Action
Notice of availability of fiscal year 2003 funds; solicitation of grant applications.
Summary
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of funds in fiscal year (FY) 2003 for the Over-the-road Bus (OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), 49 U.S.C. 5310 note. The OTRB Accessibility Program makes funds available to private operators of over-the-road buses to finance the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT's over-the-road bus accessibility final rule, published in a Federal Register notice on September 24, 1998. The OTRB Accessibility Program calls for national solicitation of applicants, with grantees to be selected on a competitive basis. Federal transmit funds are available to intercity fixed-route providers and other OTRB providers are up to 90 percent of the project cost. A total of $24.3 million is available for the program over the life of TEA-21. The guaranteed level of funding available for intercity fixed-route service was $2 million in FY 1999, $2 million in FY 2000, $3 million in FY 2001, $5.25 million in FY 2002, and is $5.25 million in FY 2003, for a total of $17.5 million . The guaranteed level of funding for other over-the-road bus service, including charter and tour bus, is $1.7 million per year from FY 2000 to FY 2003, for a total of $6.8 million. FTA expects that in FY 2003, $5.25 million will be appropriated for intercity fixed-route service providers and $1.7 million will be appropriated for other over-the-road bus service providers. This announcement describes application procedures for the OTRB Accessibility Program and the procedures FTA will use to determine which projects it will fund. This announcement is available on the Internet on the FTA Web site at: http://www.fta.dot.gov/library/legal/federalregister/2003/ index.html. FTA will announce final selections on the Web site and in the Federal Register.