[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 248 (Monday, December 29, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78137-78138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30334]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

[FTA Docket No. 2014-0027]


Notice of Request for the Extension of a Currently Approved 
Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of request for comments.

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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 February 27, 2015.

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: 202-493-2251.
    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 9:00 a.m. and 
5:00 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, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9:00 a.m. 
and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: National Transit Database--Mr. Keith 
Gates, Office of Budget and Policy (202) 366-1794, 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.
    FTA currently has two (2) pending Federal Register notices (docket 
numbers FTA-2014-0006 and FTA-2014-0009) covering proposed changes to 
NTD reporting, including updates to the Safety and Security Reporting 
Module and the addition of a new Asset Inventory Module. The comment 
period on these notices ended in October 2014. FTA is currently in the 
process of reviewing and responding to the comments received from these 
notices. The estimated burden below is based on FTA's goal of 
implementing the proposed changes with minimal impact to current 
reporting burdens. A revised impact analysis and Federal Register 
Notice will be filed, if necessary, based on FTA's final proposal in 
response to the comments.
    Title: 49 U.S.C. 5335(a) and (b) National Transit Database.
    OMB Control No.: 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 35 years. FTA 
continues to seek ways to reduce the burden of NTD reporting, 
introducing a 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. An 
improved on-line reporting system is currently being deployed. The NTD 
is comprised of four modules, Rural, Urban Annual, Monthly, and Safety 
Event Reporting.
    Estimated Annual Burden: Currently FTA receives reports from 54 
State and Territorial DOTs. Combined, these States and Territories 
report on behalf of approximately 1,300 sub-recipients from FTA's Rural 
(Section 5311) Formula Program. For each sub-recipient, the State 
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 sub-recipient, including the time needed for 
the sub-recipient 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: 26,000 hours.
    Frequency: Annual reports.
    NTD Annual Module--Small Systems Waiver: Each year about 300 
transit systems with 30 or fewer vehicles claim a Small Systems Waiver 
and file a reduced report. There are an additional 122 Tribal Transit 
reporters that complete an annual report very similar to the small 
system reduced report.
    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

[[Page 78138]]

required of the rural sub-recipients. 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: 11,400 hours.
    Frequency: Annually.
    NTD Annual Module--Full Reports: FTA expects about 550 transit 
systems to file complete reports.
    Estimated Annual Burden: The Full Report to the Annual Module is 
comprehensive. Basic contact information, as well as information on 
sub-recipients 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 
guide-way 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 and approximately 450 mid-size systems 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 mid-sized systems. FTA estimates that completing the 
remaining financial, operating, resource, and capital asset information 
requires approximately 250 hours per year per transit system, including 
gathering the information, completing the forms, and responding to 
validation questions.
    Estimated Total Burden: 222,500 hours.
    Frequency: Annually.
    NTD Monthly Module: FTA expects about 550 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: 26,400 hours.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    NTD Safety Event Reporting Module: FTA expects about 550 transit 
systems to report to the Safety & Security Module.
    Estimated Annual Burden: Each system provides an annual report on 
the total number of system 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 
6,000 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 550 full reporters spend on average one hour 
each month completing the minor incident summary reports.
    Estimated Total Annual Urban Burden: 18,600 hours.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    Total Annual NTD Burden: 304,900 hours.

Matthew M. Crouch,
Associate Administrator for Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-30334 Filed 12-24-14; 8:45 am]
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