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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

What is a transit-related employee?

A transit-related employee is "an employee of an FTA applicant, recipient, subrecipient, or contractor who is involved in any aspect of an agency’s public transit operation funded by FTA." (Circular Section 1.6). Agencies are required to count all part-time employees and employees with collateral duties who support the transit program, including those who contribute time to other programs. (Circular Section 1.4). Therefore, a transit-related employee is anyone "who is involved in any aspect of an agency’s public transit operation" and not just those who plan routes and drive buses. Those who provide transit oversight, civil rights oversight, accounting, and grants management, for example, would all be considered transit-related employees if their work touched the transit program.

The following are some examples of transit-related employees:

  • A city planner involved in planning bus routes would be counted as part of the recipient’s transit-related workforce, but a city planner involved only in land use would not be counted.
  • A budget analyst who processes payments for the transit program in addition to other responsibilities.
  • An employee focusing on grants management who handles grant applications for several city programs, including transit programs.
  • An HR officer managing staffing at a transit agency or managing transit staff as part of a city or county program.
  • An employee providing civil rights oversight at a transit agency or State DOT.
  • A security guard or facilities staffer at a transit-specific building or subway station would be a transit-related employee, while a security guard or facilities staffer at a State DOT building would not.