Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) Eligible applicants. Counties with
populations of 200,000 or less at the time of their initial application for
program financial assistance, as defined by the latest Census of the United
States, are eligible applicants for State financial assistance through the
Program.
(b) Application process.
(1) Eligible counties shall apply for program
funds using application instructions and forms supplied by the Department. Such
applications shall be certified by the chief executive officer of the county,
if any, or the chairperson of the county legislative body, and shall include
but are not limited to, the general intent and purpose of the project; a
general statement of the expected benefits to derive therefrom; and an
organizational statement, designating the person responsible for managing the
grant, and the manner by which the county will maintain oversight of the
expenditure of grant funds.
(2)
Each application submitted to the Department for a financial assistance grant
shall be accompanied by an itemized preliminary grant budget, certified by the
chief elected or financial officer of the county, identifying expected eligible
costs, and amounts and sources of grant funding including the applicable county
share of funds.
(3) Each
application for financial assistance shall include an appropriate certification
by the county governing body that it has appropriated, or will appropriate, any
required county share of grant costs; or, such certification may be provided
after notice of a grant but before execution of the grant by the
State.
(4) The failure to file an
application for aid in any year shall not impair the right of a rural county to
file an application for aid in any subsequent year.
(5) The Department shall notify an applicant
for a planning and implementation grant of the disposition of its application
within six months of the date of its receipt by the Department. In most cases,
Department notification will occur within 60 days. The Department shall notify
an applicant for operating assistance of the disposition of its application
within 90 days of the date of its receipt by the Department.
(6) Should an application for financial aid
be incomplete or disapproved by the Department, the Department will advise the
applicant of the reasons for same no later than the time of its written
notification to the applicant of the disposition of its application.
(7) Applicants may submit modifications to
applications, or entirely new applications, within schedules for same
established by the Department.
(c) Financial assistance for planning and
implementation of a coordinated public transportation service. Grants for
financial assistance for the planning and implementation of a coordinated
public transportation service shall be awarded in amounts up to $45,000 per
year for those awarded prior to July 21, 1989 and up to $55,000 per year for
those awarded on or after July 21, 1989, for up to three successive years,
subject to the amounts of annual appropriations to be included in the State
Budget and other conditions of this Part. Approval of an initial grant shall
reflect an ongoing commitment to the extent necessary to develop and implement
a county plan. Funds received shall be utilized by a county solely to pay for
eligible costs incurred in the development and implementation of a coordinated
public transportation service plan for said county.
(1) Eligible planning and implementation
expenses. Costs eligible for payment by the State under a planning and
implementation grant are those direct costs incurred following notification by
the Department to the County that a planning and implementation grant is to be
awarded. Such expenses shall be specified in the grant budget approved by the
Department and may include the following:
(i)
planning consultant costs;
(ii)
salary and fringe benefit costs of county staff, grant manager, and/or services
coordinator, in performing grant work;
(iii) grant-related travel expenses of county
staff and/or services coordinator for travel within the county, or to adjacent
counties for purposes of inter-county coordination;
(iv) printing and copying expenses;
(v) costs associated with conducting and
recording the public hearing on the draft county plans;
(vi) direct costs associated with
establishing the coordinated service, including advertising costs expended
during the recruitment of personnel, and salary and fringe benefit costs of
additional or new management personnel;
(vii) costs of legal work associated with
incorporation, contracting or leasing;
(viii) costs of additional insurance for
expanded or altered vehicle operations;
(ix) costs associated with upgrading existing
vehicles to secure NYSDOT vehicle inspections; costs to paint or otherwise
modify vehicles for system identity;
(x) the purchase of radio equipment and
fareboxes for existing vehicles (eligible only in second or third-year
grants);
(xi) the purchase of
microcomputers and associated microcomputer items (eligible only in second or
third-year grants);
(xii)
additional vehicles, other than those being purchased through other programs,
may be purchased through a county's third-year implementation grant, provided
that the county's coordinated public transportation service, described in its
adopted plan, has begun operation; the county government or its public
transportation authority shall be the owner of any vehicles purchased through
program funds.
(2)
Ineligible costs. The following categories of costs are not eligible for
receipt of State financial assistance through a planning and implementation
grant:
(i) any costs incurred prior to the
county receiving written notice from the Department that it may proceed to
incur costs;
(ii) any indirect
costs, such as floor space;
(iii)
costs incurred for out-of-State travel, unless specifically authorized in
advance by the Department;
(iv)
costs that were previously paid for by other program funds;
(v) costs ordinarily considered as normal
operating expenses of providing passenger transportation service, for services
that existed prior to the implementation of the coordinated public
transportation service;
(vi) costs
of services or activities of county government or other entities which are not
directly related to, or required by, the purposes of this Part.
(3) County government share of
eligible planning and implementation expenses. To be eligible for financial
assistance for planning and implementation, county government recipients of
such assistance shall appropriate and expend county funds for eligible grant
expenses equivalent to at least 10 percent of the State funds paid for a
first-year grant, 20 percent of those of a second-year grant, and 30 percent of
those of a third-year grant. The source(s) of monies used to provide the county
government share shall be general purpose revenues available to the county
government, the use of which is solely at the discretion of the county. A
county staff may itself perform grant work, and a county's payment of such
direct, in-kind grant expenses may be included as county share funds. A county
shall include the amount of its share as an appropriation for the Rural Public
Transportation Coordination Assistance Program in its applicable county budgets
and shall submit copies of same to the Department.
(4) Selection criteria. The department has,
in consultation with the Committee, established standards and criteria to guide
the selection of counties to be awarded planning and implementation grants.
Such standards and criteria are the following:
(i) the potential likelihood of a county
establishing a successful program;
(ii) the level and degree of commitment of
county government support for the program on a continuing basis;
(iii) the level and degree of support for the
objectives of the program from current providers and operators; and
(iv) the extent to which transportation
service, facilities, equipment, usage, cost and revenue data is made available
to the county by potential participants.
(d) Financial assistance for operating
expenses.
(1) Eligibility. For those rural
counties having an approved coordinated public transportation service plan and
having implemented such service which has maintained existing levels of funding
used for transportation by the coordinated service, and when the need for
additional operating aid has been documented, the Department may, in
consultation with the Committee, grant up to $35,000 per year for operating aid
for up to five successive years, subject to annual appropriations to be
included in the State Budget. Such aid may be extended annually when the county
or operator of the coordinated public transportation service has adequately
demonstrated to the Department the need for such continued aid. Following
formal adoption of a rural county's coordinated public transportation service
plan and approval of that plan by the Department, and upon receipt of written
notice from a rural county that its coordinated public transportation service
is about to commence in accordance with such approved plan, the Department
shall forward operating aid applications to the chief executive officer of the
county, if any, or the chairperson of the county legislative body, along with
instructions and a timetable for their completion.
(2) Eligible operating assistance expenses
and services.
(i) Eligible expenses. Expenses
which are eligible for program operating assistance shall be those incurred by
the coordinated service operator, in providing eligible transportation service,
which are necessary for the continuing management, operation and maintenance of
the service and may include the following:
(a) salary and fringe benefits of
professional management and administrative personnel;
(b) salary and fringe benefits of operating
personnel, such as dispatchers, drivers, mechanics, etc.;
(c) purchase of fuel, oil, tires, parts and
supplies;
(d) rent of buildings,
garage and office space;
(e)
insurance and legal costs;
(f)
advertising and marketing the coordinated service to improve
ridership;
(g) purchase of
maintenance or other services from third-party subcontractors;
(h) indirect expenses in accordance with a
reasonable cost allocation method approved by the Department;
(i) preparing applications for federal or
State funds or grants, and related activities;
(j) a reasonable allowance for profit, as
determined by the department, for bus or taxi companies providing eligible
passenger transportation services.
(ii) Eligible services. To be considered as a
part of a county's coordinated public transportation service and eligible for
program operating assistance, transportation service components must meet the
following conditions:
(a) be operated by the
county's designated coordinated service operator, or managed by said operator
through a sub-contract;
(b) be open
to the general public on an equal opportunity basis in accordance with other
terms and conditions of this Part;
(c) have publicly posted and distributed
service areas, routes, fares, rates and hours of operation, which are
advertised and marketed regularly and widely throughout the county in such a
manner that facilitates knowledge of the availability and details of the
service by all transportation disadvantaged persons and other members of the
public.
All modes of service, such as fixed-route, point or
route-deviation or demand-responsive services, are eligible for inclusion.
Services may not be limited to current users or current agency-affiliated
clientele. Portions of a coordinated service which are advertised, marketed and
operated as open to the public on an equal opportunity basis, as well as
specialized service components of such a service, will be eligible for federal
and State public transportation operating assistance, if they also meet other
eligibility requirements of those programs. Client specific services, which
exist primarily to serve agency clientele or to transport agency clientele to
and from agency programs and which give preference in service orientation or
seat availability to agency clients, may be included in a county's coordinated
service. In such cases, agency funds shall pay for the fully allocated cost of
such services, after subtracting any income from fare-paying riders. Other than
agency-affiliated passengers transported on client-specific service components,
all passengers transported by a county's coordinated public transportation
service must be revenue-generating passengers on an individual passenger trip
basis. This may be accomplished by:
(1) individuals paying their own
fare;
(2) individuals paying their
fare and obtaining reimbursement from a third-party; or
(3) individuals obtaining transportation
tickets or passes from, or otherwise having their trips arranged by, a
third-party, such as a human service agency, with the coordinated service
operator later billing the third-party. Fares must be equitable and not
discriminatory and should be based upon the actual cost of services provided.
To be eligible for federal and State public transportation operating assistance
(see 980.13), such fares and reimbursement rates must be predetermined and
publicly posted and advertised.
In an area where a specialized service, as defined in this
Part, is offered and is to be considered part of a county's coordinated public
transportation service, the county's coordinated service must also offer
service to the general public on an equal opportunity basis to generally the
same extent and degree--in terms of service levels, operating hours and
geographic coverage--as the specialized service.
(3) Ineligible costs. The following
categories of expenses are not eligible for operating assistance through the
program:
(i) purchase or construction of
capital equipment or facilities;
(ii) expenses of client-specific
transportation services ordinarily provided by a human service agency when such
services are not under the operational control of the county's coordinated
service operator;
(iii) expenses
for ineligible transportation services as determined by Law or Department
guidelines including rail, air, water, freight, emergency medical, charter or
tour transportation services;
(iv)
expenses for any purchases or services which are not under the management and
operational control of the county's coordinated service operator.
(4) County government share of
eligible operating assistance expenses. No operating aid shall be paid to any
rural county unless such county appropriates and expends at least 20 percent of
the coordinated public transportation service's total annual administrative and
operating costs for the provision of public transportation service. Except for
other public transportation monies paid by the Department to the county and any
required local share necessary to receive those monies, such amount may include
any county funds used for operating aid, including funds previously used to
support any other transportation service, that have been appropriated to an
account under the management and control of the county's coordinated service
operator for the provision of public transportation service.
Funds available to county government agencies in a rural
county that had been used to pay for a human service agency's client-specific
transportation services prior to the establishment of the county's coordinated
public transportation service, but which are re-directed by a county to its
coordinated service operator for the operation of public transportation service
as defined in this Part, may be included as county share regardless of the
original source of such funds. Operating revenue generated by the operation of
those portions of the coordinated public transportation service which are open
to the public on an equal opportunity basis, including passenger fares and
third-party passenger-based reimbursements, and advertising revenue, may be
counted as county share provided that the amount of such operating revenue is
certified by the county and is taken into account in determining the county's
need for, and annual amount of, program operating assistance. Notwithstanding
any other provision of this Part, a county's share of a Program operating
assistance grant must actually be expended on the transportation service to be
managed by the county's coordinated service operator and shall be fully and
explicitly included in any accounting of grant revenues.
(e) Other provisions related to financial
assistance.
(1) In the event a county's plan
is completed and approved within one year, any remaining unexpended grant funds
may be used to implement the plan. In no event shall a county's Program grant
in any one year exceed $45,000 if awarded prior to July 21, 1989 or $55,000 if
awarded on or after July 21, 1989 for planning or implementation, or $35,000
for operating aid.
(2) A county's
first, second and third-year grants for planning and implementation shall
generally be completed within one-year time periods, except that such periods
may be modified by the Department if necessary to facilitate grant completion
and successful implementation, or to simplify program administration.
(3) If a county should initially apply for a
program grant in an amount which is less than that for which it is eligible
under this Part, it may amend its application at a later time to apply for
additional funds up to the limits prescribed in this Part, provided that the
applicable requirements for the county's share of program funds are fully
met.
(4) A rural county which has
developed a plan for a coordinated public transportation service without the
use of program funds and has not implemented that service shall be eligible to
apply for program funds to implement and operate its coordinated service under
the following conditions:
(i) the county's
plan meets the content and process requirements of the Department's planning
guidelines in every respect;
(ii)
the county shall first have met the public hearing and other requirements of
this Part pertaining to its coordinated service plan; and
(iii) the Department shall first have
approved the county's plan. Such county shall only be eligible for second and
third-year implementation grants and, in any case, no program funds may be used
to pay for work or expenses previously performed or incurred in planning for
the coordinated service.
(5) A rural county which has already
established a countywide public transportation service or is a member of a
public transportation authority district providing such a service but does not
offer a coordinated public transportation service as defined in this Part,
shall be eligible for not more than two years of program financial assistance
for the planning and implementation of a coordinated public transportation
service.
(6) A rural county which
already has established a coordinated transportation service and that service
is not a public transportation service as defined in this Part, shall be
eligible for not more than two years of program financial assistance for the
planning and implementation of a coordinated public transportation service. In
such cases, no program funds may be used to pay for work or expenses previously
performed or incurred in developing the coordinated service.
(7) A rural county which already has
established and implemented a coordinated public transportation service, or is
a member of a public transportation authority district providing such a service
in said county, shall not be eligible for program grants for planning and
implementation. Such a county shall be eligible for program operating
assistance in accordance with this Part only after it has provided a
coordinated public transportation service plan to the Department and such plan
has been approved by the Department as meeting the requirements of this
Part.
(8) In awarding program
grants for the planning and implementation of a coordinated public
transportation service, the Department may give priority consideration to rural
counties in which there does not exist a countywide coordinated transportation
service or a countywide public transportation service.
(9) In awarding program operating assistance
grants, the department may give priority consideration to rural counties that
have formally participated in the planning and implementation phases of the
program.
(10) The Department may
approve a county's coordinated public transportation service plan on a
conditional basis in advance of final approval, for the purpose of awarding
that county a second-year planning and implementation grant in order that the
county's planning and implementation process may continue
uninterrupted.
(11) The Department
may authorize a portion of a county's second-year planning and implementation
grant to be used for completing the county's plan if, in the opinion of the
Department, the county has made sufficient progress toward completion of the
Plan with its first-year grant.
(12) Consistent with other provisions of this
Part, any rural county which has previously initiated and is currently
undertaking activities leading to the development of a coordinated public
transportation service, utilizing federal, local or other State funds, shall be
eligible to receive a total of Program funds plus such other assistance up to
the limits prescribed in this Part.