06. Are private for-profit taxi companies that seek to purchase accessible taxis eligible subrecipients under the new Section 5310 program?

Under certain circumstances, a for-profit taxi company may be an eligible subrecipient under this program. As defined in MAP-21, eligible subrecipients for this program are a State governmental authority, a private non-profit organization, or an operator of public transportation that receives a grant under this section indirectly through a recipient. Therefore, some for-profit taxi companies may be eligible under the latter section of the definition.

Under previous policy, FTA declared taxi companies that provide shared-ride taxi service to the public or a segment of the population as operators of public transportation (see FTA FAQs for the Section 5310, 5316, and 5317 programs). Assuming the project is eligible under the section 5310 program, as amended by MAP-21, and the service provided is shared-ride, the company may be an eligible subrecipient.

“Shared ride” means two or more passengers in the same vehicle who are otherwise not traveling together. Similar to general public and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) demand response service, every trip does not have to be shared-ride in order for a taxi company to be considered a shared-ride operator, but the general nature of the service must include shared rides.

Local (municipal/State) statutes or regulations, or company policy, will generally determine whether a taxi company provides shared-ride or exclusive-ride service. For example, if the local regulation permits the driver to determine whether or not a trip may be shared, the service is not shared-ride. Similarly, if the regulation requires the consent of the first passenger to hire a taxi be obtained before the taxi may take an additional riders, the service is not shared-ride. In essence, services which can be reserved for the exclusive use of individuals or private groups, either by the operator or the first passenger’s refusal to permit additional passengers, is exclusive-ride taxi service, and is not shared ride. A recipient passing funds through to a taxi company subrecipient should request documentation from the taxi company to assure the company is providing shared-ride service. Under certain conditions, the taxi service may also be eligible as a third party contractor.