allocations in the NTD, only local
transportation may normally be reported as attributable to and serving
an urbanized area. When intercity service provided by rail, or other
non-bus modes (intercity bus is completely ineligible per 49 U.S.C.
5302), is reported to the NTD, only the miles of the service physically
located within the boundaries of the Urbanized Area may be reported as
being attributable to that area.
MAP-21 established a new provision at 49 U.S.C. 5336(b)(2)(E) for
how to handle services not attributable to an urbanized area for
purposes of the formula apportionment. This provision will be applied
to intercity non-bus modes that are not able to allocate their services
outside the boundaries of an urbanized area as attributable to that
urbanized area. This provision will also be applied to urbanized area
passenger ferry services that connect two points located outside the
boundary of the urbanized area, and thus are not attributable to the
urbanized area.
Finally, FTA wishes to clarify the instructions in the Reporting
Manual regarding the allocation of transit service between multiple
areas. Transit service classified as commuter service that connects one
or more urbanized areas or that connects rural areas with one or more
urbanized areas must be allocated to the urbanized area that is
primarily being served. Each transit agency may determine what
proportion of service to allocate to each urbanized area according to
some reasonable methodology. Normally this determination is based on
the percent of unlinked passenger trips on a route originating or
terminating in the urbanized area, or both. For example, if 100% of the
passengers on the service either board or alight the service in the
Metropolis Urbanized Area, then it is reasonable to say that 100% of
the service ``serves'' the Metropolis Urbanized Area. As another
example, if only 85% of passengers on a route board or alight in
Urbanized Area A then it would not be reasonable to report that 100% of
the route serves Urbanized Area A. It would only be reasonable to
attribute, at most, 85% of the service on the route to Urbanized Area
A. The remaining 15% of the service must be attributed to the other
geographical areas served. Reasonable alternative methodologies for
establishing which urbanized areas are primarily being served that are
based on available data (such as ticket or survey analysis) may also be
used if approved by NTD staff in the efile of the NTD Online Reporting
System.
F. Proposed Elimination of Consolidated Reporting and Update of Small
Systems Waiver Reporting
FTA proposes to eliminate consolidated reports and have all
urbanized area transit providers report directly to the NTD. FTA has
previously allowed some urbanized area transit agencies to submit
consolidated NTD reports for other transit providers. Typically this
involves a large municipal operator reporting for smaller fixed-route,
demand-response, and vanpool services in their area. These exceptions
have been allowed to minimize the reporting burden on small transit
operators that might not otherwise report to the NTD. In particular, by
consolidating their NTD Reports, small transit operators were able to
avoid the burden of filing separate reports, as well as the burden of
reporting operating expenses by object class. However, consolidated NTD
reporters have been still required to conduct passenger mile sampling,
and have been still required to report to the Monthly Module and the
Safety and Security Module.
Since 2011, FTA has reduced reporting requirements for urbanized
area transit systems with 30 or fewer vehicles through the small system
waiver. These systems are exempt from sampling for passenger miles and
report only summary financial and operating statistics, similar to what
is required of rural subrecipients. They also report contact
information, funding allocation information, a revenue vehicle
inventory, data on stations and maintenance facilities, and total
injuries, fatalities, and safety incidents. FTA requires their reports
to be reviewed by an auditor and certified by the CEO. Systems using
the small systems waiver are exempt from the reporting requirements for
the Monthly and Safety & Security Modules.
There are currently fewer than ten consolidated reporters in the
NTD. However, consolidated reporting makes it difficult to validate and
assure the accuracy of NTD data. It complicates NTD data presentation
and makes it harder to use the NTD to answer basic questions about the
transit industry. With the introduction of the small systems waiver in
the 2011 reporting cycle, small urban transit systems can now enjoy
reduced reporting requirements without having to participate in a
consolidated report. In fact, small transit systems that currently
participate in a consolidated report will actually be required to
provide less data under this change, as a small systems waiver will
eliminate the requirement to report passenger miles and monthly
operational statistics. Under this proposal, reports for each transit
system would have to be filed under a unique NTD ID number and
consolidated reports would no longer be allowed.
Additionally, FTA wishes to clarify the requirements for a small
systems waiver report to require that a reporter must use a B-30 form
to identify each contractor used for purchased transportation service
(see above), and must also use a D-10 Form to certify their data at the
end of their report.
G. Clarification on Consistent Use of Transit System Names and
Organization Types
The reporting of organization names in the NTD has been
inconsistent. FTA is proposing that the name and organization type on
the B-10 form must now match the total revenues and total expenses
reported on the F forms. That is to say that an NTD reporter must
include the total revenues and total expenses for the organization
identified on the B-10 form when completing the F-Forms. Further, FTA
is proposing that the responsible certifying official on the B-20 form
must be a direct employee of the reporting organization, and the
independent auditor statements must be done on the basis of the
reporting organization.
[[Page 49150]]
H. Policy Clarification Allowing Delegation of CEO Certification
Responsibility
The formal guidance for the NTD has historically required that the
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or equivalent officer of a reporting
entity, must submit the NTD report and certify its accuracy. This
proposed policy would formally allow the CEO (or equivalent officer) to
delegate those duties to another individual within the organization.
This delegation shall be indicated by submission of a delegation
letter, signed by the CEO on organization letterhead, naming the
individual who will act in the CEO's name for this purpose. This letter
will be attached to the report when it is originally submitted and will
remain valid for subsequent reporting years as long as both the CEO and
the designated official continue to hold their respective positions.
This process is intended to simplify the submission process but does
not change the CEO's overall responsibility for the accuracy of data
submitted in the report.
I. Elimination of Unnecessary Reporting Requirements
In its ongoing efforts to streamline NTD reporting requirements and
to eliminate unnecessary data collection FTA is proposing to eliminate
the requirement for rail systems to report vehicle revenue miles,
vehicle revenue hours, unlinked passenger trips, and passenger miles
traveled for morning peak and evening peak periods. FTA is no longer
using these data and has determined that this data collection is
unnecessary. This will align the service data reporting requirements
for rail modes with other modes.
FTA also proposes to eliminate that B-60 and B-70 forms for
identifying funds passed from one public entity to another public
entity. The clarifications to the reporting of purchased transportation
proposed above will render these forms unnecessary, and FTA will no
longer require these data.
J. Updated Guidance for Sampling of Passenger Miles
FTA proposes to withdraw several outdated Urban Mass Transportation
Administration (UMTA) Circulars that remain in effect. In particular,
FTA proposes to withdraw UMTA C2710.1A, UMTA C2710.2A, and UMTA
C2710.4A, which relate to procedures for conducting statistical samples
to collect passenger mile data. FTA proposes to replace these Circulars
with the NTD Sampling Manual, which has been in use as optional
guidance for several years now. Withdrawing these outdated circulars
would make the NTD Sampling Manual permanent guidance for procedures on
sampling for passenger miles.
In addition, FTA proposes to withdraw UMTA C2710.6 and UMTA
C2710.7. Both of these are outdated circulars that have been superseded
by the NTD Reporting Manual. The texts of these circulars, as well as
the NTD Sampling Manual may be reviewed at www.ntdprogram.gov.
K. Expansion of Capital Asset Reporting
Currently, the NTD only collects asset inventory information on
revenue vehicles. The NTD just collects summary counts for other asset
categories, such as maintenance facilities and fixed guideway. For some
assets, such as signaling and telecommunications systems, NTD collects
no data at all. FTA proposes to collect additional asset inventory data
to remedy this situation and to meet the baseline asset condition
reporting requirements required by MAP-21. These changes are proposed
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5335(c), which requires grantees to report to the
NTD any information relating to a transit asset inventory or condition
assessment conducted by the recipient; and pursuant to 49 U.S.C.
5326(b)(3), which establishes new requirements for reporting on the
condition of assets to FTA.
The proposed NTD Asset Inventory Module will support collection of
national-scale information about the quantity, replacement values, and
condition of transit capital assets. Data reported to this module will
come from transit agencies' asset inventories. Assembling a nationwide
inventory of asset conditions will improve FTA's ability to project
future costs for the replacement and renewal of transit capital assets
as reported in the Department of Transportation's biennial Conditions
and Performance Report to the Congress. The information reported in the
module will facilitate analysis using both the Federal version of the
Transit Economic Requirements Model (TERM), the analysis tool used for
Conditions and Performance Report investment scenarios, and for TERM-
Lite, a capital needs tool based on the Federal version that is
designed for use by local agencies. This proposal is not intended to
establish a definition of state of good repair nor define official
performance measures. Parties interested in these topics should look
for them to be addressed in a future FTA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM).
Beginning with the 2015 NTD reporting cycle (beginning September
2015), a new `Asset Inventory Module' (AIM) and associated updates to
NTD's Annual Reporting Manual will be added to FTA's annual NTD
reporting requirement for urban agencies. FTA will, however, grant an
optional first-year AIM reporting waiver upon request to any transit
system for the 2015 reporting year. FTA proposes that AIM reporting
will then become mandatory beginning in the 2016 NTD reporting cycle,
with reporting waivers issued on a case-by-case basis. For the first
year, AIM data will be submitted by grantees using a Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet that shares the ``look and feel'' of other NTD reporting
forms in the current Internet-based reporting system. The Excel
spreadsheet includes many user-friendly features, including user
prompts, validation features, and drop-down menus. Preliminary versions
of the above spreadsheet and its user manual can be found on the NTD
Web site at: http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/pubs/other_data_products/AssetModule.xlsx http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/pubs/other_data_products/AssetReportingManual.docx In subsequent years,
the AIM will be incorporated into NTD's Internet-based submittal format
and will also be required of rural reporters.
FTA aims to minimize the reporting burden on the transit industry,
while still meeting MAP-21 mandates, by collecting data at the minimum
level of detail required to provide accurate needs forecasts. The data
requested in the AIM will consist of objective and verifiable aspects
of assets that represent significant capital costs. The data collection
is also designed to require minimal updates from year to year once it
is originally submitted. The proposed AIM consists of a series of
electronic forms that grantees will use to report categories of asset
condition data. The AIM forms include:
1. Agency Identification. Collects organizational and contact
information. This form will only apply to the spreadsheet version of
the data collection (2014 collection cycle).
2. Administrative and Maintenance Facilities. Collects information
on administrative and maintenance facilities used to supply transit
service. For each facility, the facility's name, street address, square
footage, year built or substantially reconstructed, primary transit
mode supported, and estimated cost are collected.
3. Passenger and Parking Facilities. Collects information on
passenger and passenger parking facilities used to
[[Page 49151]]
supply transit service. For each facility, the facility's name, street
address, square footage and number of parking spaces, year built or
substantially reconstructed, primary mode, and estimated cost are
collected.
4. Rail Fixed Guideway. Collects data on linear guideway assets and
power and signal equipment including the length of specific types of
guideway and corresponding equipment reported as network totals by mode
and operating agreement. The data includes quantity, expected service
years, date of construction or major rehabilitation (within a ten year
window), and estimated cost.
5. Track. Collects data on track assets including length and total
number of track special work reported as network totals by rail mode
and operating agreement. The data includes expected service years and
date of construction or major rehabilitation.
6. Service Vehicles. Collects data on service vehicles that support
transit service delivery, maintain revenue vehicles, and perform
administrative activities. The data includes quantity, expected service
life, year of manufacture, and estimated cost.
FTA thanks our stakeholders in advance for providing comment on the
above proposed changes to the NTD Reporting Manual.
Therese McMillan,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-19605 Filed 8-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P