[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 215 (Monday, November 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68811-68813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28789]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

[FTA Docket No. FRA-2011-0067]


Notice of Request for the Revision of Currently Approved 
Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the intention of the Federal Transit Administration 
(FTA) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve 
the revision of the currently approved information collection: 49 
U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) National Transit Database (NTD).

DATES: Comments must be submitted before January 6, 2012.

ADDRESSES: To ensure that your comments are not entered more than once 
into the docket, submit comments identified by the docket number by 
only one of the following methods:
    1. Web site: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the U.S. Government electronic docket site. 
(Note: The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT's) electronic 
docket is no longer accepting electronic comments.) All electronic 
submissions must be made to the U.S. Government electronic docket site 
at www.regulations.gov. Commenters should follow the directions below 
for mailed and hand-delivered comments.
    2. Fax: 202-366-7951.
    3. Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    4. Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
    Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number 
for this notice at the beginning of your comments. Submit two copies of 
your comments if you submit them by mail. For confirmation that FTA has 
received your comments, include a self-addressed stamped postcard. Note 
that all comments received, including any personal information, will be 
posted and will be available to Internet users, without change, to 
www.regulations.gov. You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement in the Federal Register published April 11, 2000, (65 FR 
19477), or you may visit www.regulations.gov. Docket: For access to the 
docket to read background documents and comments received, go to 
www.regulations.gov at any time. Background documents and comments 
received may also be viewed at the U.S. Department of Transportation, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140,

[[Page 68812]]

Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John D. Giorgis, National Transit 
Database Program Manager, FTA Office of Budget and Policy, (202) 366-
5430, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested parties are invited to send 
comments regarding any aspect of this information collection, 
including: (1) The necessity and utility of the information collection 
for the proper performance of the functions of the FTA; (2) the 
accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways to 
minimize the collection burden without reducing the quality of the 
collected information. Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of 
this information collection.
    Title: 49 U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) National Transit Database.
    (OMB Number: 2132-0008).
    Background: 49 U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) requires the Secretary of 
Transportation to maintain a reporting system, using a uniform system 
of accounts, to collect financial and operating information from the 
nation's public transportation systems. Congress created the NTD to be 
the repository of transit data for the nation to support public 
transportation service planning. FTA has established the NTD to meet 
these requirements, and has collected data for over 30 years. FTA 
continues to seek ways to reduce the burden of NTD reporting, most 
recently introducing its new Sampling Manual in 2010 to reduce the 
burden of passenger mile sampling and introducing its new Small Systems 
Waiver in 2011 to reduce the reporting burden on small transit systems.
    The NTD is comprised of four modules, Rural, Annual, Monthly, and 
Safety & Security.
    NTD Rural Module: State DOTs and tribal governments participating 
in the Tribal Transit Program.
    Estimated Annual Burden: Currently FTA receives reports from 54 
State and Territorial DOTs, and from 56 Tribal Transit grant 
recipients. Combined, these States and Tribes report on behalf of 
approximately 1,450 subrecipients from FTA's Rural (Section 5311) 
Formula Program. For each subrecipient, the State or Tribe provides 
identifying information, sources of operating funds, sources of capital 
funds, vehicle revenue miles, vehicle revenue hours, and unlinked 
passenger trips. Additionally, a revenue vehicle inventory is reported, 
as well as total fatalities, injuries, and safety incidents for the 
year. FTA estimates that it takes approximately 20 hours to report on 
behalf of each subrecipient, including the time needed for the 
subrecipient to gather the information and report it to its State DOT, 
the time for the State DOT to assemble the data and submit it to FTA, 
and the time to respond to validation questions from FTA about the 
data.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 29,000 hours.
    Frequency: Annual reports.
    NTD Annual Module--Small Systems Waiver: FTA expects about 300 
transit systems with 30 or fewer vehicles to claim a Small Systems 
Waiver.
    Estimated Annual Burden: FTA provides reduced reporting 
requirements to urbanized area transit systems with 30 or fewer 
vehicles. These systems are exempt from sampling for passenger miles 
and report only summary financial and operating statistics compared to 
full reporters in urbanized areas, similar to what is required of the 
rural subrecipients. Additionally, they also report contact 
information, funding allocation information, a revenue vehicle 
inventory, the number of stations and maintenance facilities, and total 
injuries, fatalities, and safety incidents. The reports are also 
required to be reviewed by an auditor and certified by the CEO. Systems 
with this waiver are also exempt from the Monthly and Safety & Security 
Modules. FTA estimates that completing a report for a Small Systems 
Waiver requires approximately 27 hours, including time to assemble the 
information and respond to validation questions from FTA about the 
report.
    Estimated Total Annual Urban Burden: 8,100 hours.
    Frequency: Annually.
    NTD Annual Module--Full Reports: FTA expects about 400 transit 
systems to file complete reports, including 10 reports that represent a 
consolidated report from numerous small systems.
    Estimated Annual Burden: The Full Report to the Annual Module is 
comprehensive. Basic contact information, as well as information on 
subrecipients and purchased transportation contracts must be provided. 
Sources of funds for operating expenses and capital expenses must be 
provided, as well as detailed operating and capital expenses for each 
mode by function and object class. Key service data collected includes 
vehicle revenue miles, vehicle revenue hours, unlinked passenger trips, 
and passenger miles traveled; these must be provided by average 
weekday, average Saturday, average Sunday, and as an annual total. Most 
systems that do not inherently collect passenger mile information (such 
as a ferryboat or commuter rail) must conduct random sampling for 
passenger mile information. Large systems with more than 100 vehicles 
are required to sample for passenger miles every year, whereas smaller 
systems are only required to sample every third year. A comprehensive 
revenue vehicle inventory is collected, as well as information on fixed 
guideway mileage, passenger stations, maintenance facilities, fuel 
consumption, employee hours, and maintenance breakdowns. Reports are 
also required to be reviewed by an auditor and certified by the system 
CEO. Approximately 100 large systems are required to sample for 
passenger miles each year, while approximately 300 small systems are 
able to sample every three years. FTA estimates that it takes 
approximately 340 hours per year to sample for passenger miles, which 
is amortized over three years for small systems. FTA estimates that 
completing the remaining financial, operating, resource, and capital 
asset information requires approximately 200 hours per year per transit 
system, including gathering the information, completing the forms, and 
responding to validation questions.
    Estimated Total Burden: 210,000 hours.
    Frequency: Annually.
    NTD Monthly Module: FTA expects about 450 transit systems to report 
to the Monthly Module.
    Estimated Annual Burden: Each month, vehicle revenue miles, vehicle 
revenue hours, unlinked passenger trips, and vehicles operated in 
maximum service are submitted to the Monthly Module. FTA estimates that 
it takes approximately 4 hours each month for each system to report the 
data, including collecting and assembling the data for each mode, 
filling out the form, and responding to any validation questions in 
regards to the data.
    Estimated Total Annual Urban Burden: 19,200 hours.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    NTD Safety & Security Module: FTA expects about 450 transit systems 
to report to the Safety & Security Module.
    Estimated Annual Burden: Each system provides an annual report on 
the total number of security personnel, and an annual CEO certification 
of the safety data. Each month, systems provide a summary report of all 
minor fires and all incidents resulting in single-person injuries due 
to slips, falls, or electrical shocks. Additionally, systems must 
provide a detailed report within 30 days

[[Page 68813]]

of any incident involving one or more fatalities, one or more injuries, 
or total property damage in excess of $25,000. FTA currently receives 
about 5,000 major incident reports per year, and estimates that it 
takes on average about 2 hours to collect data for each incident, enter 
it into the NTD, and respond to any validation question. Additionally, 
FTA estimates that each of the 450 full reporters spend on average one 
hour each month completing the minor incident summary reports.
    Estimated Total Annual Urban Burden: 14,800 hours.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    Total Annual NTD Burden: 281,100 hours.

    Issued: November 2, 2011.
Ann M. Linnertz,
Associate Administrator for Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-28789 Filed 11-4-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P