The process is described on the Bus Testing Requirements Determination and Testing Authorization Process page. Please review that page, as FTA has made several changes to the process due to both the Pass/Fail rule published in 2016 and the Bus Testing Portal launched in 2022. 

The new and clarified administrative procedures and requirements for transit vehicle manufacturers (TVMs) during bus check-in in the “Pass/Fail” Bus Testing Final Rule became effective on October 31, 2016. These include but are not limited to: 

• Demonstrating compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and other relevant National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) requirements.
• Submission of DBE participation goals.
• Identification of maximum standee capacity on a prominent placard.
• Identification of the manufacturing point of origin for major components.
• Receiving authorization from FTA prior to the scheduling of full and partial bus tests at the Bus Testing Center. 

Yes. Requests for Bus Testing determinations and authorizations to begin testing should be submitted to the Bus Testing Portal. The Portal is designed to provide numerous benefits compared to previous email-based procedure, including:

• Providing online templates to prompt TVMs to provide a clear and complete submission of the information required on the first contact – and to minimize submissions of non-essential information.
• Enabling FTA to review and respond to the submitted information by making selections and/or adding comments directly to the submitted forms.
• Facilitating and streamlining sharing of the workload among FTA and supporting staff.  
• Automatically notifying the submitter of a completed determination and/or authorization.
• Automatically providing the Bus Testing Center with details of FTA’s authorization to test a bus model.
• Eliminating the need for FTA to draft, format, email, and file response letters.
• Facilitating timely FTA reviews and responses

Yes. Before you can access the Bus Testing Portal, you will need to create an account at Login.gov if you do not already have one (help).  

Once you have created your Login.gov account and logged into it, paste this link into your browser: https://ftawebprod.fta.dot.gov/FTAAppLogin/. This will take you to the FTA Application Portal where you can access the Bus Testing Portal (and other FTA applications). 

Yes. TVMs can consult the Portal dashboard for status updates at any time.  

If you have questions related to a particular Bus Testing submission or have updated information to submit, use the Submit Questions/Answers button  corresponding to that submission on the Portal dashboard. FTA may also use this function to ask you questions related to your submission.  

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about the general Bus Testing workflow of the Portal, you can send an email to BusTesting@dot.gov. 

If you have questions or problems with Login.gov or the functioning of the Portal itself, contact FTAITHelpDesk@dot.gov.

Buses that completed testing or that were under contract for testing prior to the October 31, 2016, effective date of the current Bus Testing Regulation (49 CFR Part 665) are subject to the previous requirements and will not receive a score or Pass/Fail rating, even if testing was completed after October 31, 2016.

Testing contracts for full testing on new bus models signed on or after October 31, 2016, are conducted under the new procedures, and that bus model will receive a score and a Pass or Fail rating.    

If the baseline bus configuration was tested prior to the Pass/Fail regulation and did not receive a score and a Pass/Fail rating, then the partial test of the variant of that bus is not required to obtain a score, and the partial testing report will be issued without a score.

If the baseline bus configuration was tested under the Pass/Fail regulation and received a score and a Pass/Fail rating, then the partial test of the variant of that bus model will receive a score for each of the newly-performed tests. The scores for the newly-performed partial tests will replace the corresponding scores from the baseline test, and a new overall score and Pass/Fail rating will be assigned to the modified bus model (the originally-tested configuration will retain its previous score and rating).

• A bus can be withdrawn by the manufacturer (for any reason) before testing is completed (§ 665.23(b)).
• A Bus Testing Report will only be created following completion of the contracted full or partial testing (§ 665.13(b)).
• If the bus manufacturer declines to release the report, or if the bus did not achieve a passing test score, the vehicle will be ineligible for FTA financial assistance (§ 665.13(b)).
• The test report will be available to recipients only after both the bus manufacturer and FTA have approved it for release (§ 665.13(b)). A Bus Testing Report would not be published with a “FAIL” rating  unless the manufacturer (1) declines to withdraw the bus from testing AND (2) declines to notify the Bus Testing operator that the manufacturer wished to prevent release of the associated Bus Testing Report.
• If a bus is withdrawn from testing, the status of that bus and any accumulated test data shall not be publicly released, consistent with §665.13(f).

The standee number placard must have 2-inch tall (or greater) characters in a font clearly readable from both the driver’s and the passenger area of the bus (text may be smaller but must remain readable). Production buses must also include the placard indicating the same or lower number of maximum standees.  

For a fixed number of seats, increasing the placarded maximum number of standees will generally require additional testing, so manufacturers are encouraged to test their buses at the highest manufacturer-rated standee capacity.

The FTA does not endorse self-scoring of existing Bus Testing Reports that were generated prior to the effective date of the Pass/Fail Final Rule. Some of the tests currently required were not required when older tests were performed, and FTA cannot monitor the assumptions used or to perform quality control. Additionally, FTA believes that it would not be accurate to go back and assess pre-Pass/Fail test reports because manufacturers may have responded to failures differently in the absence of scoring and the Pass/Fail standard. 

The Bus Testing Regulation does not currently apply to remanufactured buses.  

FTA Circular C5010.1E, “Award Management Requirements,” provides additional information on FTA’s current policies regarding remanufactured vehicles. 

Yes.  

The Shakedown test has been eliminated because it was redundant with the Structural Durability test, and historically no buses have experienced severe permanent deformation from the Shakedown test.  

Fuel Economy (Energy Efficiency and Range for battery-powered vehicles) is now measured on the dynamometer using realistic transit industry driving cycles instead of on the test track, and is performed simultaneously with the Emissions test (if applicable). This change has increased accuracy, relevancy, and cost-effectiveness of the Fuel Economy test. 

Interior Noise is now measured in two additional operating conditions – while operating on the durability track and while operating on a public roadway. 

• § 5318 Bus Testing is required as a condition of FTA grant eligibility.  LoNo-CAP is voluntary.
• § 5318 Bus Testing tests a complete bus model as an integrated system.  LoNo-CAP tests individual components that could be integrated into various low or no-emission (LoNo) bus models by any manufacturer.
• § 5318 Bus Testing will generate performance-based scores and Pass/Fail ratings for buses.  LoNo-CAP will only provide performance data.
• LoNo-CAP will be conducted at different locations than Altoona.

No. In general, a new bus model must complete Altoona testing and receive a passing score before the first unit of that bus model is eligible for FTA grant funding.  

When introducing a new bus model with significantly new technologies or design features that have not been previously applied in the transit industry, a manufacturer can request a Prototype Waiver that may allow for up to five units of that major new design to be sold to FTA grantees prior to testing of the final production design. Prototype Waivers are NOT automatic, and the bar for obtaining a prototype waiver is high. See the Prototype Vehicle Policy for details.  

The Emissions test is always included in full testing of new models (except zero-emission buses) because this data is required to generate scores and pass/fail ratings.

The FTA will make case-by-case determinations for buses subject to partial testing because of major changes made since the bus was previously tested. The primary consideration is whether FTA would expect to obtain significantly different data from that obtained in previous FTA Bus Testing.

It depends.

The Testing Guidelines page says “unmodified mass-produced vans are exempted from testing in the 4-year, 100,000-mile service life category.  Unmodified mass-produced vans offered in the 5-year, 150,000-mile (or higher) service life category are subject to testing.”

Section 665.5 defines an “Unmodified mass-produced van” as “a van that is mass-produced, complete and fully assembled as provided by an OEM. This shall include vans with raised roofs, and/or wheelchair lifts, or ramps that are installed by the OEM or by a party other than the OEM provided that the installation of these components is completed in strict conformance with the OEM modification guidelines.”

Bus Testing Reports apply to a specific bus configuration. If a bus configuration along with its manufacturing drawings, tooling, jigs, etc. is renamed, or is transferred to another manufacturer who builds the same vehicle using the same design, materials, and methods, then FTA generally wouldn’t expect to obtain significantly different data from re-testing the vehicle and the original Bus Testing Report would suffice. If a party has doubts about whether the (new) manufacturer is building the same model using the same materials and techniques, FTA could review the specifications to determine whether additional testing is required.  

Note that 49 CFR § 665.7(b) says, “. . . the recipient [of FTA grant funds] shall be responsible for determining whether a vehicle to be acquired requires full testing or partial testing or has already satisfied the requirements of this part.” Therefore, if a recipient questions the applicability of a Bus Testing Report because the manufacturer name on the report is different than the manufacturer of the vehicle, then that recipient could decide that that Bus Testing Report would not apply to the bus model in question or request guidance from FTA as provided for under § 665.7(b).