The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
(1) Accountable executive--A single, identifiable individual
who has:
(A) ultimate responsibility for carrying out the public
transportation agency safety plan of a public transportation agency;
(B) responsibility for carrying out the agency's transit
asset management plan; and
(C) control or direction over the human and capital
resources needed to develop and maintain both the agency's public
transportation agency safety plan, in accordance with 49 U.S.C. §5329(d),
and the agency's transit asset management plan in accordance with
49 U.S.C. §5326.
(2) Administrative expenses--Include, but are not limited
to, general administrative expenses such as salaries of the project
director, secretary, and bookkeeper; insurance premiums or payments
to a self-insurance reserve; office supplies; facilities and equipment
rental; and standard overhead rates.
(3) Allocation--A preliminary distribution of grant
funds representing the maximum amount to be made available to an entity
during the fiscal year, subject to the entity's completion of and
compliance with all application requirements, rules, and regulations
applicable to the specific funding program.
(4) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)--The Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §12101 et seq.), which
provides a comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination
against individuals with disabilities. The ADA provides specific requirements
related to public transportation.
(5) Asset management plan--The transit asset management
plan prepared in accordance with 49 U.S.C. §5326 and certified
by the department. The plan includes at a minimum, capital asset inventories
and condition assessments, decision support tools, and investment
prioritization.
(6) Authority--A metropolitan transit or regional transportation
authority created under Transportation Code, Chapter 451 or 452; a
city transit department created under Transportation Code, Chapter
453, by a municipality having a population of not less than 200,000
at the time of its creation; or a coordinated county authority created
under Transportation Code, Chapter 460.
(7) Average revenue vehicle capacity--The number of
seats in all revenue vehicles divided by the number of revenue vehicles.
(8) Capital expenses--Include the acquisition, construction,
and improvement of public transit facilities and equipment needed
for a safe, efficient, and coordinated public transportation system.
(9) Chief safety officer--An adequately trained individual
who has responsibility for safety and reports directly to a small
public transportation provider agency's chief executive officer, general
manager, president, or equivalent officer. A chief safety officer
may not serve in other operational or maintenance capacities, unless
the chief safety officer is employed by a transit agency that is a
small public transportation provider or a public transportation provider
that does not operate a rail fixed guideway public transportation
system.
(10) Clean Air Act--The federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. §7401
et seq.), which seeks to protect and enhance the quality of the nation's
air resources by promoting and financing reasonable federal, state,
and local governmental actions for pollution prevention.
(11) Commission--The Texas Transportation Commission.
(12) Contractor--A recipient of public transportation
funds through a contract or grant agreement with the department.
(13) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
(14) Designated recipient--The state, an authority,
a municipality that is not included in an authority, a local governmental
body, another political subdivision, or a nonprofit entity providing
rural public transportation services, that receives federal or state
public transportation money through the department or the Federal
Transit Administration, or its successor.
(15) Director--The director of public transportation
for the department.
(16) Disability--Disability as defined in the ADA (42
U.S.C. §12102), which includes a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an
individual.
(17) District--One of the 25 districts of the department
for a designated geographic area.
(18) Employment-related transportation--Transportation
to support services that assist individuals in job search or job preparation.
Trips to daycare centers, one-stop workforce centers, jobs interviews,
and vocational training are examples.
(19) Equipment--Tangible, nonexpendable, personal property
having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost
of $5,000 or more per unit.
(20) Equivalent authority--An entity that carries out
duties similar to that of a board of directors, for a recipient or
subrecipient of FTA funds under 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53, including sufficient
authority to review and approve a recipient or subrecipient's public
transportation agency safety plan.
(21) Executive director--The executive director of
the department.
(22) Fare box revenues--Fares paid by riders, including
those who are later reimbursed by a human service agency or other
user-side subsidy arrangement. This definition includes subscription
service fees, whether or not collected on-board a transit vehicle.
Payments made directly to the transportation system by a human service
agency are not considered to be fare box revenues.
(23) Federal Transit Administration (FTA)--The Federal
Transit Administration of the United States Department of Transportation.
(24) Federally funded project--A public transportation
project that is being funded in part under the provisions of the Federal
Transit Act, as amended, 49 U.S.C. §5301 et seq., the Federal-Aid
Highway Act of 1973, as amended, 23 U.S.C. §101 et seq., or any
other federal program for funding public transportation.
(25) Fiscal year--The state accounting period of 12
months that begins on September 1 of each calendar year and ends on
August 31 of the following calendar year.
(26) Good standing--A status indicating that the department's
director of public transportation has not sent a letter to an entity
signifying the entity is in noncompliance with any aspect of a program.
(27) Incident--An intentional or unintentional act
that occurs on or in association with transit-controlled property
and that threatens or affects the safety or security of an individual
or property.
(28) Large urban transit district--A local governmental
entity or a political subdivision of the state that provides and coordinates
public transportation within an urbanized area with a population greater
than or equal to 200,000 in accordance with Transportation Code, Chapter
458. This definition includes urban transportation providers under
Transportation Code, Chapter 456, that received state money through
the department on September 1, 1994. This definition excludes authorities.
(29) Like-kind exchange--The trade-in or sale of a
transit vehicle before the end of its useful life to acquire a replacement
vehicle of like kind.
(30) Local funds--Directly generated funds, as defined
in the latest edition of the Federal Transit Administration National
Transit Database Reporting Manual. Examples include, but are not limited
to, passenger fares, special transit fares, purchased transportation
fares, park and ride revenue, other transportation revenue, charter
service revenue, freight tariffs, station and vehicle concessions,
advertising revenue, funds dedicated to transit at their source, taxes,
cash contributions, contract revenue, general revenue, and in-kind
contributions.
(31) Local governmental entity--Any local unit of government
including a city, town, village, municipality, county, city transit
department, or authority.
(32) Local public entity--Includes a city, county,
or other political subdivision of the state, a public agency, or an
instrumentality of one or more states, municipalities, or political
subdivisions of states.
(33) Local share requirement--The amount of funds required
and eligible to match federally funded projects for the improvement
of public transportation.
(34) Low-income individual--An individual whose family
income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty line, as that term
is defined in the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. §9902(2)),
including any revision required by that section, for a family of the
size involved, or as otherwise defined by 49 U.S.C. §5302 or
49 U.S.C. §5316, the Job Access and Reverse Commute program as
established under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users.
(35) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)--The
organization designated or redesignated by the governor under 23 U.S.C. §134
as the responsible entity for transportation planning in urbanized
areas over 50,000 in population.
(36) Mobility management--Eligible capital expenses
consisting of short-range planning and management activities and projects
for improving coordination among public transportation and other transportation-service
providers carried out by a recipient or subrecipient through an agreement
entered into with a person, including a government entity, under 49
U.S.C. §5301 et seq. (other than §5309 and §5339).
Mobility management excludes operating public transportation services
and excludes equipment, tires, tubes, material, and reconstruction
of equipment and material described as associated capital maintenance
in the definition of "capital project" under 49 U.S.C. §5302.
(37) Net operating expenses--Those expenses that remain
after fare box revenues are subtracted from eligible operating expenses.
(38) New public transportation services or alternatives--An
activity that, with respect to the New Freedom program:
(A) is targeted toward people with disabilities;
(B) is beyond the ADA requirements;
(C) meets the intent of the program by removing barriers
to transportation and assisting persons with disabilities with transportation,
including transportation to and from jobs and employment services;
and
(D) is not included in a Transportation Improvement
Program or Statewide Transportation Improvement Program prior to August
10, 2005.
(39) Nonprofit organization--A corporation or association
determined by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to
be an organization described by 26 U.S.C. §501(c), one that is
exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. §504(a) or §101, or
one that has been determined under state law to be nonprofit and for
which the state has received documentation certifying the status of
the organization.
(40) Nonurbanized area--An area outside an urbanized
area.
(41) Obligated funds--Monies made available under a
valid, unexpired contract or grant agreement between the department
and a public transportation subrecipient.
(42) Private--Pertaining to nonpublic entities. This
definition does not include municipalities or other political subdivisions
of the state; public agencies or instrumentalities of one or more
states; Native American tribes (except private nonprofit corporations
formed by Native American tribes); public corporations, boards, or
commissions established under the law of any state; or entities subject
to control by public authority, whether state or municipal.
(43) Project--The public transportation activities
to be carried out by a subrecipient, as described in its application
for funding.
(44) Public transportation--Shared-ride transportation
of passengers and their hand-carried packages or baggage on a regular
or continuing basis by means of surface or water conveyance by a governmental
entity or by a private entity if the private entity receives financial
assistance for that conveyance from any governmental entity. This
definition includes fixed guideway transportation and underground
transportation. This definition excludes services provided by aircraft,
ambulances, emergency vehicles, intercity passenger rail transportation,
charter bus service, school bus service, sightseeing service, courtesy
shuttle service for patrons of one or more specific establishments,
or intra-terminal and intra-facility shuttle services.
(45) Public transportation agency safety plan--The
documented comprehensive agency safety plan for a transit provider
that is required by 49 U.S.C. §5329.
(46) Real property--Land, including improvements, structures,
and appurtenances, but excluding movable machinery and equipment.
(47) Revenue service--Passenger transportation occurring
when a vehicle is available to the general public and there is a reasonable
expectation of carrying passengers that directly pay fares, are subsidized
by public policy, or provide payment through some contractual agreement.
This does not imply that a cash fare must be paid. Vehicles operated
in free fare services are considered in revenue service.
(48) Revenue vehicle--The rolling stock used in providing
transit service for passengers. This definition does not include a
vehicle used in connection with keeping revenue vehicles in operation,
such as a tow truck or a staff car.
Cont'd... |
