[Federal Register: March 4, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 41)]
[Notices]
[Page 9471-9473]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04mr09-111]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[Docket No: FTA-2008-0009]
National Transit Database: Policy on Reporting of Coordinated
Human Services Transportation Data
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Final Policy on Reporting of Coordinated Human
Services Transportation Data to the National Transit Database.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Federal Transit Administration's
(FTA) policy on the reporting of coordinated human services
transportation data to the National Transit Database (NTD). On August
12, 2008, FTA proposed a new policy clarifying how transit providers
reporting to the NTD may include sponsored trips in their reports. FTA
received two comments on the proposed policy and is now formally
adopting the new policy.
DATES: Effective Date: March 4, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For program issues, John D. Giorgis,
Office of Budget and Policy, (202) 366-5430 (telephone); (202) 366-7989
(fax); or john.giorgis@dot.gov (e-mail). For legal issues, Richard
Wong, Office of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366-0675 (telephone); (202)
366-3809 (fax); or richard.wong@dot.gov (e-mail).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The National Transit Database (NTD) was established by Congress
``to help meet the needs of * * * the public for information on which
to base public transportation service planning * * *'' (49 U.S.C.
5335). To support this goal, recipients or beneficiaries of Urbanized
Area Formula Grants (49 U.S.C. 5307) or Other Than Urbanized Area
Formula Grants (49 U.S.C. 5311) are required to report to the NTD. Some
other providers of transit service in urbanized areas report
voluntarily to the NTD for purposes of benefitting their local
urbanized area in the urbanized area apportionments. Currently, over
650 transit providers in urbanized areas and over 60 State,
Territorial, and Tribal Departments of Transportation representing over
1,300 transit providers in rural areas report to the NTD through an
Internet-based reporting system. Each year, performance data from the
urbanized area submissions are used to apportion over $6 billion of FTA
funds under the Urbanized Area Formula Grants and Fixed-Guideway
Modernization Grants (49 U.S.C. 5309(b)(2)) Programs. These data are
also used in the annual National Transit Summaries and Trends report,
the biennial Conditions and Performance Report to Congress, in meeting
FTA's obligations under the Government Performance and Results Act, and
in public reports available on http://www.ntdprogram.gov.
For many years, it has been FTA's policy to require urbanized area
transit providers reporting demand response service to the NTD to
exclude from their reports service data for certain sponsored trips.
These trips were typically arranged and paid for by a third party for a
specific group of clients (such as participants in programs like
Medicaid, Head Start, sheltered workshops, or assisted living centers),
and these sponsored trips were often not open to the general public at
large. Excluding data for these trips from the NTD also excluded them
from the calculation of the apportionment of formula grants for
urbanized areas. In light of FTA's policies and guidance on Coordinated
Human Services Transportation, FTA proposed to clarify this policy for
the 2008 NTD Report Year to specify that transit providers are to
report data for all of their demand response service as public
transportation, except for those services that are defined as charter
service under FTA's recently revised charter rule (49 CFR 604, 73 FR
2326, January 14, 2008). FTA also proposed to require transit agencies
in urbanized areas to separately report their ``regular unlinked
passenger trips'' and their ``sponsored demand response unlinked
passenger trips'' for demand response service.
II. Comments and FTA Response to Comments
On August 12, 2008, FTA published a notice in the Federal Register
(73 FR 47641) inviting comments on this proposed policy on reporting
coordinated human services transportation data to the NTD. FTA received
two comments on the proposed change.
One commenter supported the proposed policy. A second commenter
objected to this policy on the grounds that the policy would impose NTD
reporting requirements on human services transportation providers that
are coordinated through a brokerage operated by a reporting transit
provider, and that the burdensome nature of the NTD reporting
requirements on these small-scale human service transportation
providers would result in a reduction in service from these providers.
The commenter noted that almost all of the human services
transportation providers coordinated through the brokerage received
very little Federal funding, and that this Federal funding was usually
not through the Section 5307 Program. The commenter also noted that
many of the required NTD reporting elements are not currently collected
at all, and the ridership metrics that are collected are not compliant
with FTA Circular 2710.1A.
Response: FTA clarifies that this policy only applies to what trips
a transit provider reports to the NTD, but does not extend NTD
reporting requirements to any other transit provider. The NTD requires
a transit provider to report all transit trips provided using its own
directly-operated equipment or through its own subcontractors.
Coordinating a trip through a brokerage does not create a subcontractor
relationship with the other human service transportation providers
participating in a brokerage. Thus, such trips should not be reported
to the NTD by a transit provider operating a brokerage. The only trips
from the brokerage that the transit provider should report to the NTD
are those referred to itself and carried out using its own directly-
operated equipment or using its purchased transportation
subcontractors.
[[Page 9472]]
If a transit provider wishes to benefit from the service data
generated by trips coordinated through a brokerage, it may do so by
requesting a separate NTD Identification Number (NTD ID) for making a
consolidated report on behalf of the participants in the brokerage. The
transit provider would then be responsible for ensuring that this
consolidated report is fully in compliance with all NTD reporting
requirements found in the Reporting Manuals and with the Uniform System
of Accounts.
FTA also wishes to clarify that it is not necessary for the
ridership metrics of unlinked passenger trips (UPT) and passenger miles
traveled (PMT) reported to the NTD to be collected as described in FTA
Circular 2710.A. This Circular delineates requirements for reporting
UPT and PMT data through statistical sampling when 100% counts of UPT
and PMT are either unavailable or unreliable. Transit providers should
report 100% counts of UPT and PMT to the NTD whenever they are
available and reliable, and should not report this data to the NTD
through statistical sampling in these cases. Almost all demand response
systems keep records of their UPT sufficient to report a 100% count.
Most demand response systems also record origins and destinations of
their passengers, which may be used to generate a 100% count of PMT,
and so avoid statistical sampling.
III. Final Policy
This policy shall take effect for the 2008 NTD Report Year, so that
any transit provider wishing to take advantage of this policy for the
2008 NTD Report Year may do so. Since many transit providers have
already begun completing their 2008 NTD Reports, however, FTA will also
accept any reports from the 2008 NTD Report Year made under the old
policy. This policy will take effect for all agencies beginning with
the 2009 NTD Report Year. Any transit provider unable to comply with
this policy for 2009 may request a waiver for up to one year from FTA
through the efile functionality of the NTD Online Reporting System.
Transit providers should report all demand response services
provided to individuals as public transportation services, regardless
of whether the trip was sponsored in whole or in part by a third party,
except for those services that are defined as charter service under
FTA's recently revised charter rule (49 CFR Part 604, 73 FR 2326,
January 14, 2008). Service that meets the definition of charter service
must be reported on a quarterly basis to the charter registration Web
site, as required by the charter rule, and data for these trips should
not be reported as revenue service to the NTD.
Charter service is defined, in part, as ``transportation provided *
* * at the request of a third party for the exclusive use of a bus or
van at a negotiated price,'' with the caveat that ``charter service * *
* does not include demand response service to individuals.'' Transit
providers reporting to the NTD may distinguish their demand response
services, particularly their sponsored demand response service, from
charter service by a number of factors:
(1) Charter service is exclusive, whereas demand response service
is shared-ride. If the transit provider may mix passengers from a trip
sponsor with other demand response passengers on the same trip, then
the trip is shared-ride service, and service data for that trip should
be reported to the NTD as public transportation.
(2) Charter service is service to a group, whereas demand response
service is service to individuals. Service to individuals can be
identified by a vehicle trip that includes multiple origins, multiple
destinations, or both, even when the clients have exclusive use of the
vehicle. Some demand response sponsored trips carried out as part of a
Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan, such as trips for Head
Start, assisted living centers, or sheltered workshops, may be provided
on an exclusive basis, but are provided to service multiple origins to
a single destination, a single origin to multiple destinations, or even
multiple origins to multiple destinations. Transit providers should
report service data for these trips to the NTD as public
transportation.
(3) Charter service is for a specific event or function, whereas
demand response service is regular and continuing. Some demand response
sponsored trips carried out as part of a Coordinated Human Services
Transportation Plan may be exclusive, and may be for a group from a
single origin to a single destination, but may occur on a frequently
reoccurring basis, such as daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Transit
providers should report service data for these trips to the NTD as
public transportation.
(4) Demand response service may also include certain trips that are
exclusive, for a group, from a single origin to a single destination,
and that reoccur on a less-frequent basis than once per month, so long
as these trips are arranged and operated under the same terms and
conditions as the demand response system for individuals. These terms
and conditions include advance notice requirements, service windows for
pick-up and drop-off, and price.
Service carried out by the demand response units of transit
providers that are exclusive, for a group, from a single origin to a
single destination, for a single event, and not under the usual terms
and conditions of the demand response system for individuals should be
considered to be charter service. Transit providers should report these
services to the charter registration Web site. The following diagram
provides a visual representation of this guidance.
Transit providers reporting to the NTD must specifically exclude
from their reports on revenue service any service that meets the
definition of ``charter service'' under the charter rule, and thus,
must be reported to the charter registration Web site. This exclusion
includes charter service legally provided to a Qualified Human Services
Organization (QHSO), as provided for by the charter rule.
Transit providers reporting to the NTD must report their regular
unlinked passenger trips and their sponsored unlinked passenger trips
separately for demand response service, but not for any other modes of
service. Regular unlinked passenger trips would refer to those demand
response trips that are arranged and paid for by individuals, even when
those individuals pay the fare with user-side subsidies, such as
coupons or passes provided a QHSO. Regular unlinked passenger trips
would include all demand response trips provided pursuant to the
requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Sponsored
unlinked passenger trips would include all trips where the transit
provider is directly reimbursed in whole or in part by some third party
that has helped arrange for the trips. This distinction would make
reporting of these services for urbanized area transit providers
consistent with the reporting of these services for transit providers
in rural areas to the Rural NTD. Since this proposal is being announced
late in the 2008 Report Year, FTA will grant a waiver from reporting
separately regular and sponsored unlinked passenger trips for the 2008
Report Year to any NTD Reporter that requests such a waiver.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 20th day of February 2009.
Matthew Welbes,
Acting Administrator.
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