[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 208 (Monday, October 28, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65830-65832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-27374]


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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 Fiscal Year 2002 appropriations for 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 Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A total of $6.9 million was appropriated for 
the program in FY 2002 which together with $204,100 in prior year 
unobligated funds made a total of $7.1 million available for 
allocation: $5.3 million for intercity fixed-route providers and $1.8 
million for all other providers, such as commuter, charter, and tour 
operators. A total of 91 applicants requested $18.4 million: $11.5 
million was requested by intercity fixed-route providers, and $6.9 
million was requested by all other providers. 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 in previous years. Because of the high demand for the 
funds available, most applicants received less funding than they 
requested, but all qualified applicants received some funding. The 
selected projects will provide funding for the incremental cost of 
adding lifts to 149 new vehicles, retrofitting 68 vehicles, and 
$476,279 for training. Each of the following 73 awardees, as well as 
the 18 applicants who were not selected for funding, will receive a 
letter that explains how funding decisions were made.

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                                                                                 Award Amounts
                                                              --------------------------------------------------
                           Operator                               Intercity
                                                                 fixed-route         Other             Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Region I:
    Arrow Line, Inc., East Hartford, CT......................  ...............          $50,000           50,000
    Bonanza Bus Lines, Providence, RI........................          $68,080  ...............           68,080
    Brunswick Transportation Company, South Portland, ME.....  ...............           42,700           42,700
    Brush Hill Transportation Company, Randolph, MA..........           28,915  ...............           28,915
    Gulbankian Bus Lines, Southborough, MA...................  ...............           11,709           11,709
    McGinn Bus Company, Plymouth, MA.........................           28,915  ...............           28,915
    Mini Coach of Boston, Inc., Chelsea, MA..................  ...............           38,000           38,000
    Morgan Coach Lines, Inc., South Deerfield, MA............  ...............           39,895           39,895
    Pawtuxet Valley Bus Lines, West Warwick, RI..............  ...............            7,200            7,200
    Peter Pan Bus Lines, Springfield, MA.....................          113,600  ...............          113,600

[[Page 65831]]

 
    Vermont Transit Company, Inc., Burlington, VT............           99,454  ...............           99,454
Region II:
    Academy Express, LLC, Hoboken, NJ........................           18,000           26,936           44,936
    Adirondack Trailways, Hurley, NY.........................          130,000  ...............          130,000
    Blue Bird Coach Lines, Inc., N. Tonawanda, NY............           40,770           42,120           82,890
    DeCamp Bus Lines, Montclair, NJ..........................  ...............           90,000           90,000
    Hampton Jitney, Inc., Southampton, NY....................  ...............           25,575           25,575
    Hudson Transit Lines, Inc., Mahwah, NJ...................          108,000  ...............          108,000
    Suburban Transit Corp., New Brunswick, NJ................  ...............           18,000           18,000
    Sunrise Coach Lines, Inc., Greenport, NY.................  ...............           32,010           32,010
    Syracuse and Oswego Motor Lines, East Syracuse, NY.......  ...............           39,600           39,600
    Utica Rome Bus Company, Clinton, NY......................  ...............           39,150           39,150
Region III:
    Butler Motor Transit, Butler, PA.........................  ...............           44,100           44,100
    Capitol Bus Company, Harrisburg, PA......................            5,000  ...............            5,000
    Central Cab Company, Waynesburg, PA......................  ...............           43,200           43,200
    Elite Coach, Ephrata, PA.................................  ...............           40,950           40,950
    Eyre Bus Service, Inc., Glenelg, MD......................  ...............          102,857          102,857
    First Priority Tours, Inc., District Heights, MD.........  ...............           34,306           34,306
    James River Bus Lines, Richmond, VA......................  ...............           38,520           38,520
    Lenzer Tour and Travel, Sewickley, PA....................  ...............           42,750           42,750
    Martz Trailways, Wilkes-Barre, PA........................          199,579  ...............          199,579
    Mountaineer Coach, Beaver, WV............................  ...............           19,000           19,000
    Thomas Tours, Beltsville, MD.............................  ...............           20,646           20,646
    Trans-Bridge Lines, Bethlehem, PA........................           51,053  ...............           51,053
Region IV:
    Southern Coach, Durham, North Carolina...................  ...............           84,090           84,090
    Carolina Trailways, Raleigh, North Carolina..............           99,454  ...............           99,454
    First Class Coach Co., St. Petersburg, Florida...........          107,200  ...............          107,200
    Good Time Tours, Pensacola, Florida......................  ...............           26,902           26,902
    Capital Trailways, Montgomery, Alabama...................           69,300  ...............           69,300
    Colonial Trailways, Mobile, Alabama......................  ...............           60,750           60,750
    Americoach Tours, Memphis, Tennessee.....................  ...............           46,250           46,250
Region V:
    Jefferson Lines, Minneapolis, Minnesota..................          143,188  ...............          143,188
    Rockford Coach Lines, LLC, Rockford, Illinois............           66,303  ...............           66,303
    Gad-About Tours, Columbiana, Ohio........................  ...............           36,800           36,800
    Ready Bus Lines, La Crescent, Minnesota..................  ...............           29,700           29,700
    VanGalder Bus, Janesville, Wisconsin.....................            9,700  ...............            9,700
    Seniors Unlimited, Pontiac, Michigan.....................  ...............           22,190           22,190
    Wisconsin Coach, Waukesha, Wisconsin.....................           81,400  ...............           81,400
    Croswell Bus Lines, Inc., Williamsburg, Ohio.............  ...............           27,692           27,692
    Peoria Charter Coach Co., Peoria, Illinois...............  ...............           19,950           19,950
    Robinson Coach, Evanston, Illinois.......................  ...............           56,500           56,500
Region VI:
    Valley Transit, Harlington, Texas........................           66,000  ...............           66,000
    Kerrville Bus Co., San Antonio, Texas....................           94,140           36,000          130,140
    TNM&O, Lubbock, Texas....................................           66,303  ...............           66,303
    All Aboard America, Carlsbad, New Mexico.................  ...............           41,741           41,741
    Franklin Charter, Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma..................  ...............           29,000           29,000
    Gulf Coast Transit, Houston, Texas.......................  ...............          112,000          112,000
    El Expresso, Houston, Texas..............................           85,500           38,250          123,750
    Fun Time Tours, Corpus Christi, Texas....................  ...............           38,934           38,934
    Greyhound, Dallas, Texas.................................        3,025,082  ...............        3,025,082
Region VII:
    St. Louis Executive Coach, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri.....  ...............           32,800           32,800
    Burlington Trailways, West Burlington, Iowa..............           57,025  ...............           57,025
Region VIII: No Applications
Region IX:
    Royal Safari, Orange, California.........................           28,885  ...............           28,885
    Santa Barbara Air Bus, Goleta, California................           51,868  ...............           51,868
    Roberts Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii.........................  ...............          126,000          126,000
    Marin Airporter, San Rafael, California..................           80,600  ...............           80,600
    KT Contract Services, Inc., North Las Vegas, Nevada......           76,950            6,000           82,950
    Quest, San Luis Obispo, California.......................           32,612  ...............           32,612
    Grosvenor Bus Lines, San Francisco, California...........  ...............           36,000           36,000
    Storer Coach, Modesto, California........................  ...............           62,500           62,500
    Orange Belt Stages, Visalia, California..................           51,520  ...............           51,520
Region X:
    Wikkiser International Co., Inc., Ferndale, Washington...           40,000  ...............           40,000
    Wheatland Express, Pullman, WA...........................           28,800           27,000           55,800
                                                              ------------------

[[Page 65832]]

 
      Total..................................................        5,313,946        1,825,523        7,139,469
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    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 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 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. 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 October 22, 2002.
Jennifer L. Dorn,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-27374 Filed 10-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P