[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3557-3558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1393]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

[FTA Docket No. FTA-2012-0008]


Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration invites public comment 
about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) to extend the approval of the following information collection:

49 U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) National Transit Database

    The information collected is used to determine eligibility for 
funding and to monitor the grantees' progress in implementing and 
completing project activities. The Federal Register notice with a 60-
day comment period soliciting comments was published on November 7, 
2011 (Citation 76 FR 68811). No comments were received from that 
notice.

DATES: Comments must be submitted before February 23, 2012. A comment 
to OMB is most effective if OMB receives it within 30 days of 
publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sylvia L. Marion, Office of 
Administration, Office of Management Planning, (202) 366-6680.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 49 U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) National Transit Database.
    Abstract: 49 U.S.C. Section 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

[[Page 3558]]

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 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.

ADDRESSES: All written comments must refer to the docket number that 
appears at the top of this document and be submitted to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
725--17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: FTA Desk 
Officer.
    Comments Are Invited on: Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

    Issued on: January 19, 2012.
Ann M. Linnertz,
Associate Administrator for Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-1393 Filed 1-23-12; 8:45 am]
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