Frequently Asked Questions
These FAQs do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. These FAQs are intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies. FTA recipients and subrecipients should refer to FTA’s statutes and regulations for applicable requirements.
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The information requested in the charts above can be attached in FTA’s Electronic Award Management System (EAMS), (e.g. TEAM or TrAMS).
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Yes. While the official applicant and recipient of the funds must be an eligible public agency, organizations engaged in transportation or veterans issues are encouraged to participate in the application process and even lead the development of a community’s proposal.
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Yes! Any transit agency impacted by these hurricanes that is an FTA direct recipient, State, or Territory may apply for Emergency Relief funding even if it is not listed as receiving an allocation. If your agency is a subrecipient to another organization that receives FTA funding, you can apply through that organization. Contact your FTA regional office for more information.
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Yes. You may need a second letter (1) If you have already uploaded a letter to identify an NTD manager, but did not include and specify a TrAMS User Manager, then Yes, you will need to provide a second letter to specifically identify a TrAMS User Manager. (2) If you have not yet identified an NTD User Manager, you can upload a single letter but clearly specify both your NTD and your TrAMS User Managers in both the letter and in TEAM. In both cases this may be the same individual or separate individuals.
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No, if a bus is filled to capacity, a driver is not required to remove other passengers from the bus in order to make room for additional persons with disabilities. However, the driver would still be required to request that persons without disabilities vacate priority seating locations they may be occupying.
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The city or county EEO Program is likely not transit-focused and therefore may not meet the EEO Program requirements in the FTA EEO Circular. For example, the reporting requirements in the FTA EEO Circular require counting transit-related employees, whereas a city or county EEO Program may count all employees of the city or county. However, if the city or county program fulfills all the requirements of FTA EEO Circular 4704.1A, then the city or county EEO Program may be sufficient for the transit agency’s submission. Even if the full city or county EEO Program is not sufficient for FTA submission, some components required by the FTA EEO Circular may overlap, and may be able to be used, such as the EEO Policy Statement.
If a city or county transit agency reaches the two-prong threshold noted in Circular Section 1.4, and is a direct recipient, the transit agency must submit an EEO Program to FTA that fulfills the requirements of Circular 4704.1A. If the entity is a subrecipient that meets the two-prong threshold in Circular Section 1.4, the program must be filed with the direct recipient.
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A contractor must satisfy the EEO requirements for each transit agency with which it has a contract. For example, if Contractor A has contracts with five different transit agencies, it must meet the EEO requirements for each agency. When counting transit-related employees for purposes of the threshold, it would count how many transit-related employees it has with each transit agency. For example, if Contractor A has contracts with Transit Agency Y and Transit Agency Z, and has 60 transit-related employees at Y and 110 transit-related employees at Z, and met the monetary threshold for each, it would be required to submit an EEO Program to Transit Agency Z, as it met the thresholds, but would only be required to prepare and maintain an EEO Program as outlined in Circular Section 1.4 for Transit Agency Y.
While the contractor can have much of the same EEO Program for each of its direct recipients, the Assessment of Employment Practices, Goals and Timetables, and Utilization Analysis tables, when required based on the threshold, must be unique to the number of contractor employees working for the specific direct recipient.
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Yes, however requirements associated with the “shared use” of the facility may be applicable.
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An agency may submit an application for a project that involves multiple subcomponents, provided that those components are part of a larger overall resilience proposal. If one or more of the subcomponents need to be undertaken by another agency, the applicant may either serve as the grantee for the entire award, and administer a sub-award to the other agency, or if the other agency is an FTA direct recipient (grantee), the applicant may direct the other agency to apply to FTA separately for its part of the project. In this second case, both agencies will be required to enter into an agreement outlining their mutual responsibilities in accomplishing the project and the terms of their coordination.
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Under Department of Transportation (DOT) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations at 49 C.F.R. Section 37.167(j) bus operators are required to ask the person without a disability to move to another seat. If, after the operator asks, the person refuses to move, the regulations do not require the operator to compel this person to move. However, a transit operator can decide to adopt a policy requiring people to vacate the seats.
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Any funds awarded for a competitively selected project must be used for that project, consistent with the scope identified in the project proposal. If a project is completed under budget, any remaining funds must be returned to FTA. If funds cannot be used to complete the project as proposed, FTA should be notified immediately, so that funds can be reallocated through the program.
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As an alternative to the competitive resilience NOFA, some projects may also be eligible for funding that FTA allocated to certain agencies for locally prioritized resilience projects on May 29, 2013. In general, these local priority resiliency funds were intended for resiliency improvements that are integrated with a repair project, or for stand-alone projects that are not complex and/or need to be completed quickly. Grantees should contact their regional office, which must approve local priority resiliency projects.
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Please see FTA’s recent Dear Colleague letter and policy guidance on this question. If the Federal recovery allocation plus any insurance proceeds received together exceed the total amount of estimated damages, FTA will reduce the recovery allocation to equal 100 percent of the estimated damage. A grantee may request that FTA adjust the total damage estimate by submitting evidence of additional damage or increased recovery costs.
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If the facility was destroyed and is being moved because rebuilding on the existing site is not practical or feasible, the project would be awarded a 90% Federal share as a recovery project. If the facility is at risk of future damage but did not sustain significant damage during a storm, the relocation project would likely need to be selected by the State or Territory allocated resilience funding and would be awarded an 80% Federal share as a resilience project. Each project is different and it is recommended that you discuss the specifics of your project with your FTA regional office.
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For fixed route service, vehicles must be accessible.
A private entity that purchases or leases new, used, or remanufactured vehicles for use, or in contemplation of use, in fixed route or demand responsive service under contract or other arrangement or relationship with a public entity must acquire accessible vehicles in all situations in which the public entity itself would be required to do so (49 CFR 37.23(b)).
If a transit agency contracts with a ridesourcing entity to provide demand-responsive service, and the ridesourcing entity acquires a fleet of vans to provide that service, the vans must be accessible to wheelchair users unless the system, when viewed in its entirety, meets the standard for equivalent service
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Yes. The ADA applies regardless of whether there is federal funding involved. The applicable requirements may depend upon the nature of the project and the service that will result, such as fixed route, general public demand responsive, or ADA paratransit. A transit operator entering an arrangement with a ridesourcing entity to provide fixed-route service using only local funds would be required to ensure that any vehicle used on the system is accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including wheelchair users, and ensure that paratransit is provided as a complement to such routes.
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If the term "non-ADA transportation" is being used to refer to transportation services that are not ADA complementary paratransit, such services would be covered by the requirements for fixed-route or demand-responsive service for the general public, not by the ADA complementary paratransit service criteria.
It should be noted that the term "non-ADA transportation" is a misnomer; all modes of transportation, other than by aircraft, are covered by DOT ADA regulations.
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An EEO Program that meets FHWA’s requirements do not necessarily meet FTA’s requirements, and therefore, it may not be acceptable. However, a State DOT may submit the same EEO Program to FHWA and FTA as long as the program includes all components and information required under FTA’s EEO Circular. Additionally, some State DOT’s may be required to submit an EEO Program to FHWA but not be required to submit to FTA. A State DOT must submit an FTA EEO Program if it meets the two-prong threshold in Circular Section 1.4. State DOT-specific EEO requirements are discussed in FTA EEO Circular Section 1.5. All of the components required in an FTA EEO Program are explained in FTA EEO Circular Chapter 2.
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When a transit agency or State DOT crosses either the 100 transit-related employee two-prong threshold or the 50 transit-related employee two-prong threshold, both noted in Circular Section 1.4, the agency must self-report to FTA that it has crossed the threshold.
If the entity crosses the 50 transit-related employee threshold and meets the monetary threshold, the entity will be required to prepare and maintain, but not submit to FTA except upon request, a new abbreviated EEO Program within 90 days. Within 180 days, the entity will be required to implement its new EEO Program. FTA will follow up with the entity during its next oversight opportunity.
If the entity crosses the 100 transit-related employee threshold and meets the monetary threshold, the entity will be required to maintain its abbreviated EEO Program until FTA assigns an EEO Program Submission date to the entity and places the entity on a schedule to submit full EEO programs every four years. At the next EEO Program Submission date, the entity will be required to submit a full EEO Program as required under the updated Circular.
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FTA’s EEO Circular outlines the requirements of an FTA EEO Program submission, which includes transit-focused information that is unlikely to be provided in submissions to other agencies. However, if the EEO Program submitted to the other government agency fulfills all the requirements of Circular 4704.1A, then a transit agency can use the same program.