National Transit Database: Amendments to Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual, 63646-63648 [E7-22063]
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63646
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 217 / Friday, November 9, 2007 / Notices
participate, as cooperating agencies in
the environmental review to the extent
other federal actions subject to NEPA
are identified.
IV. Alternatives to be Considered. The
EIS will consider the Preferred
Alternative as established by ESDC, a
No Action Alternative and a number of
different build alternatives that would
modify elements of the Preferred
Alternative. These alternatives will
consider ways to accommodate truck
loading facilities at or near the new
station and private development, as well
as different sizes and configurations of
the proposed development.
V. Probable Effects. The FRA and
ESDC will evaluate both project-specific
and cumulative changes to the social,
economic and physical environment—
including land use and socioeconomic
conditions, community facilities and
services, open space, shadows, water
resources, historic and archaeological
resources, visual character and
aesthetics, contaminated and hazardous
materials, transportation, air quality,
noise and vibration, infrastructure,
environmental justice, and cumulative
and secondary effects. The analysis will
be undertaken consistent with NEPA,
the Council on Environmental Quality
regulations, Section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act, Section 4(f) of
the DOT Act and SEQRA, along with
other applicable federal and state
regulations.
VI. Scoping Process. FRA invites all
interested individuals, organizations,
and federal, state, and local agencies to
comment on the scope of the EIS.
Comments are encouraged on specific
social, economic, or environmental
issues to be evaluated, on the purpose
and need for the project, and on
reasonable alternatives that may be less
costly, more cost effective or have fewer
environmental impacts while achieving
similar transportation and other
objectives. ESDC has also prepared a
detailed draft scope of analysis as
required under SEQRA and the draft
scope may be obtained from ESDC’s
Web site: https://
www.empire.state.ny.us/default.asp or
from the contacts identified above.
ESDC will be leading the outreach
activities during the public scoping
process, beginning with the scoping
meeting identified under DATES above.
Additional opportunities for public
participation will be announced through
mailings, notices, advertisements and
press releases.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
23:48 Nov 08, 2007
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Issued in Washington, DC, on October 31,
2007.
Mark Yachmetz,
Associate Administration for Railroad
Development.
[FR Doc. E7–22069 Filed 11–8–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[Docket No: FTA–2007–28960]
National Transit Database:
Amendments to Urbanized Area
Annual Reporting Manual
Federal Transit Administration
(FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Final Amendments to
the 2007 National Transit Database
Urbanized Area Annual Reporting
Manual.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This notice provides final
notice of changes to the Federal Transit
Administration’s (FTA) 2007 National
Transit Database (NTD) Urbanized Area
Annual Reporting Manual (Annual
Manual). Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5335,
FTA requires recipients of FTA
Urbanized Area Formula Grants to
provide an annual report to the
Secretary of Transportation via the NTD
reporting system according to a uniform
system of accounts (USOA). In an
ongoing effort to improve the NTD
reporting system and be responsive to
the needs of NTD data users and of the
transit agencies reporting to the NTD,
FTA annually refines and clarifies the
reporting requirements through
revisions to the Annual Manual. On
September 5, 2007, FTA published a
notice in the Federal Register (72 FR
17564) inviting comments on proposed
amendments to the 2007 Annual
Manual. This notice provides responses
to those comments and announces the
availability of the final 2007 Annual
Manual.
DATES:
Effective Date: November 9,
2007.
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:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
I. Background
The National Transit Database (NTD)
is the Federal Transit Administration’s
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(FTA’s) primary database for statistics
on the transit industry. Recipients of
FTA’s Urbanized Area Formula Program
(Section 5307) and Other Than
Urbanized Area Formula Program
(Section 5311) are required by statute to
submit data to the NTD. These data are
used to ‘‘help meet the needs of * * *
the public for information on which to
base public transportation service
planning * * *’’ (49 U.S.C 5335).
Currently, over 650 transit agencies in
urbanized areas report to the NTD
through an Internet-based reporting
system. Each year, performance data
from these submissions are used to
apportion over $4 billion of FTA funds
under the Urbanized Area Formula
Grants Program. 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 Results Act of
1993.
In an ongoing effort to improve the
NTD Internet reporting system and to be
responsive to both the needs of NTD
data users and the needs of transit
agencies reporting to the NTD, FTA
annually refines and clarifies reporting
requirements to the NTD, as contained
in the Annual NTD Module Reporting
Manual. This notice announces the
availability of the final 2007 Annual
Manual.
II. Comments and FTA Response to
Comments
On September 5, 2007, FTA published
a notice in the Federal Register (72 FR
17564) inviting comments on proposed
amendments to the 2007 Annual
Manual. In this announcement, FTA
proposed seven changes:
(1) To require buyers of purchased
transportation service from private
providers to include the service in their
own NTD report, and to no longer
permit private providers of purchased
transportation service to report
separately to the NTD on behalf of the
public provider of transit services;
(2) To require that when one public
transit provider purchases
transportation services from another
public transit agency, that either the
buyer or the seller may report the
service, but that the service must be
reported as being ‘‘directly operated;’’
(3) To require rail transit agencies to
report Average Weekday Unlinked
Passenger Trips and Actual Passenger
Car Revenue Miles by four time
categories: Weekday AM Peak, Weekday
Midday, Weekday PM Peak and
Weekday Other;
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 217 / Friday, November 9, 2007 / Notices
(4) To require those few transit
agencies that service one urbanized area
over 200,000 in population (large
urbanized area) and two or more
urbanized areas under 200,000 in
population (small urbanized areas) to
separately allocate their operations,
operational expense, and fixed
guideway data among each of the
urbanized areas under 200,000 in
population that they serve on the federal
funding allocation form;
(5) To require transit agencies to
separate funds, which were previously
reported as ‘‘Other FTA Funds,’’ into
different categories for each FTA
program in their NTD report;
(6) To create a standard form for
submitting the Chief Executive Officer’s
(CEO) certification; and
(7) To require all transit agencies,
beginning with the 2008 report year, to
conduct a statistical sample of average
trip lengths (used for calculating
passenger miles traveled) every three
years, unless they are a large transit
agency that is already required to
sample every year.
FTA received eight comments on the
proposed amendments to the 2007
Annual Manual. Four comments were
received regarding the proposed peak
rail data collection, two comments were
received on the proposed sampling
requirements for small urbanized area
transit agencies, and one comment each
was received on the proposed changes
to the allocation of funding form, the
collection of funding data by specific
FTA programs, and the standard form
for filing CEO certifications. No
comments were received on either of the
two proposed changes regarding the
reporting of purchased transportation
services. Additionally, FTA received
comments on two issues that were not
addressed in the Federal Register
Notice. Specifically, these comments
concerned the 2007 reporting deadlines,
and the circular providing guidance for
the sampling of unlinked passenger trip
and passenger mile traveled data in
vanpool operations. FTA hereby
responds to these comments in the
following order: (a) Rail Peak Service
Data; (b) Sampling Requirements for
Small Urbanized Area Transit Agencies;
(c) Allocation of Funding; (d) Collection
of Funding Data by Specific FTA
Programs; (e) the CEO Certification
Standard Form; (f) the 2007 Reporting
Deadlines; and (g) Vanpool Sampling
Requirements.
(a) Rail Peak Service Data
FTA received four comments on its
proposal to collect peak service data for
rail transit systems. Two comments
asked that this requirement be made
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23:48 Nov 08, 2007
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optional for the 2007 and 2008 report
years, as 2007 and 2008 data have
already been collected without regard to
peak data. One of these comments also
suggested that FTA institute a size
threshold to require peak data only from
large rail transit agencies, and asked if
the peak service data requirement
would apply to atypical rail modes,
such as inclined plane. One comment
expressed concern about the burden this
requirement would impose on small
transit agencies that operate only
motorbus and demand response service.
FTA Responds: FTA adopts the
commenters’ suggestion to make this
reporting requirement voluntary for the
2007 and 2008 report years. Therefore,
FTA will grant a reporting waiver for
the peak rail service data requirement to
any transit agency that requests one for
the 2007 or 2008 report years. FTA also
agrees not to apply the peak rail service
data requirement to atypical rail
systems. The peak rail service data
collection will only apply to heavy rail,
light rail, or commuter rail systems.
FTA will consider implementing a size
threshold, likely to be a threshold to
exempt rail systems with 9 or fewer
vehicles, for the 2008 Report Year. FTA
will invite further comments on such a
size threshold as part of a future
announcement in the Federal Register
regarding proposed amendments to the
2008 Annual Reporting Manual for
urbanized area transit agencies. For the
2007 and 2008 Report Years, any small
rail systems will be able to get an
automatic reporting waiver from the
peak rail service requirements. FTA
reminds the commenters that this
proposal concerns only rail systems,
and that this proposal does not apply to
small transit agencies operating only
motorbus and demand response
services.
One comment was received from a
commuter rail transit agency that
indicated that it collected tickets by
hand on-board the trains, and so could
not easily collect and report unlinked
passenger trip data by time of day. Two
comments suggested that some transit
agencies could comply with FTA’s
proposal only by applying estimation
factors to their actual total ridership
counts. One comment asked if FTA
would define a consistent peak service
period across all rail agencies, or if each
rail agency could define its own peak
period.
FTA Responds: FTA has updated the
final 2007 Annual Manual to reflect the
following guidance: Each rail transit
agency may define its own peak period,
based upon those times of a day at
which it operates trains on shorter
headways, relative to the rest of the day.
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
63647
Further, a rail transit agency may define
an entire run of a train as being either
‘‘peak’’ or ‘‘off-peak.’’ As such, it would
not be necessary for a rail transit agency
to determine which persons boarded an
individual train. Instead, peak service
data could be provided based on the
entire data for a given run of a train.
Only if a rail transit agency is unable to
collect even this data, a reasonable
allocation factor may be used.
(b) Sampling Requirements for Small
Urban Transit Agencies
FTA received two comments on its
proposal to require all transit agencies
that are not required to sample every
year to do so every third year.
Previously, some transit agencies in
small urbanized areas were only
required to sample every fifth year. One
small transit agency and one State
public transportation association urged
FTA to reconsider this proposal, arguing
that the proposal would be too
burdensome on small transit agencies.
FTA Responds: FTA declines to adopt
the commenters’ suggestion to
reinstitute a five year passenger mile
sampling cycle for transit agencies in
small urbanized areas. The previous
requirements, with separate five year
and three year sampling cycles for
certain reporters, caused a great deal of
confusion to reporters, and some transit
agencies ended up sampling in the
wrong year. Simplified requirements
will ultimately benefit all transit
agencies. Furthermore, the five-year
sampling cycle was previously
instituted at a time when transit
performance data were not used for the
apportionment of Urbanized Area
Formula Grants (Section 5307 Grants) to
small urbanized areas. With the passage
of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A
Legacy for Users (SAFETEA–LU) in
2005, however, transit performance data
are now used in the apportionment of
Section 5307 funds through the Small
Transit-Intensive Cities (STIC) Grant
Program. As such, there is a greater need
for high-quality passenger mile data in
small urbanized areas, as passenger mile
data for a transit agency in a small
urbanized area impacts the Federal
funding for transit not just in its own
urbanized area, but in all other small
urbanized areas, through the STIC
apportionment formula. In order to
reduce reporting burden, FTA currently
only requires transit agencies to sample
passenger miles so as to achieve 95%
confidence with 10% precision. With a
five-year sampling cycle, however,
routine sampling errors can negatively
impact STIC apportionments for five
years until a new sample is conducted.
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63648
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 217 / Friday, November 9, 2007 / Notices
A three-year sampling cycle will
provide additional data to improve the
overall quality of the passenger mile
data used in the apportionment of
Federal funds. FTA recognizes that
sampling for passenger miles may be
burdensome on transit agencies,
particularly small ones. As such, FTA is
undertaking an effort to revise its
sampling guidelines, so as to reduce
some of the reporting burden. FTA notes
that the new sampling requirements will
not impact transit agencies until the
2011 report year, as transit agencies on
both the five-year and the three-year
cycle were already required to sample
for the 2008 report year under the old
cycles.
(c) Rail Peak Service Data
One comment requested further
direction on FTA’s proposal to expand
its Federal Funding Allocation form to
require transit agencies servicing one
large urbanized area and two or more
small urbanized areas to allocate their
service data across the various small
urbanized areas. (For NTD purposes, a
large urbanized area is one with 200,000
or more in population, and a small
urbanized area is one with less than
200,000 in population.) Previously,
FTA’s Federal Funding Allocation form
only accounted for transit agencies
serving one small urbanized area, not
two or more. This comment expressed
concern about the burden of conducting
this allocation for the commenter’s own
agency.
FTA Responds: FTA notes that the
above comment came from a transit
agency that serves two large urbanized
areas, and only one small urbanized
area. As such, the revised guidance does
not apply to this transit agency. FTA
notes that transit agencies should
allocate data across various small
urbanized areas in the same way in
which many transit agencies already
allocate data across various large
urbanized areas. Additionally, FTA will
provide guidance on this allocation
through the 2007 Annual Manual,
through NTD training sessions, and
through technical assistance available
from NTD validation analysts.
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(d) Collection of Funding Data by
Specific FTA Programs
FTA received one comment in
support of its proposal to collect
funding data separately for each FTA
Program, rather than through a catchall
category for ‘‘Other FTA Funds.’’
FTA Responds: FTA thanks the
commenter.
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23:48 Nov 08, 2007
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(e) CEO Certification Standard Form
FTA received one comment on its
proposal to create a standard CEO
Certification Form. This commenter was
concerned that the standard CEO
Certification Form would not be able to
accommodate its practice of filing its
NTD report before receiving the final
report from its auditor.
FTA Responds: FTA notes that its
proposed CEO Certification Form
includes options 3a and 3b, each of
which provides for a transit agency to
file its NTD report before receiving the
final report from its auditor.
FTA received one comment that the
ordinary reporting deadlines for transit
agencies with 2007 fiscal years ending
on or before June 30, 2007, would not
be attainable, given that the 2007
Annual Reporting Manual was pending
public notice-and-comment.
FTA Responds: FTA agrees with this
comment, and establishes the following
2007 NTD Reporting Deadlines for
transit agencies with 2007 fiscal years
ending on or before June 30, 2007:
Report Due Date: November 30, 2007.
Waiver Request Deadline: November
30, 2007.
Last Date to Receive Report Revisions:
May 1, 2008.
Report Closeout: May 15, 2008.
FTA does not change the deadlines
for transit agencies with 2007 fiscal
years ending after June 30, 2007. FTA
further reminds transit agencies that
pursuant to 49 CFR 630.6 NTD reporters
may request a 30-day extension for
submitting their reports.
(g) 2007 Reporting Deadlines
FTA received one comment proposing
revised guidance for sampling passenger
miles for vanpool service, which are
currently covered by the Circular UMTA
C 2710.21, issued in 1988.
FTA Responds: The original Federal
Register Notice announcing proposed
amendments to the 2007 Annual
Manual did not mention vanpool
sampling guidelines or Circular UMTA
C 2710.21. As noted above, FTA is
currently considering revising its
sampling guidance, and will take this
comment under advisement in
developing any such guidance. FTA will
invite public guidance on revised
guidance, once it has been developed.
The final 2007 Reporting Manual, as
amended, may be found on the Internet
at https://www.ntdprogram.gov.
Frm 00102
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BILLING CODE 4910–57–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping
Requirements; Agency Information
Collection Activity Under OMB Review
Maritime Administration, DOT.
Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
(f) 2007 Reporting Deadlines
PO 00000
Issued in Washington, DC, this 6th day of
November 2007.
James S. Simpson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7–22063 Filed 11–8–07; 8:45 am]
SUMMARY: In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces that the Information
Collection abstracted below will be
submitted to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and
approval. The nature of the information
collection is described as well as its
expected burden. The Federal Register
Notice with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on the following
collection of information was published
on July 20, 2007. No comments were
received.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before December 10, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rodney McFadden, Maritime
Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Telephone: (202) 366–2647; or e-mail:
Rodney.mcfadden@dot.gov. Copies of
this collection can also be obtained from
that office.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Maritime
Administration (MARAD)
Title of Collection: Supplementary
Training Course Application.
Type of Request: Extension of
currently approved information
collection.
OMB Control Number: 2133–0030.
Expiration Date of Approval: Three
years from date of approval by the
Office of Management and Budget.
Affected Public: U.S. Merchant
Marine Seamen, both officers and
unlicensed personnel, and other U.S.
citizens employed in other areas of
waterborne commerce.
Form Numbers: MA–823.
Abstract: Section 1305(a) of the
Maritime Education and Training Act of
1980 indicates that the Secretary of
Transportation may provide maritimerelated training to merchant mariners of
the United States and to individuals
preparing for a career in the merchant
marine of the United States. Also, the
E:\FR\FM\09NON1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 217 (Friday, November 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63646-63648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-22063]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[Docket No: FTA-2007-28960]
National Transit Database: Amendments to Urbanized Area Annual
Reporting Manual
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Final Amendments to the 2007 National Transit
Database Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice provides final notice of changes to the Federal
Transit Administration's (FTA) 2007 National Transit Database (NTD)
Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual (Annual Manual). Pursuant to 49
U.S.C. 5335, FTA requires recipients of FTA Urbanized Area Formula
Grants to provide an annual report to the Secretary of Transportation
via the NTD reporting system according to a uniform system of accounts
(USOA). In an ongoing effort to improve the NTD reporting system and be
responsive to the needs of NTD data users and of the transit agencies
reporting to the NTD, FTA annually refines and clarifies the reporting
requirements through revisions to the Annual Manual. On September 5,
2007, FTA published a notice in the Federal Register (72 FR 17564)
inviting comments on proposed amendments to the 2007 Annual Manual.
This notice provides responses to those comments and announces the
availability of the final 2007 Annual Manual.
DATES: Effective Date: November 9, 2007.
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) is the Federal Transit
Administration's (FTA's) primary database for statistics on the transit
industry. Recipients of FTA's Urbanized Area Formula Program (Section
5307) and Other Than Urbanized Area Formula Program (Section 5311) are
required by statute to submit data to the NTD. These data are used to
``help meet the needs of * * * the public for information on which to
base public transportation service planning * * *'' (49 U.S.C 5335).
Currently, over 650 transit agencies in urbanized areas report to
the NTD through an Internet-based reporting system. Each year,
performance data from these submissions are used to apportion over $4
billion of FTA funds under the Urbanized Area Formula Grants Program.
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 Results Act of 1993.
In an ongoing effort to improve the NTD Internet reporting system
and to be responsive to both the needs of NTD data users and the needs
of transit agencies reporting to the NTD, FTA annually refines and
clarifies reporting requirements to the NTD, as contained in the Annual
NTD Module Reporting Manual. This notice announces the availability of
the final 2007 Annual Manual.
II. Comments and FTA Response to Comments
On September 5, 2007, FTA published a notice in the Federal
Register (72 FR 17564) inviting comments on proposed amendments to the
2007 Annual Manual. In this announcement, FTA proposed seven changes:
(1) To require buyers of purchased transportation service from
private providers to include the service in their own NTD report, and
to no longer permit private providers of purchased transportation
service to report separately to the NTD on behalf of the public
provider of transit services;
(2) To require that when one public transit provider purchases
transportation services from another public transit agency, that either
the buyer or the seller may report the service, but that the service
must be reported as being ``directly operated;''
(3) To require rail transit agencies to report Average Weekday
Unlinked Passenger Trips and Actual Passenger Car Revenue Miles by four
time categories: Weekday AM Peak, Weekday Midday, Weekday PM Peak and
Weekday Other;
[[Page 63647]]
(4) To require those few transit agencies that service one
urbanized area over 200,000 in population (large urbanized area) and
two or more urbanized areas under 200,000 in population (small
urbanized areas) to separately allocate their operations, operational
expense, and fixed guideway data among each of the urbanized areas
under 200,000 in population that they serve on the federal funding
allocation form;
(5) To require transit agencies to separate funds, which were
previously reported as ``Other FTA Funds,'' into different categories
for each FTA program in their NTD report;
(6) To create a standard form for submitting the Chief Executive
Officer's (CEO) certification; and
(7) To require all transit agencies, beginning with the 2008 report
year, to conduct a statistical sample of average trip lengths (used for
calculating passenger miles traveled) every three years, unless they
are a large transit agency that is already required to sample every
year.
FTA received eight comments on the proposed amendments to the 2007
Annual Manual. Four comments were received regarding the proposed peak
rail data collection, two comments were received on the proposed
sampling requirements for small urbanized area transit agencies, and
one comment each was received on the proposed changes to the allocation
of funding form, the collection of funding data by specific FTA
programs, and the standard form for filing CEO certifications. No
comments were received on either of the two proposed changes regarding
the reporting of purchased transportation services. Additionally, FTA
received comments on two issues that were not addressed in the Federal
Register Notice. Specifically, these comments concerned the 2007
reporting deadlines, and the circular providing guidance for the
sampling of unlinked passenger trip and passenger mile traveled data in
vanpool operations. FTA hereby responds to these comments in the
following order: (a) Rail Peak Service Data; (b) Sampling Requirements
for Small Urbanized Area Transit Agencies; (c) Allocation of Funding;
(d) Collection of Funding Data by Specific FTA Programs; (e) the CEO
Certification Standard Form; (f) the 2007 Reporting Deadlines; and (g)
Vanpool Sampling Requirements.
(a) Rail Peak Service Data
FTA received four comments on its proposal to collect peak service
data for rail transit systems. Two comments asked that this requirement
be made optional for the 2007 and 2008 report years, as 2007 and 2008
data have already been collected without regard to peak data. One of
these comments also suggested that FTA institute a size threshold to
require peak data only from large rail transit agencies, and asked if
the peak service data requirement would apply to atypical rail modes,
such as inclined plane. One comment expressed concern about the burden
this requirement would impose on small transit agencies that operate
only motorbus and demand response service.
FTA Responds: FTA adopts the commenters' suggestion to make this
reporting requirement voluntary for the 2007 and 2008 report years.
Therefore, FTA will grant a reporting waiver for the peak rail service
data requirement to any transit agency that requests one for the 2007
or 2008 report years. FTA also agrees not to apply the peak rail
service data requirement to atypical rail systems. The peak rail
service data collection will only apply to heavy rail, light rail, or
commuter rail systems. FTA will consider implementing a size threshold,
likely to be a threshold to exempt rail systems with 9 or fewer
vehicles, for the 2008 Report Year. FTA will invite further comments on
such a size threshold as part of a future announcement in the Federal
Register regarding proposed amendments to the 2008 Annual Reporting
Manual for urbanized area transit agencies. For the 2007 and 2008
Report Years, any small rail systems will be able to get an automatic
reporting waiver from the peak rail service requirements. FTA reminds
the commenters that this proposal concerns only rail systems, and that
this proposal does not apply to small transit agencies operating only
motorbus and demand response services.
One comment was received from a commuter rail transit agency that
indicated that it collected tickets by hand on-board the trains, and so
could not easily collect and report unlinked passenger trip data by
time of day. Two comments suggested that some transit agencies could
comply with FTA's proposal only by applying estimation factors to their
actual total ridership counts. One comment asked if FTA would define a
consistent peak service period across all rail agencies, or if each
rail agency could define its own peak period.
FTA Responds: FTA has updated the final 2007 Annual Manual to
reflect the following guidance: Each rail transit agency may define its
own peak period, based upon those times of a day at which it operates
trains on shorter headways, relative to the rest of the day. Further, a
rail transit agency may define an entire run of a train as being either
``peak'' or ``off-peak.'' As such, it would not be necessary for a rail
transit agency to determine which persons boarded an individual train.
Instead, peak service data could be provided based on the entire data
for a given run of a train. Only if a rail transit agency is unable to
collect even this data, a reasonable allocation factor may be used.
(b) Sampling Requirements for Small Urban Transit Agencies
FTA received two comments on its proposal to require all transit
agencies that are not required to sample every year to do so every
third year. Previously, some transit agencies in small urbanized areas
were only required to sample every fifth year. One small transit agency
and one State public transportation association urged FTA to reconsider
this proposal, arguing that the proposal would be too burdensome on
small transit agencies.
FTA Responds: FTA declines to adopt the commenters' suggestion to
reinstitute a five year passenger mile sampling cycle for transit
agencies in small urbanized areas. The previous requirements, with
separate five year and three year sampling cycles for certain
reporters, caused a great deal of confusion to reporters, and some
transit agencies ended up sampling in the wrong year. Simplified
requirements will ultimately benefit all transit agencies. Furthermore,
the five-year sampling cycle was previously instituted at a time when
transit performance data were not used for the apportionment of
Urbanized Area Formula Grants (Section 5307 Grants) to small urbanized
areas. With the passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) in 2005,
however, transit performance data are now used in the apportionment of
Section 5307 funds through the Small Transit-Intensive Cities (STIC)
Grant Program. As such, there is a greater need for high-quality
passenger mile data in small urbanized areas, as passenger mile data
for a transit agency in a small urbanized area impacts the Federal
funding for transit not just in its own urbanized area, but in all
other small urbanized areas, through the STIC apportionment formula. In
order to reduce reporting burden, FTA currently only requires transit
agencies to sample passenger miles so as to achieve 95% confidence with
10% precision. With a five-year sampling cycle, however, routine
sampling errors can negatively impact STIC apportionments for five
years until a new sample is conducted.
[[Page 63648]]
A three-year sampling cycle will provide additional data to improve the
overall quality of the passenger mile data used in the apportionment of
Federal funds. FTA recognizes that sampling for passenger miles may be
burdensome on transit agencies, particularly small ones. As such, FTA
is undertaking an effort to revise its sampling guidelines, so as to
reduce some of the reporting burden. FTA notes that the new sampling
requirements will not impact transit agencies until the 2011 report
year, as transit agencies on both the five-year and the three-year
cycle were already required to sample for the 2008 report year under
the old cycles.
(c) Rail Peak Service Data
One comment requested further direction on FTA's proposal to expand
its Federal Funding Allocation form to require transit agencies
servicing one large urbanized area and two or more small urbanized
areas to allocate their service data across the various small urbanized
areas. (For NTD purposes, a large urbanized area is one with 200,000 or
more in population, and a small urbanized area is one with less than
200,000 in population.) Previously, FTA's Federal Funding Allocation
form only accounted for transit agencies serving one small urbanized
area, not two or more. This comment expressed concern about the burden
of conducting this allocation for the commenter's own agency.
FTA Responds: FTA notes that the above comment came from a transit
agency that serves two large urbanized areas, and only one small
urbanized area. As such, the revised guidance does not apply to this
transit agency. FTA notes that transit agencies should allocate data
across various small urbanized areas in the same way in which many
transit agencies already allocate data across various large urbanized
areas. Additionally, FTA will provide guidance on this allocation
through the 2007 Annual Manual, through NTD training sessions, and
through technical assistance available from NTD validation analysts.
(d) Collection of Funding Data by Specific FTA Programs
FTA received one comment in support of its proposal to collect
funding data separately for each FTA Program, rather than through a
catchall category for ``Other FTA Funds.''
FTA Responds: FTA thanks the commenter.
(e) CEO Certification Standard Form
FTA received one comment on its proposal to create a standard CEO
Certification Form. This commenter was concerned that the standard CEO
Certification Form would not be able to accommodate its practice of
filing its NTD report before receiving the final report from its
auditor.
FTA Responds: FTA notes that its proposed CEO Certification Form
includes options 3a and 3b, each of which provides for a transit agency
to file its NTD report before receiving the final report from its
auditor.
(f) 2007 Reporting Deadlines
FTA received one comment that the ordinary reporting deadlines for
transit agencies with 2007 fiscal years ending on or before June 30,
2007, would not be attainable, given that the 2007 Annual Reporting
Manual was pending public notice-and-comment.
FTA Responds: FTA agrees with this comment, and establishes the
following 2007 NTD Reporting Deadlines for transit agencies with 2007
fiscal years ending on or before June 30, 2007:
Report Due Date: November 30, 2007.
Waiver Request Deadline: November 30, 2007.
Last Date to Receive Report Revisions: May 1, 2008.
Report Closeout: May 15, 2008.
FTA does not change the deadlines for transit agencies with 2007
fiscal years ending after June 30, 2007. FTA further reminds transit
agencies that pursuant to 49 CFR 630.6 NTD reporters may request a 30-
day extension for submitting their reports.
(g) 2007 Reporting Deadlines
FTA received one comment proposing revised guidance for sampling
passenger miles for vanpool service, which are currently covered by the
Circular UMTA C 2710.21, issued in 1988.
FTA Responds: The original Federal Register Notice announcing
proposed amendments to the 2007 Annual Manual did not mention vanpool
sampling guidelines or Circular UMTA C 2710.21. As noted above, FTA is
currently considering revising its sampling guidance, and will take
this comment under advisement in developing any such guidance. FTA will
invite public guidance on revised guidance, once it has been developed.
The final 2007 Reporting Manual, as amended, may be found on the
Internet at https://www.ntdprogram.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 6th day of November 2007.
James S. Simpson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-22063 Filed 11-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P
