[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 218 (Wednesday, November 12, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60756-60758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-29718]



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Part III





Department of Transportation





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Federal Transit Administration



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Section 5309 (Section 3(j)) FTA New Starts Criteria; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 218 / Wednesday, November 12, 1997 / 
Notices  

[[Page 60756]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Section 5309 (Section 3(j)) FTA New Starts Criteria

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT

ACTION: Amendment of notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is amending its 
December 19, 1996 Notice describing the criteria it will use to 
evaluate candidate projects for discretionary New Starts funding under 
Title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 5309. Specifically, the 
Notice is amended to reflect Departmental guidance issued on April 9, 
1997 establishing a Department-wide standard for the value of travel 
time; correct an editorial error regarding the application of travel 
time savings to the criteria for mobility improvements; account for the 
lack of standardized national assumptions regarding the unit value of 
criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions; reflect a change in 
the definition of ``boarding points associated with the proposed new 
start'' for purposes of evaluating mobility improvements; and reflect a 
change in the definition of ``new start service area'' for purposes of 
evaluating operating efficiencies.

EFFECTIVE DATES: This Notice will be used to evaluate projects for 
discretionary new start funding recommendations for the 1999 Fiscal 
Year.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Day, Office of Policy 
Development, FTA, Washington, D.C. 20590, (202) 366-4060.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On December 19, 1996, FTA issued a Notice describing the criteria 
it will use to evaluate candidate projects for discretionary New Starts 
funding under Title 49 United States Code (USC) Section 5309. These 
criteria replaced those which had been in effect since the May 18, 1984 
Statement of Policy on Major Urban Mass Transportation Capital 
Investments, and incorporated the expanded range of factors implemented 
by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 
(ISTEA).

Value of Travel Time Savings

    The Notice established a measure for the statutory criteria of 
``mobility improvements'' of ``[t]he projected value of aggregate 
travel time savings per year (forecast year 1) anticipated 
from the new investment, compared with the no-build and TSM 
(Transportation System Management) alternatives.'' It further 
established the value of total travel time savings at 80 percent of the 
average wage rate in the urbanized area.
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    \1\ The original Notice established the forecast year as year 20 
of the analysis period, and noted that an opening year forecast will 
be used for financial analysis and as a check on initial ridership 
projections.
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    On April 19, 1997, the Secretary of Transportation issued ``The 
Value of Travel Time: Departmental Guidance for Conducting Economic 
Evaluations,'' which established department-wide guidance for 
calculating the value of time saved or lost by users of the 
transportation system. The values of time and procedures set forth in 
the Departmental guidance are to be used for all DOT cost-benefit and 
cost-effectiveness analyses that employ measures of the value of travel 
time lost or saved. They replace mode-specific methods for valuing 
travel time with a consistent set of monetary values applicable to all 
modes.
    The Departmental guidance establishes a common value of local 
travel time for automobile drivers and passengers, public transit 
passengers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Separate values are specified 
for personal travel (including commuting, shopping, conducting personal 
business, and social and recreational travel), business or work-related 
travel, and travel by truck drivers.
    Hourly wages were derived from several sources. For personal travel 
by surface modes, the standard adopted is median household income, as 
reported by the Bureau of the Census, divided by 2,000 hours. This 
figure amounted to $17.00 in 1995. The standard for business travel is 
derived from employee compensation figures supplied by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics. For business travel by surface mode (except truck 
drivers), the hourly wage figure was $18.80 including fringe benefits. 
For truck drivers, the hourly wage was $16.50.
    The values adopted by the Department for travel time are as 
follows: 50 percent of the wage for all local personal travel, 
regardless of mode; 70 percent of the wage for all intercity personal 
travel; and 100 percent of the wage (plus fringe benefits) for all 
local and intercity business travel, including travel by truck drivers. 
In special cases where out-of-vehicle time (access, waiting, and 
transfer time) on transit trips is isolated as an object of analysis, 
time is valued at 100 percent of the wage.
    Using these percentages and wage rates, the hourly value of travel 
time for local travel on surface modes (transit's market) is as 
follows: $8.50 for personal local travel by all (50 percent of the 
median household income, divided by 2,000 hours); $18.80 for local 
business travel, and $16.50 for truck drivers. The hourly value for 
walking, waiting, and access time associated with transit improvements 
is $17.00 (100 percent of the median household income, divided by 2,000 
hours).
    The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy 
will publish periodic updates of the values of travel time to be used 
in DOT economic analyses. This updating will be performed using the 
same data sources used to develop the initial values, including the 
Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Air 
Transport Association. The updating process will automatically index 
the values to reflect increases in hourly earnings throughout the 
nation's economy.

Application of Value of Travel Time Savings

    In addition to the revised values for travel time, the December 19, 
1996 Notice is being amended to correct an editorial error regarding 
the application of travel time savings to the criteria for mobility 
improvements. Specifically, in the summary of comments to the September 
28, 1994 Policy Discussion Paper, the Notice indicated that travel time 
increases ``should not be counted against overall travel time 
improvements for new riders (Federal Register, Vol. 61, No. 245, p. 
67100).'' This position was adopted because some people who switch to 
transit can incur longer travel times, but are deriving other benefits 
such as reduced travel under congested conditions, improved ride 
quality, reduced commuting costs, etc. Lacking a reliable means for 
placing a value on such benefits, the value of the travel time increase 
would be used as a surrogate and not be deducted from overall travel 
time savings.
    However, section II(a)(1) of the policy statement itself notes 
incorrectly that the projected value of aggregate travel time savings 
per year ``is a net figure in the sense that travel time increases 
should be explicitly considered and used to offset the time savings of 
those people who experience savings (Federal Register, Vol. 61, No. 
245, p. 67105).'' This statement is incorrect, and this amendment 
removes the above sentence from the original Notice.

[[Page 60757]]

Valuation of Criteria Pollutant and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    The Notice established a measure for the statutory criteria of 
``environmental benefits'' of ``the value per year (forecast year) of 
the forecast change in criteria pollutant emissions and in greenhouse 
gas emissions, ascribable to the proposed new investment, calculated 
according to standardized national assumptions about the unit value of 
each emission.'' These values were to have been determined by the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, to date no values have 
been set. This amendment strikes the requirement that a value be placed 
on the forecast change in emissions.

Definition of ``Boarding Points'' for Evaluating Mobility Improvements

    Section II(a)(1) of the Notice states that one of the factors for 
rating the mobility improvements expected to be derived from a proposed 
new start would be the absolute number of low income households 
(households below the poverty level) located within \1/2\-mile of 
boarding points associated with the proposed system increment (Federal 
Register, Vol. 61, No. 245, p. 67105). This is still true. However, the 
discussion for this measure found in the summary of comments (Federal 
Register, Vol. 61, No. 245, p. 67100) defines ``boarding points 
associated with the proposed system'' as ``not limited to stations that 
are part of the proposed project,'' and including ``boarding points 
that will feed into the new system.'' In practice, this would have 
included bus stops on routes serving the new stations, as well as 
existing rail stations on lines that intersect with the new system at 
the new stations (such as when a new rapid rail line intersects with an 
existing commuter rail line, and a new station is constructed).
    In developing guidance for this measure, FTA concluded that 
including all potential boarding points associated with a new system 
would place an unnecessary and unfair burden on local agencies, would 
lead to reporting inconsistencies, and lack comparability among 
projects proposed for discretionary new starts funding. As a result, 
this amendment revises this measure to include only those stations 
located directly on the proposed new facility.

Definition of ``Service Area'' for Evaluating Operating Efficiencies

    Section II(a)(3) of the December 19, 1996 Notice indicates that the 
measure for ``operating efficiencies'' would be based on the ``forecast 
change in operating cost per passenger mile'' for the new start service 
area, defined as ``that part of the system that will be directly 
affected by the proposed new investment.'' Though not specifically 
stated, this measure would have included the change in operating cost 
per passenger mile not only for the new facility, but also for 
connecting bus routes and rail lines.
    In developing guidance for the revised criteria, FTA concluded that 
this measure as defined would place an unfair and unnecessary burden on 
local agencies, would lead to reporting inconsistencies, and lack 
comparability among projects proposed for discretionary new starts 
funding. As a result, this amendment revises the definition of 
``service area'' for this measure to include the entire transit system.

II. Incorporation of DOT Guidance Into FTA New Starts Criteria

    The December 19, 1996 Federal Register Notice adopted aggregate 
travel time savings as one of the measures for ``mobility 
improvements.'' This aggregate includes travel time savings for all 
travelers affected by the proposed transit investment; new and existing 
transit riders as well as highway users, business travel as well as 
personal. Given that the DOT Guidance establishes different values for 
different trip purposes (plus additional values for wait time and truck 
drivers), FTA has adopted a weighted average approach for valuing 
travel time savings (or increases) associated with a proposed new 
start, using distributions of travel by mode and by trip purpose.
    The revised value of travel time consists of three components: out-
of-vehicle time for all modes; in-vehicle time for highway modes; and 
in-vehicle time for transit modes.
    Out-of-vehicle time (time spent accessing, waiting, and 
transferring) is valued at 100 percent of the wage rate, as specified 
in the DOT Guidance. Using the wage rates specified earlier, out-of-
vehicle time is valued at $17.00 per hour.
    The value for in-vehicle travel time for transit modes is a 
weighted average based on trip purpose, i.e., business or personal. The 
DOT Guidance uses data from the 1990 Nationwide Personal Transportation 
Survey for trip purpose information. For surface modes, the 
distribution for local travel is 95.8 percent personal, 4.2 percent 
business. This results in a weighted average value of in-vehicle time 
for surface modes, for all purposes, of $8.90 per hour.
    The value for in-vehicle highway time includes an additional 
variable for vehicle mix, as the DOT Guidance establishes a separate 
value of time for truck drivers. For this component, FTA calculated a 
weighted average of highway travel time based on vehicle mix 
information provided by the 1995 Highway Statistics report published by 
the Federal Highway Administration. According to this report, 
automobiles account for 92.4 percent of vehicle miles traveled (VMT), 
and trucks account for the remaining 7.6 percent. Using these figures, 
and applying the weighted average value of in-vehicle time for business 
and personal travel as calculated above, the resulting value for in-
vehicle highway time is $9.50 per hour.

III. Amendments to Section 5309 FTA New Starts Criteria

    The December 19, 1996 Federal Register Notice, ``Section 5309 
(Section 3(j)) FTA New Starts Criteria,'' issued by the Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA), is amended as follows:
    The sentence reading, ``It is a net figure in the sense that travel 
time increases should be explicitly considered and used to offset the 
time savings of those people who experience savings,'' in regard to the 
measure for ``mobility improvements,'' is stricken from the Notice.
    The sentence reading, ``Total travel time savings will be valued at 
80 percent of the average wage rate in the urbanized area,'' regarding 
the measure for ``mobility improvements,'' is stricken and replaced 
with the following:
    ``Travel time savings will be valued according to trip purpose, 
using standardized values established by the Department of 
Transportation, based on average national wage rates as reported in the 
decennial Census. For transit riders, travel time will be valued at 50 
percent of the wage rate for non-work travel (including commuting) and 
100 percent of the wage rate for work-related travel. The total value 
of travel time for transit riders will be calculated using a weighted 
average by trip purpose. For highway users, the weighted average will 
also include travel by truck drivers, based on vehicle mix. In 
addition, time spent waiting for, accessing, and boarding transit 
vehicles will be valued at 100 percent of the wage rate.''
    The phrase reading, ``the value per year (forecast year) of the 
forecast change in criteria pollutant emissions and in greenhouse gas 
emissions, ascribable to the proposed new investment, calculated 
according to standardized national assumptions

[[Page 60758]]

about the unit value of each emission,'' regarding the measure for 
``environmental benefits,'' is stricken and replaced with the 
following:
    ``[T]he annual forecast change in criteria pollutant emissions and 
in greenhouse gas emissions, ascribable to the proposed new investment, 
calculated in terms of tons for each criteria pollutant or gas.''
    The sentence reading, ``This measure is not limited to stations 
that are part of the proposed project, and includes boarding points 
that will feed into the new system,'' contained in the discussion of 
``mobility improvements'' with respect to the definition of ``boarding 
points,'' is stricken and replaced with the following:
    ``Boarding points are defined as those transit stations located 
directly on the proposed new start transit facility.''
    In Section II(a)(3), the phrase ``for that part of the system that 
will be directly affected by the proposed new investment'' is stricken 
and replaced with the following:
    ``[F]or the entire transit system.''

    Issue Date: November 5, 1997.
Gordon J. Linton,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-29718 Filed 11-10-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P