[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 181 (Monday, September 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56358-56360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23817]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program Announcement of Project 
Selection

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded 
under the Over-the-road Bus (OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by 
Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
(TEA-21). The OTRB Accessibility Program makes funds available to 
private operators of over-the-road buses to help finance the 
incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT's over-
the-road bus accessibility rule, published in a Federal Register Notice 
on September 24, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The appropriate FTA Regional 
Administrator for grant-specific issues; or Sue Masselink, Office of 
Program Management, 202-366-2053 for general information about the OTRB 
Accessibility Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Projects Selected for Fiscal Year 2000 Funding

    In fiscal year 2000, a total of $7.6 million was requested by 57 
applicants: $5.9 million was requested for intercity fixed-route 
providers, and $1.7 million was requested for other providers such as 
charter, tour, and commuter service providers. A total of $3.7 million 
was available for providers of over-the-road services: $2 million at 90 
percent Federal share for providers of intercity fixed-route services 
and $1.7 million at 50 percent Federal share for providers of other 
types of services, such as charter, tour, and commuter. See section 
3038 of TEA-21, Pub. L. 105-178 and section 342 of the Department of 
Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriation Act 2000, Pub. L. 
106-69. Project selections were made on a discretionary basis, based on 
each applicant's responsiveness to statutory project selection 
criteria, fleet size, and level of funding received last year. Because 
of the high demand for the funds available to providers of intercity 
fixed-route service, most applicants received less funding than they 
requested, although with the exception of some of the applicants that 
received funding last year, all qualified applicants received some 
funding. Each of the following 47 awardees, as well as the 10 
applicants who were not selected for funding, will receive a letter 
which explains how funding decisions were made.

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                                                                                 Award amounts
                                                            -------------------------------------------------------
                          Operator                              Intercity
                                                               fixed-route        Other           Total      Total
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                                                  REGION I
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The Arrow Line, Inc, East Hartford, CT.....................        $123,400              $0        $123,400
Bonanza Bus Lines, Providence, RI..........................          68,900               0          68,900
Concord Trailways, Concord, NH.............................          31,300               0          31,300
Peter Pan Bus Lines, Springfield, MA.......................         129,700               0         129,700
Edwin J. Pina, Sr. and Sons, Inc., Marstons Mill, PA.......               0          14,250          14,250

[[Page 56359]]

 
VIP Tour and Charter Bus Co., Portland, ME.................               0          72,625          72,625
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                                                 REGION II
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Travelways, Inc., Howell, NJ...............................          71,600         132,500         204,100
Birnie Bus Service, Rome, NY...............................          30,200               0          30,200
Shortline Hudson, Mahwah, NJ...............................           6,100               0           6,100
Lakeland Bus Lines, Dover, NJ..............................               0         108,000         108,000
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                                                 REGION III
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Fullington Auto Bus Co., Clearfield, PA....................          30,910               0          30,910
Trans-Bridge Lines, Bethlehem, PA..........................          31,720          70,412         102,132
Motor Transportation Company, Inc., Hazelton, PA...........               0          37,500          37,500
Krapf's Coaches, Westchester, PA...........................               0          26,230          26,230
Keller Bus Service, Waldorf, MD............................               0          42,500          42,500
Butler Motor Company, Pittsburg, PA........................               0          36,000          36,000
Susquehanna Transit Company, Avis, PA......................          30,960          15,250          46,210
Werner Coach, Phoenixville, PA.............................          32,800          18,210          51,010
Wisconsin Coach, Pittsburgh, PA............................               0          42,500          42,500
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                                                 REGION IV
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P&S Transportation/Coach USA, Orlando, FL..................               0          59,957          59,957
Capital Motors/Colonial Trailways, Montgomery, AL..........          23,800          12,500          36,300
Colonial Trailways, Inc., Mobile, Alabama..................          23,400          12,500          35,900
Good Times Tours, Pensacola, FL............................               0          15,140          15,140
A.A. Crow Corp./Ingram Bus Lines, Tallassee, AL............               0          15,000          15,000
Busco, Inc., Birmingham, AL................................               0          15,000          15,000
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                                                  REGION V
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Eclipse Charter and Tours, Gary, IN........................               0          21,500          21,500
Peoria Charter Coach Co., Peoria, IL.......................           3,000               0           3,000
Mid-America, Elk Grove Village, IL.........................               0          79,280          79,280
Bosch Bus Co., Ft. Wayne, IN...............................               0          25,872          25,872
Lakefront Lines, Brook Park, OH............................          31,460               0          31,460
Lamers Bus Company, Green Bay, WI..........................          24,265          16,250          40,515
VanGalder Bus Company, Janesville, WI......................               0         107,500         107,500
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                                                 REGION VI
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Americanos USA, El Paso, TX................................          94,600               0          94,600
Autobus Amigos, LLC, Brownsville, TX.......................          31,500               0          31,500
Greyhound Lines, Inc., Dallas, TX..........................       1,000,000               0       1,000,000
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                                                 REGION VII
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Northwest Iowa Transportation, Inc., Ft. Dodge, IA.........               0          10,000          10,000
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                                                REGION VIII
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Powder River Transportation Svcs., Inc., Gillette, WY......          19,965           9,983          29,948
Rimrock Stages, Billings, MT...............................          29,200          12,500          41,700
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                                                 REGION IX
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Pacific Coachways Charter Svcs., Inc., Garden Grove, CA....               0          29,750          29,750
Golden State Coaches/Frontier Tours, Carson City, NV.......               0         361,122         361,122
Arrow Stage Lines, Phoenix, AZ.............................               0         105,000         105,000
Gonzales Inc., Los Angeles, CA.............................         126,100               0         126,100
Navi-Hopi Tours, Flagstaff, AZ.............................               0          30,450          30,450
VIA Adventures, Tempe, AZ..................................          15,120          11,750          26,870
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                                                  REGION X
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Wheatland Express, Pullman, WA.............................               0          12,735          12,735
Northwestern Stage, Spokane, WA............................               0          14,975          14,975
Commuter Bus, Caldwell, ID.................................               0          12,435          12,435
                                                            ----------------------------------------------------
      TOTAL................................................   \*\$2,010,000      $1,607,176     $3,617,176
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\*\ $10,000 was carried over from unobligated 1999 funds.


[[Page 56360]]

    Eligible project costs may be incurred by awardees prior to final 
grant approval. The incremental capital cost for adding wheelchair lift 
equipment to any new vehicles delivered on or after June 9, 1998, the 
effective date of TEA-21, is eligible for funding under the OTRB 
Accessibility Program.
    Applicants selected for funding may be contacted by FTA regional 
offices if any additional information is needed before grants are made. 
The grant applications will be sent to the U.S. Department of Labor 
(DOL) for certification under the labor protection requirements 
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5333(b). After referring applications to affected 
employees represented by a labor organization, DOL will issue a 
certification to FTA. The terms and conditions of the certification 
will be incorporated in the FTA grant agreement under the new 
guidelines replacing those in 29 CFR part 215. Please see Amendment to 
Section 5333(b), Guidelines to Carry Out New Programs Authorized by the 
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21); Final Rule (64 
FR 40990, July 28, 1999).

    Issued on September 12, 2000.
Nuria I. Fernandez,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 00-23817 Filed 9-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P