Answer:

In general, the public entity that enters into the partnership with the ridesourcing entity would be responsible for ensuring that equivalent service is provided. In an instance where the fare structure for the provider of accessible vehicles differs from (is greater than) that used by the ridesourcing entity, the transit operator must offset those costs to ensure that they are not borne by the passenger.

Answer:

FTA has allocated ER funding to address 100% of the cost of emergency operations incurred for up to 270 days from the date of disaster declaration, and for 90% of the cost of permanent repairs. Grantees are required to provide local funds for 10% of the reported estimated cost of permanent repairs.

Answer:

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), paratransit functions as a “safety net” for persons whose disabilities prevent them from using the regular fixed route system (bus or rail). It is not intended to meet all of the transportation needs of all persons with disabilities, all of the time. As such, the level of service provided is required to be comparable to that available on the fixed route system; the hours and days of operation must be the same, and service must be provided to origins and destinations within three-fourths of a mile of a bus route (or between points within a three-fourths of a mile radius of different rail stations). There is no obligation to provide service to points beyond the service area, or during times of day or on days of the week when the comparable bus route or rail line is not operating. Of course, nothing in the ADA prohibits a transit system from operating service above and beyond the minimum ADA requirements. It is also important to note that while the term "paratransit" is often used to mean any kind of demand-responsive transportation service, it has a specific meaning under the ADA. The ADA paratransit eligibility criteria and service requirements apply only to paratransit operated as a complement to a fixed route system operated by a public entity; there are separate provisions covering demand-responsive service provided for the general public.

Answer:

Automated rail fixed-guideway systems are excluded from the research plan because automation is a fairly mature technology in those systems, use different technologies, and operate under a different set of parameters from bus transit (i.e. dedicated rail lines). There is a greater need for transit bus automation research because it lags behind rail transit automation in deployment readiness. Public transit using rubber-tired vehicles covers a larger set of operational service types (e.g., circulator, feeder, local, express, bus rapid transit, demand response, etc.), serves a wider population and geographic area than rail, and requires less infrastructure. The purpose of the strategic research plan is to establish a path forward for developing automation in a shared environment, which has a higher degree of complexity as well as a larger area for growth. Automating bus transit can greatly improve mobility across the population, but also has challenges that need to be addressed prior to widespread implementation. The strategic research plan aims to address these challenges and facilitate adoption of automation technology by transit providers.

Answer:

TEAM was first deployed in 1998 and lacks many of the more modern information technology capabilities that are now commonplace in grantmaking systems. TrAMS will provide a more efficient, user-friendly, and flexible tool to award and manage grants and cooperative agreements. It will provide more useful information, and it will strengthen the integrity and consistency of our grants award and management process.

Answer:

With the passage of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, new cross-cutting requirements apply to all funds not obligated by February 16, 2016.   (See FTA’s Notice of Transit Program Changes, Authorized Funding Levels and Implementation of Federal Public Transportation Law as Amended by the FAST Act and FTA Fiscal Year 2016 Apportionments, Allocations, Program Information and Interim Guidance, published in the Federal Register February 16, 2016).   This restriction therefore ensures FTA and the recipients can appropriately track requirements based on the type of award and prevents combining funds with different requirements.

Answer:

The bulk of the appropriation, $277.525 million, is being allocated today to Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, Texas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands for response, recovery, rebuilding, and resiliency projects. It is standard practice for FTA Emergency Relief Program funds to be delivered in multiple allocations, to allow affected grantees appropriate time to evaluate their needs and to assess damages.

As authorized by the appropriating legislation, a small amount of the funding ($2.475 million) will go toward administrative and oversight expenses.

Answer:

No. If you currently have an account in TEAM, your account information will be migrated into TrAMS. TrAMS will set up your account and assign the roles that you currently have under TEAM, including delegations. Your account must be in “active” status when migration occurs (Updated 5/20/2015)

Answer:

No. In general, there will be no disruption of recipients ability to request reimbursements via ECHO during the transition, however FTA will need to close ECHO for a very short period of time to complete financial reconciliation just like we do at the end of every fiscal year to do year end close out. We will notify users well in advance of when this will occur.

Answer:

Yes. FHWA has issued an FHWA Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, 6640.23A and is conducting outreach and training. For more information on FHWA’s environmental justice guidance, please visit the FHWA EJ webpage.

Answer:

Pursuant to Federal Register notice 83 FR 25108 section I.H, “the use of TDCs means that no local funds will be required for projects in the grant, and that the funds allocated by FTA may not alone be sufficient to fund the entirety of the proposed Emergency Relief projects. FTA will not allocate additional Federal funds to recipients that use TDCs in place of the non-Federal share, so sufficient alternative funds may need to be located to fully finance projects utilizing TDCs.”

Answer:

Such projects should be discussed with the applicable FTA regional office. Determinations on how or if such projects will be funded will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Answer:

FTA has the discretion to permit a recipient to use Section 5324 Emergency Relief Program funds to support a limited competition procurement.Pursuant to FTA’s authorizing statute at 49 U.S.C. § 5325(a), an FTA recipient is required to use FTA funds to support project activities using full and open competition. A recipient may conduct a sole source procurement in very limited circumstances under the Common Grant Rule at 49 C.F.R. Part 18.36. A recipient does not have explicit authority, by law, to conduct a limited competition procurement.Notwithstanding this framework, FTA has the discretionary authority under 49 C.F.R. Part 601, Subpart D to waive its requirements through the Emergency Relief Docket in cases involving national or regional emergencies and disasters. Given this authority, FTA will entertain requests for emergency relief waivers from FTA’s full and open competition requirement, and FTA will consider requests to approve limited competition procurements. To be clear, a request for a waiver is not a guarantee of a waiver. FTA maintains the discretion to grant or deny a waiver request.If a recipient is interested in pursuing a limited competition procurement, then it must obtain an emergency relief waiver of FTA’s full and open competition requirement pursuant to 49 C.F.R. Part 601, Subpart D and FTA’s Federal Register Notice of Establishment of Emergency Relief Docket for Calendar Year 2013 dated February 15, 2013 (available at www.regulations.gov, docket number FTA-2013-0001). A request for a waiver should be addressed to the Administrator, and it should contain a compelling justification and any relevant supporting documentation as to why a waiver should be granted. The recipient should upload its request into the Emergency Relief Docket. FTA will process the request in accordance with 49 C.F.R. Part 601, Subpart D. A recipient may not award a limited competition contract supported by Section 5324 Emergency Relief Program funds prior to FTA’s written approval.FTA strongly recommends that recipients submit requests for waivers as early as practicable in the procurement process. A recipient should submit such a request at the time it determines the best strategy is a limited competition procurement. Recipients should not assume that waiver requests will be granted.

Answer:

While FTA may permit a recipient to use of a sole source method of procurement for a project supported by Emergency Relief Program funds, the recipient must seek and obtain FTA’s approval in writing. FTA will only permit a recipient to use Section 5324 Emergency Relief Program funds to support a sole source procurement, if the recipient articulates compelling written justification for the sole source procurement consistent with the Common Grant Rule, FTA’s Third Party Contracting Guidance Circular 4220.1F, and FTA’s Best Practices Procurement Manual.Recipients must send a written request for approval to the appropriate Regional Office POC, and the recipient must provide compelling justification and any relevant supporting documentation for the sole source procurement, consistent with applicable law. FTA will review the request and if FTA agrees with the request, FTA will require the grantee to attach the sole source justification in TEAM, and the award of the grant will serve as the approval. For grants already awarded, FTA will document its approval of the request in writing (e.g. email), and FTA will require the grantee to attach the sole source justification in TEAM. The recipient is at risk for any sole source contract commitments made prior to receiving FTA’s approval. FTA reserves the right to review any project-related documentation at any time during project development.FTA strongly recommends that recipients submit requests for approvals of sole source procurements as early as practicable in the procurement process. Recipients should not assume that requests for approvals of sole source procurements will be granted. If a recipient has not articulated a compelling justification for a sole source procurement consistent with the Common Grant Rule, FTA may require the recipient to submit a request to waive the full and open procurement requirements through FTA’s Emergency Relief Docket (available at www.regulations.gov, docket number FTA-2013-0001).

Answer:

Yes. Similar to TEAM, there will be a TrAMS help desk, email, and 1-800 number to provide technical assistance.

Answer:

Yes. FTA will provide training on all aspects of doing business in TrAMS Training will include live, hands-on workshops, webinars and recordings in addition to guidance and technical assistance documents. Visit the TrAMS Training page for more information.

Answer:

Yes, FTA is preparing to publish an official notice of public transportation resilience awards. This notice will include detailed further instructions and further guidance on the program.

Answer:

Included in Circular Section 2.2.3 are suggested topics for trainings that focus on the important aspects of a quality investigation. FTA does not require specific courses or training centers. It is up to the local agency to ensure that the trainings the EEO investigators take are sufficient to perform their required tasks as required by the Circular.

Answer:

Oversight contractors will use the old Circular requirements for the FY 2017 Comprehensive and Specialized Reviews. FTA will not hold an entity to the updated Circular requirements until the FY 2018 reviews. However, if the oversight contractors find EEO deficiencies during the FY 2017 reviews (using the old Circular requirements), then FTA will tailor the requested corrective actions to align with the updated Circular requirements.

Answer:

Yes. In TrAMS you may have the opportunity to consolidate grant application that contains funding from multiple programs. When an application contains more than one fund program it is referred to as a “super grant.” FTA will issue guidance outlining when you might consider using a super grant option and what you might consider. To review the draft guidance on super grants, visit the TrAMS Guidance page. (Revised 1/2015)