Bureau of Transportation Statistics 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of a previously approved collection. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on September 5, 2023. There were no comments. As the September 5, 2023, Notice solicits comments from the public on whether it is appropriate for the Department to continue to collect information on oversales from airlines, the issues raised by these comments are beyond the scope of this Notice and will not be addressed here. Specifically, having obsolete regulations that allow three legacy carriers and one discount carrier to control 80% of the domestic aviation market, while banning foreign competitors from offering U.S. domestic flights, and allowing airlines to book to 100% capacity or overbook to increase their revenue stream. With respect to the overbooking comment, the FAA has no jurisdiction in this matter, however, the Department does. And although it is not the Department's policy or purpose to dictate how airlines internally manage their business; this ended with deregulation of the aviation industry in 1979, it is the Department's policy and purpose to protect and standardize how the airlines treat their passengers.

On August 8, 2023, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) announced its intention in a Federal Register Notice to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve the following information collection: SafeMTSVoluntary Near-Miss Reporting and Analysis System, a voluntary program for confidential reporting of `near-misses' occurring on vessels within the Maritime Transportation System (MTS). BTS encouraged interested parties to submit comments to docket number 2023-0115 during the 60-day comment period. One comment was received, from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) expressing the agency's support for such a program.

In accordance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of Title 44 of the U.S. Code (Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995), this notice announces the intention of BTS to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve a new data collection: SafeMTS Voluntary Near-Miss Reporting and Analysis System.

In accordance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, BTS announces the intention of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to use the approved OMB Number 2138-0044, and to continue to collect the following information: Confidential Close Call Transit Data for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA or the Authority), which includes but is not limited to the collection of data from Rail, Bus, Information Technology, and Command Center personnel. This data collection effort supports a multi-year program focused on improving the Authority in its entirety, by collecting and analyzing data and information on close calls and other unsafe occurrences within WMATA. The program is co-sponsored by WMATA and labor leadership including: the President/Business Agent of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 922 and Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 2. The Close Call program is designed to identify safety issues and propose preventive actions based on voluntary reports of a close call submitted confidentially to BTS, an Agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. This information collection is necessary for systematically analyzing data to identify root causes of potentially unsafe events. On January 23, 2023, BTS published Federal Register notice, allowing for a 60-day comment period on the ICR. The comment period closed on March 24, 2023. The agency received no comments. The purpose of this notice is to allow 30 days for public comment to OMB on this collection from all interested individuals and organizations.

In accordance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, BTS announces the intension to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and renewal of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) 2022 Pilot Data Collection. Section 16 of OSRA 2022 mandates that the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) collect chassis and container street dwell time, as well as chassis out of service data monthly from each port, marine terminal operator, and chassis owner or provider with a fleet of over 50 chassis that supply chassis for a fee. The information collected from this data collection will be used to provide, at the least, national level street dwell and out of service statistics. The monthly statistics will be published by BTS on the BTS OSRA web page at: www.bts.gov/osra.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to use the approved OMB Number 2138-0044, and continue to collect the following information: Confidential Close Call Transit Data for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA or the Authority), which includes but is not limited to the collection of data from Rail, Bus, Information Technology, and Command Center personnel. This data collection effort supports a multi-year program focused on improving the Authority in its entirety, by collecting and analyzing data and information on close calls and other unsafe occurrences within WMATA. The program is co- sponsored by WMATA and labor leadership including: the President/ Business Agent of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 922 and Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 2. The Close Call program is designed to identify safety issues and propose preventive actions based on voluntary reports of a close call submitted confidentially to BTS, an Agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. This information collection is necessary for systematically analyzing data to identify root causes of potentially unsafe events.