NTD - Archived Questions and Answers
This page is intended to document questions to NTD-related questions that may not be as frequently asked in recent years but were at one time of interest to the reporting community. Please refer to the most recent NTD Policy Manual for guidance.
- What is the purpose of the B-30 Contractual Relationship Form?
- Do I add all of my modes to the B-30 Contractual Relationship form?
- How do I report a mode filing separately?
- What if my agency website is a page within the county/city website?
- What if my agency does not have a website?
What is the purpose of the B-30 Contractual Relationship form?
The B-30 Contractual Relationship form shows contractual relationships between agencies and contractors and details the financial aspects and the nature of the agreement.
Do I add all of my modes on the B-30 Contractual Relationship form?
You only add the modes that the contractor operates on your behalf.
How do I report a mode filing separately?
You add modes filing separate reports at the bottom of the B-10 Identification form, in the section titled "Modes Filing a Separate NTD Report." Do not add these modes to your agency's profile on the P-20 Reporter Modes form.
No, one B-30 Contractual Relationship form can show more than one mode of service provided by a single contractor. For these hybrid contracts, in the "Primary Feature" section of the B-30 form, you should select the item that describes the part of the contract that provides the majority of funding.
What if my agency does not have a website?
If your agency does not have a website, leave the field blank.
What if our website is a page within the county/city website?
You should provide the direct link to the transit webpage and not the main page for the county/city.
- My agency has buses that have exceeded their Useful Life Benchmark (ULB) and are inactive, but we have not disposed of them yet. Do we still include the old buses in the Performance Measure targets for the vehicle type?
- What are the requirements for agencies that provide purchased transportation (PT)? Are we required to complete the new asset forms?
- How should I report bus parking lots or storage lots for revenue vehicles?
- Should I report a structure with 4 walls but no closing doors, ticket counters or dispensers, information counter, etc., as a passenger station?
- Should I report radio towers with small buildings attached or in the surrounding area as facilities on the A-15 Transit Asset Management Facilities Inventory form?
- How do I report a service fleet as retired on the A-35 Service Vehicle Inventory form?
- How do I report supervisor vehicles?
- My agency has many entries for the new asset forms. Is there a faster way to enter this data other than entering each facility or fleet individually?
- What does prorating facilities mean?
- We do not do any in-house maintenance. The vehicles are taken to a private company for servicing. Should I report anything?
- My agency is a subsidiary of a larger agency, and the larger agency owns the facility where our vehicles are maintained. Should I report this facility, even though my agency does not own it?
- When should a vehicle fleet be deleted?
- A vehicle considered inactive still ran service for part of the year. Is that service still counted on this form?
- What are Total Miles on Active Vehicles During the Period?
- What are Average Lifetime Miles (ALM)?
- When is a vehicle considered inactive? Is it still reported?
- How do I report a body-on-chassis or cutaway vehicle?
- What do I report under Separate Assets on the B-10 form?
No, you should only include active vehicles in your Performance Measures targets.
Asset inventory requirements apply to both directly operated (DO) and purchased transportation (PT) modes. You must report inventory as in previous years. With the new A-15 Transit Asset Management Facilities Inventory and A-35 Service Vehicle Inventory forms, you will report based on current requirements. If your agency has capital responsibility for service vehicles and administrative and maintenance facilities, you must report them. You must also report all passenger facilities, regardless of capital responsibility.
How should I report bus parking lots or storage lots for revenue vehicles?
These lots are not reportable to the National Transit Database (NTD) asset inventory. You only report passenger facilities, including parking lots and structures.
Yes, significant structures are reportable as stations to the NTD. Simple shelters should not be reported. Please see station criteria in the NTD Policy Manual for further guidance.
No, you do not need to inventory structures such as towers or breaker houses.
How do I report a service fleet as retired on the A-35 Service Vehicle Inventory form?
If Total Vehicles for a service fleet is "0," the A-35 Service Vehicle Inventory form will give you the option to mark a fleet as retired. This functionality is like the existing retiring protocol on the A-30 Revenue Vehicle Inventory form.
How do I report supervisor vehicles?
If your agency has capital responsibility for these supervisor vehicles, you report them on the A-35 Service Vehicle Inventory form.
Yes, all asset forms have an import/export function. This function allows you to bulk upload facility and fleet data.
What does prorating facilities mean?
You must prorate a facility if your agency uses the facility for multiple modes or types of service. On your report, you will allocate the facility across the A-10 Stations and Maintenance Facilities forms for the modes or types of service that use the facility. This does not apply to the A-15 Transit Asset Management Inventory form.
When an agency does not own or lease a maintenance facility, the agency reports "0" for maintenance facilities.
Yes, you should report this facility as "Owned." In this case, the "Owned" indicates that a public agency owns the facility—not a specific National Transit Database (NTD) reporter.
When should a vehicle fleet be deleted?
A vehicle fleet should only be deleted if your agency added it in error.
No. The A-30 Revenue Vehicle Inventory form does not collect mileage data for inactive vehicles. However, you should report that vehicle's Total Actual Miles and Total Revenue Miles in the service data.
What are Total Miles on Active Vehicles During the Period?
This is the total number of miles (including revenue miles, deadhead miles, etc.) that all vehicles within that fleet (RVI ID) traveled within the report period. To calculate Total Miles on Active Vehicles During the Period, for each vehicle in the fleet subtract the prior year's ending odometer reading from this year's ending odometer reading. For RVI IDs with more than one vehicle, add these calculations together to determine the Total Miles on Active Vehicles During the Period for that fleet.
What are Average Lifetime Miles (ALM)?
Average Lifetime Miles (ALM) are the average cumulative miles on a fleet of vehicles. To calculate this, average this fiscal year's ending odometer readings for the vehicles in that specific RVI ID (fleet).
When is a vehicle considered inactive? Is it still reported?
A vehicle is inactive if it is not used for revenue service on the last day of the fiscal year. Even if the vehicle is inactive, you will still report it on the A-30 Revenue Vehicle Inventory form; however, you will reduce the number of Total Active Vehicles for that fleet.
Agencies do not report Miles This Year or Average Lifetime Miles (ALM) for vehicles marked inactive. Agencies do still report the energy consumption for those vehicles as this data point is compared to the service data reported on the S-10 or RR-20 form.
How do I report a body-on-chassis or cutaway vehicle?
For cutaway vehicles, you report the manufacturer and model of the body added to the chassis. You should not report the manufacturer and model of the chassis.
What do I report under Separate Assets on the B-10 form?
Agencies that have capital responsibility for assets that are not used to support their own transit service, but are used to support another agency's transit service, should complete the Separate Asset section of the B-10 form. This allows agencies to report the assets and related performance of those assets that they have capital responsibility for, but are not captured in their own NTD report.
We undergo an annual financial audit. Does this satisfy the audit requirement for Financial Data?
No, it does not. National Transit Database (NTD) auditor's statement procedure is not the same as annual financial audits. However, the CEO will need to review the Independent Auditor's Statement for Financial Data (IAS-FD) your agency has the ability to collect and report financial data in accordance with NTD requirements and the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA). You can find more information on the audit in the NTD Policy Manual.
What fixed guideway (FG) data am I responsible for updating annually?
If any of your agency's fixed guideway (FG) segment details change during the year, you must update the segment information on the P-40 Reportable Segments form in the Agency Profile.
- There is a column for Funds Earned and Funds Expended: do these have to match?
- Is there a threshold for what is considered capital?
- I received insurance recoveries/reimbursements during the year. How do I report these?
- An issue was raised about "matching dollars." What are these and where should they be shown?
- What makes a capital purchase an Expansion of Service?
- I have a capital purchase that is used for more than one mode. How do I report that?
- What does my F-20 Uses of Capital form need to tie to?
- Where do I report schedulers and dispatchers on the F-30 Operating Expenses form?
- What is the difference between "Operators' Salaries and Wages" and "Other Salaries and Wages"?
- What does my F-40 Operating Expenses Summary form need to tie to?
- What is the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA)?
- Is the "Other Assets" on my F-60 Statement of Finances form meant to be the remainder of my assets?
- How are losses on sales, impairments, and book write-offs reported?
- How do I allocate indirect costs among the modes we operate?
There is a column for Funds Earned and Funds Expended: do these have to match?
Funds Earned are only required to match Funds Expended for Federal Government Sources of Funds in the Funding Sources section.
Is there a threshold for what is considered capital?
For National Transit Database (NTD) reporting, any purchase of $5,000 or greater with a useful life of > 1 year is considered capital. Agencies can use a capitalization threshold of less than $5,000 but not greater than $5,000.
I received insurance recoveries/reimbursements during the year. How do I report these?
As of Report Year 2018, your financial form includes a line to identify the amount of insurance proceeds your agency received.
An issue was raised about "matching dollars." What are these and where should they be shown?
When awarding a grant, Federal grant programs almost always require a local or State match. You report these matching dollars under the appropriate category of funds (Local Funds and/or State Funds).
What makes a capital purchase an Expansion of Service?
If the capital expense supports new service (for example, a new bus route or extended hours), it is an Expansion of Service. If you are replacing worn-out assets that support existing service or buying new assets to enhance existing service, this is not an Expansion of Service.
I have a capital purchase that is used for more than one mode. How do I report that?
If a capital purchase supports more than one mode or type of service, you report it by predominant use. Choose which mode the capital serves most and report the purchase under that mode.
What does my F-20 Uses of Capital form need to tie to?
Total All Uses of Capital on the F-20 (bottom right) must equal Total Funds Expended on Capital During Period on the F-10 Sources of Funds.
Where do I report schedulers and dispatchers on the F-30 Operating Expenses form?
You report salaries and fringe benefits for schedulers and dispatchers under Vehicle Operations.
What is the difference between "Operators' Salaries and Wages" and "Other Salaries and Wages"?
Operators' Salaries and Wages include the salaries for employees who drive revenue vehicles. Other Salaries and Wages includes all other employees (such as dispatchers, janitors, accountants, and maintenance employees).
What does my F-40 Operating Expenses Summary form need to tie to?
"Total Expenses from Published Reports for Transit Operations–Funds Applied" on the F-40 Operating Expenses Summary form must equal "Total Funds–Funds Expended on Operations" on the F-10 Sources of Funds form.
What is the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA)?
The Uniform System of Accounts (USOA) is the accounting system agencies must use to report to the National Transit Database (NTD). It assigns categories to all costs commonly incurred by transit agencies. A link to the USOA is available from the Manuals page.
Is the "Other Assets" on my F-60 Statement of Finances form meant to be the remainder of my assets?
No, "Other Assets" refers only to the asset category defined by the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA), which is prepayments or assets not otherwise defined. This category should not include capital assets.
How are losses on sales, impairments, and book write-offs reported?
Losses on sales, impairments, and book write-offs are not reportable to the NTD as entries. You can only report impairments due to a natural disaster (on the F-40 Operating Expenses Summary form, as "Extraordinary and Special Items"). Please note: although the entries themselves are not reportable, impairments and book write-offs are taken into account in the calculation of capital assets reported on the F-60 Statement of Finances form.
How do I allocate indirect costs among the modes we operate?
The National Transit Database (NTD) does not specify how an agency must allocate indirect costs. Each agency is responsible for determining a methodology for cost allocation that is both reasonable and consistent.
The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.