[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 248 (Monday, December 29, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78137-78138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30334]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[FTA Docket No. 2014-0027]
Notice of Request for the Extension of a Currently Approved
Information Collection
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces the intention of the Federal Transit Administration
(FTA) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve
the revision of the currently approved information collection: 49
U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) National Transit Database (NTD).
DATES: Comments must be submitted before February 27, 2015.
ADDRESSES: To ensure that your comments are not entered more than once
into the docket, submit comments identified by the docket number by
only one of the following methods:
1. Web site: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments on the U.S. Government electronic docket site.
(Note: The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT's) electronic
docket is no longer accepting electronic comments.) All electronic
submissions must be made to the U.S. Government electronic docket site
at www.regulations.gov. Commenters should follow the directions below
for mailed and hand-delivered comments.
2. Fax: 202-493-2251.
3. Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
4. Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9:00 a.m. and
5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number
for this notice at the beginning of your comments. Submit two copies of
your comments if you submit them by mail. For confirmation that FTA has
received your comments, include a self-addressed stamped postcard. Note
that all comments received, including any personal information, will be
posted and will be available to Internet users, without change, to
www.regulations.gov. You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act
Statement in the Federal Register published April 11, 2000, (65 FR
19477), or you may visit www.regulations.gov. Docket: For access to the
docket to read background documents and comments received, go to
www.regulations.gov at any time. Background documents and comments
received may also be viewed at the U.S. Department of Transportation,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building,
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9:00 a.m.
and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: National Transit Database--Mr. Keith
Gates, Office of Budget and Policy (202) 366-1794, or email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested parties are invited to send
comments regarding any aspect of this information collection,
including: (1) The necessity and utility of the information collection
for the proper performance of the functions of the FTA; (2) the
accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways to
minimize the collection burden without reducing the quality of the
collected information. Comments submitted in response to this notice
will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of
this information collection.
FTA currently has two (2) pending Federal Register notices (docket
numbers FTA-2014-0006 and FTA-2014-0009) covering proposed changes to
NTD reporting, including updates to the Safety and Security Reporting
Module and the addition of a new Asset Inventory Module. The comment
period on these notices ended in October 2014. FTA is currently in the
process of reviewing and responding to the comments received from these
notices. The estimated burden below is based on FTA's goal of
implementing the proposed changes with minimal impact to current
reporting burdens. A revised impact analysis and Federal Register
Notice will be filed, if necessary, based on FTA's final proposal in
response to the comments.
Title: 49 U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) National Transit Database.
OMB Control No.: 2132-0008.
Background: 49 U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) requires the Secretary of
Transportation to maintain a reporting system, using a uniform system
of accounts, to collect financial and operating information from the
nation's public transportation systems. Congress created the NTD to be
the repository of transit data for the nation to support public
transportation service planning. FTA has established the NTD to meet
these requirements, and has collected data for over 35 years. FTA
continues to seek ways to reduce the burden of NTD reporting,
introducing a new Sampling Manual in 2010 to reduce the burden of
passenger mile sampling and introducing its new Small Systems Waiver in
2011 to reduce the reporting burden on small transit systems. An
improved on-line reporting system is currently being deployed. The NTD
is comprised of four modules, Rural, Urban Annual, Monthly, and Safety
Event Reporting.
Estimated Annual Burden: Currently FTA receives reports from 54
State and Territorial DOTs. Combined, these States and Territories
report on behalf of approximately 1,300 sub-recipients from FTA's Rural
(Section 5311) Formula Program. For each sub-recipient, the State
provides identifying information, sources of operating funds, sources
of capital funds, vehicle revenue miles, vehicle revenue hours, and
unlinked passenger trips. Additionally, a revenue vehicle inventory is
reported, as well as total fatalities, injuries, and safety incidents
for the year. FTA estimates that it takes approximately 20 hours to
report on behalf of each sub-recipient, including the time needed for
the sub-recipient to gather the information and report it to its State
DOT, the time for the State DOT to assemble the data and submit it to
FTA, and the time to respond to validation questions from FTA about the
data.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 26,000 hours.
Frequency: Annual reports.
NTD Annual Module--Small Systems Waiver: Each year about 300
transit systems with 30 or fewer vehicles claim a Small Systems Waiver
and file a reduced report. There are an additional 122 Tribal Transit
reporters that complete an annual report very similar to the small
system reduced report.
Estimated Annual Burden: FTA provides reduced reporting
requirements to urbanized area transit systems with 30 or fewer
vehicles. These systems are exempt from sampling for passenger miles
and report only summary financial and operating statistics compared to
full reporters in urbanized areas, similar to what is
[[Page 78138]]
required of the rural sub-recipients. Additionally, they also report
contact information, funding allocation information, a revenue vehicle
inventory, the number of stations and maintenance facilities, and total
injuries, fatalities, and safety incidents. The reports are also
required to be reviewed by an auditor and certified by the CEO. Systems
with this waiver are also exempt from the Monthly and Safety & Security
Modules. FTA estimates that completing a report for a Small Systems
Waiver requires approximately 27 hours, including time to assemble the
information and respond to validation questions from FTA about the
report.
Estimated Total Annual Urban Burden: 11,400 hours.
Frequency: Annually.
NTD Annual Module--Full Reports: FTA expects about 550 transit
systems to file complete reports.
Estimated Annual Burden: The Full Report to the Annual Module is
comprehensive. Basic contact information, as well as information on
sub-recipients and purchased transportation contracts must be provided.
Sources of funds for operating expenses and capital expenses must be
provided, as well as detailed operating and capital expenses for each
mode by function and object class. Key service data collected includes
vehicle revenue miles, vehicle revenue hours, unlinked passenger trips,
and passenger miles traveled; these must be provided by average,
weekday, average Saturday, average Sunday, and as an annual total. Most
systems that do not inherently collect passenger mile information (such
as a ferryboat or commuter rail) must conduct random sampling for
passenger mile information. Large systems with more than 100 vehicles
are required to sample for passenger miles every year, whereas smaller
systems are only required to sample every third year. A comprehensive
revenue vehicle inventory is collected, as well as information on fixed
guide-way mileage, passenger stations, maintenance facilities, fuel
consumption, employee hours, and maintenance breakdowns. Reports are
also required to be reviewed by an auditor and certified by the system
CEO.
Approximately 100 large systems are required to sample for
passenger miles each year and approximately 450 mid-size systems sample
every three years. FTA estimates that it takes approximately 340 hours
per year to sample for passenger miles, which is amortized over three
years for mid-sized systems. FTA estimates that completing the
remaining financial, operating, resource, and capital asset information
requires approximately 250 hours per year per transit system, including
gathering the information, completing the forms, and responding to
validation questions.
Estimated Total Burden: 222,500 hours.
Frequency: Annually.
NTD Monthly Module: FTA expects about 550 transit systems to report
to the Monthly Module.
Estimated Annual Burden: Each month, vehicle revenue miles, vehicle
revenue hours, unlinked passenger trips, and vehicles operated in
maximum service are submitted to the Monthly Module. FTA estimates that
it takes approximately 4 hours each month for each system to report the
data, including collecting and assembling the data for each mode,
filling out the form, and responding to any validation questions in
regards to the data.
Estimated Total Annual Urban Burden: 26,400 hours.
Frequency: Monthly.
NTD Safety Event Reporting Module: FTA expects about 550 transit
systems to report to the Safety & Security Module.
Estimated Annual Burden: Each system provides an annual report on
the total number of system security personnel, and an annual CEO
certification of the safety data. Each month, systems provide a summary
report of all minor fires and all incidents resulting in single-person
injuries due to slips, falls, or electrical shocks. Additionally,
systems must provide a detailed report within 30 days of any incident
involving one or more fatalities, one or more injuries, or total
property damage in excess of $25,000. FTA currently receives about
6,000 major incident reports per year, and estimates that it takes on
average about 2 hours to collect data for each incident, enter it into
the NTD, and respond to any validation question. Additionally, FTA
estimates that each of the 550 full reporters spend on average one hour
each month completing the minor incident summary reports.
Estimated Total Annual Urban Burden: 18,600 hours.
Frequency: Monthly.
Total Annual NTD Burden: 304,900 hours.
Matthew M. Crouch,
Associate Administrator for Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-30334 Filed 12-24-14; 8:45 am]
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