Answer:

For the purposes of the EEO Program, "requests or receives" means the FTA formula or competitive grants that an entity was awarded in the previous fiscal year for capital, operations, or planning expenditures. For this monetary threshold, FTA is not interested in the expenditures or grant drawdowns by an agency.

Answer:

This prohibition applies to all FTA programs and grants, including all programs authorized under Chapter 53 of Title 49, U.S.C. and other programs for which FTA serves as the grant making agency (e.g. TIGER).

Answer:

Much of FTA’s transit bus automation research will be funded by the Public Transportation Innovation Program (Section 5312).  FTA will be supporting up to seven demonstrations over the next five years. Additionally, there may be opportunities for agencies to participate in peer exchanges and communities of practice to share lessons learned and best practices.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) offers funding through the ATCMTD grant program - we anticipate that program will continue through fiscal year 2020.

There has been significant state and local investment in automation, and additional state funding may be available.

Answer:

EJ populations include minority or low-income populations.

Answer:

Accessibility requirements for fare vending machines are established by the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (ATBCB or “Access Board”), the Federal agency responsible for developing minimum guidelines for accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These guidelines were updated by the Access Board in 2004, and incorporated into Department of Transportation (DOT) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations as the enforceable standard for transportation in November 2006; specific requirements may therefore differ slightly, depending upon when the fare machine was made and installed. The current standards are found in Section 707 of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines, which can be found at https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/buildings-and-sit…. In particular, Section 707 discusses fare machine requirements such as clear floor space, operable parts, privacy, and speech-enablement.

Answer:

FEMA will close out your grant request and FTA will work with you to develop your grant application. Documentation gathered and developed for FEMA assistance, such as Project Worksheets (PWs) will be accepted as applicable for documents required for FTA ER grants.

Answer:

If the expenses have already been paid out of a contingency in the budget, then they are Category 1 expenses and do not require documentation of budgeting, which is for future expenditures. For future expenditures to be paid from a contingency, there should be some documentation showing either budgeting or approval of the use of the contingency line item (Board meeting minutes, for example). This documentation should be included in the initial proposal.

Answer:

Yes. There are a number of tools available across the federal agencies that FTA encourages grantees to consider. Links are available on FTA’s EJ webpage. The EPA EJ View took is available on the EPA EJ webpage.

Answer:

Communities with existing one-call centers are encouraged to apply for a VTCLI grant to expand their services. Such communities should detail how the planning and design process will incorporate veterans groups and needs that have not been addressed by the current one-call services.

Answer:

For the ABFE+1/FEMA Best Available+1 requirement, applicants must submit documentation showing that they have identified the appropriate flood hazard area and the best available base flood elevation for the project location, or locations, as applicable. Applicant must also provide an explanation of how a proposed project was designed to make the asset resilient based on this flood hazard information. Applicants should cite the relevant FEMA map source and/or FEMA flood insurance study for the project location.

Answer:

If a grantee is seeking credit towards its local share with the use of Federal funds, they must provide the following information:
Year of Purchase
Vehicle Identification Number
(A) Cost of Van
(B) Amount of federal financial assistance
(C) Required local match
(D) Amount of state or local assistance beyond the match requirement
(E) Amount to be used as credit for this grant A-B-C-D
Certified Statement to verify van is being used in grantee’s service area

Answer:

If a grantee is seeking credit towards its local share without the use of Federal funds, they must provide the following information:
Year of Purchase
Vehicle Identification Number
(A) Cost of Van
(B) Amount of state or local financial assistance
(C) Amount available as credit (A-B)
(D) Amount used as credit for previous grants
(E) Amount to be used as credit for this grant (C-D)
Certified statement to verify van is being used in grantee’s service area

Answer:

Commuter highway vehicle and vanpool vehicle are vehicles with seating capacity for at least six (6) adults (not including the driver); and at least 80 percent of the mileage use can be reasonably expected to be for the purposes of transporting commuters in connection with travel between their residences and their places of employment.

Answer:

A transit-related employee is "an employee of an FTA applicant, recipient, subrecipient, or contractor who is involved in any aspect of an agency’s public transit operation funded by FTA." (Circular Section 1.6). Agencies are required to count all part-time employees and employees with collateral duties who support the transit program, including those who contribute time to other programs. (Circular Section 1.4). Therefore, a transit-related employee is anyone "who is involved in any aspect of an agency’s public transit operation" and not just those who plan routes and drive buses. Those who provide transit oversight, civil rights oversight, accounting, and grants management, for example, would all be considered transit-related employees if their work touched the transit program.

The following are some examples of transit-related employees:

• A city planner involved in planning bus routes would be counted as part of the recipient’s transit-related workforce, but a city planner involved only in land use would not be counted.
• A budget analyst who processes payments for the transit program in addition to other responsibilities.
• An employee focusing on grants management who handles grant applications for several city programs, including transit programs.
• An HR officer managing staffing at a transit agency or managing transit staff as part of a city or county program.
• An employee providing civil rights oversight at a transit agency or State DOT.
• A security guard or facilities staffer at a transit-specific building or subway station would be a transit-related employee, while a security guard or facilities staffer at a State DOT building would not.

Answer:

Whether an adverse effect is “disproportionately high” on minority and low-income populations depends on whether that effect is (1) predominantly borne by an EJ population, or (2) will be suffered by the EJ population and is appreciably more severe or greater in magnitude than the adverse effect that will be suffered by the non-EJ population. It is important to note that determinations of disproportionately high and adverse effects take into consideration the mitigation and enhancement measures that are planned for the proposed action.

Answer:

Coordinating individual human service transportation programs makes the most efficient use of limited transportation resources by avoiding duplication caused by overlapping individual program efforts and encouraging the use and sharing of existing community resources.  In communities where coordination is made a priority, citizens benefit from more extensive service, lower costs and easier access to transportation. Coordination can improve overall mobility within a community, particularly when human service agencies are each providing transportation to their own clients. It works by eliminating the inefficiencies within disparate operations and service patterns that often result from a multiplicity of providers. Greater efficiency helps to stretch the limited (and often insufficient) funding and personnel resources of these agencies. When appropriately applied, coordination can lead to significant reductions of operating costs (per trip) for transportation providers. People in need of transportation also profit from enhanced transportation and higher quality services when operations are coordinated.

Answer:

The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Emergency Relief (ER) Program is authorized by Congress and enables FTA to reimburse public transit operators in the aftermath of an emergency or major disaster to help pay for protecting, repairing, or replacing equipment and facilities that may suffer or have suffered serious damage. The program also funds the operating costs of evacuation, rescue operations, or temporary public transportation service during or after an emergency.

Under the ER Program, FTA may make grants for capital projects to protect, repair, or replace damaged assets, and for operating expenses incurred while responding to a declared emergency or major disaster.

Answer:

In the spring of 2014, FTA extended pre-award authority for costs associated with the environmental review, as well as design and engineering expenses for selected projects. These costs may remain eligible for reimbursement or may count towards the local match, regardless of the date incurred. Pre-award authority for other costs is extended as of September 22, 2014.
Consistent with FTA policy on pre-award authority, a project must have met all applicable Federal requirements prior to incurring expenses. The recipient assumes all risk and is responsible for ensuring that all applicable federal program and grant requirements are met to retain eligibility. Recipients are also advised that incurring certain project costs prior to NEPA completion may render the entire project ineligible for Federal assistance. Therefore, FTA strongly encourages all recipients to consult with the appropriate FTA regional office regarding the anticipated environmental review requirements and the applicability of Federal conditions and requirements before incurring expenses under pre-award authority with the hope of future reimbursement.
Note that any expenses incurred for projects that were NOT selected may not be reimbursed under the Emergency Relief program, but may be eligible for reimbursement under FTA formula programs such as Section 5307.

Answer:

FTA encourages the use of a wide variety of tools to engage the public. Social media should not replace traditional public meetings, but can be a very useful supplement that provides greater opportunity to engage the public. Be sure to establish a policy (it can be brief) to outline expectations for users about how their input will be considered and whether comments submitted via social media are considered “official” comments and will be included in the administrative record. TCRP Synthesis Report 99, Uses of Social Media in Public Transportation provides helpful case studies and information.

Answer:

Human services transportation (HST) includes a broad range of transportation service options designed to meet the needs of transportation disadvantaged populations, including older adults, people with disabilities, and/or individuals with lower income. Individuals have different needs and may require different transportation services depending on their needs, the size of the community they live in, and the options available. 

Public transit, available for all, is one form of HST. Other HST providers serve limited populations such as agency or institutional clients or schools. HST providers include public and private providers of transportation services, social service agencies, community health centers, aging and disability organizations, public health departments, behavioral or mental health centers, criminal justice programs, veteran’s transportation programs, vocational rehabilitation programs, schools, advocacy groups, faith-based communities, and more. 

HST includes, but is not limited to:

• Dial-a-ride (i.e., responding to individual door-to-door requests)
• Human service agency transportation  
• Mileage reimbursement to volunteers or program participants 
• Neighborhood shuttles 
• Non-emergency medical transportation funded by Medicaid or other sources
• Public transit (including paratransit)
• Transportation vouchers (e.g., transit passes, taxis, etc.) 
• Volunteer transportation services 
• Escorted (i.e., door-through-door or hand-to-hand) transportation services

Human service agencies that provide transportation services have uniquely different missions. One agency may provide employment services while another may focus on the delivery of health care services as their primary mission. Coordinating HST can be highly beneficial to local communities.