APTA: Handbook For Transit Board Members

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 Brief History of Public Transportation in America

CHAPTER 2 Often Asked Questions About Public Transportation and Your Role as a Board Member

CHAPTER 4 Where to Find More Information

Preface

The American Public Transportation Association is committed to the continued training and professional and development of its members. The political and economic environment for today's public transit calls for decision makers who are skilled and knowledgeable about the demands and issues facing their systems. Without the advantage of informed policy making, public transit boards everywhere would face the complicated challenges of today's transit operation with confusion and concern.

This book is a valuable resource to read and review time and again, and it offers both the new and tenured board member the opportunity to know more about their role and responsibilities as our industry's chief policy makers.

The Transit Board Members Handbook continues your Association's commitment to the education of our transit's decision makers. By becoming more informed, you highlight your important role in transit, and lead the way for you fellow board member.

American Public Transportation Association

Washington, DC

APTA’s Vision Statement

Be the leading force in advancing public transportation.

APTA’s Mission Statement

To strengthen and improve public transportation, APTA serves and leads its diverse membership through advocacy, inovation, and information sharing.

CHAPTER 1 Brief History of Public Transportation in America

A Short Historical Perspective on Public Transport in America

In any respects the evolution of public transport in America is part and parcel of a larger tableau of urban growth and mobility. But there are special features exhibited in the history of public transport that merit further attention.

The beginnings are a little cloudy, but it appears the very first fixed-rout transport to serve an American city was instituted in New York in the year 1827 when a civic-minded activist by the name of Abraham Brower began running a horse-drawn, open-sided wagon up and down Broadway between the Battery and Bleecker Street. Brower's enterprise prospered after a fashion and similar horse-drawn carriages, called omnibuses, soon were deployed in other American cities. But the technology that was to be most identified with the early years of the mass transit industry was not the horse and carriage; rather it was the horse-drawn rail car.

New York was also the scene of the first deployment of this style of transport. In November of 1832 such vehicles began service along the Bowery, then a fashionable New York boulevard. Metal wheels rolling along metal tracks provided a far more comfortable ride than spindly carriage wheels bumping along cobblestones, and the mechanical advantage of metal-on-metal mean that a given load could be haled with less horsepower, literally. The horse-drawn streetcars proliferated, largely because American cities were beginning to strangle on their own crowding and congestion and systems were needed to permit urban growth. Which is to say that as cities began to develop into industrial and commercial centers they lost their village character and it became increasingly difficult for the large and growing work force that fueled a city's economic engine to live within walking distance of employment sites. There were always carriages-forhire in American cities, not to mention private liveries. But the advent of formal systems of public transport was a function of growth, industrialization and limited land.(1)

The horse-drawn streetcar was a recognized liability from its outset precisely because of its reliance on animal power. America was then in the updraft of a worldwide cultural and social transformation that is now called the Industrial Revolution, and if anything typified the Industrial Revolution it was the way massive steam engines replace and transformed older ways of doing work: steam engines in factories and mills; steam engines aboard ocean liners; steam engines on the railways. Because there was no immediate or effective way of harnessing this energy source to the purposes of urban transport, the early days of the street railway industry saw the use of an agricultural form of energy from a bygone era. After some dabbling with cable-powered railways, the breakthrough came in 1888 when electricity was successfully used to power an entire city's network of streetcars. The scene was Richmond, Virginia and the event served to trigger one of the most phenomenal periods of growth and development in the entire history of industrialization. In pre-Richmond, 1882, the American street railway industry was operating approximately 18,000 horse cars over 3,000 miles of track. By 1902, less than a decade-anda half after the first successful deployment of electric-powered cars, America could boast 60,000 cars operating over 21,000 miles of track. In 1882 America's street railways carried about three-quarters of a billion annual passengers. By 1902 the figure had reached almost six billion, and in 1914, the year that also saw the outbreak of world war in Europe, approximately thirteen billion annual riders patronized the country's urban transport systems. The patronage increase from 1902 through 1914 was in the order of one thousand seven hundred percent. (2)

Even these exponential rates of growth, though, fail to tell the full story. For the fact is that between the deployment of electricity in 1888 and the onset of the First World War mass transit became the cornerstone of the nation's industrial economy. In 1907 outstanding securities of what was then called the street railway industry were estimated to be 3.8 billion, and this figure was further estimated to be a sum that exceeded twothirds of the investment in all manufacturing industries in the United States at the time. (3)

But despite the commercial success American urban transport enjoyed in the pre-First World War Period, there are other early trends that should not be overlooked, trends that will influence the later development of the industry.

One vitally important matter is the question of public sector involvement in mass transit, even as early as the nineteenth century. Three large eastern cities saw the opening of major subway lines around the turn of the century, Boston (1897), New York (1904), and Philadelphia (1908). Both the Boston and New York projects involved full and complete public sector financing of capital construction costs, with subsequent leasing of the tunnels to private interests for operation. While the original 1908 Philadelphia subway was privately financed, a subsequent line that opened in 1928 was municipally funded.

The matter of subways and rapid transit might be dismissed, of course, since it involves few cities - albeit important ones - and can hardly be called a statically significant segment of overall urban transport activity. (4) But there were also rumblings at the turn of the century calling for full public sector operation of all city transport. In Chicago, for example, a non-binding referendum was held on April 1, 1902, the nub of which was "Should the municipal government buy out the investments of the city's private streetcar operators and turn mass transit into a full and complete governmental activity. The proponents of this initiative were not wild-thinking radicals anxious to replace capitalism with socialism. They were thoughtful advocates of mainstream municipal reform who believed urban transport in Chicago required the kind of stability that only public operation operation could provide. Citizens of Chicago agreed with their position, in fact, and voted in favor or municipal operation by a tally of 142,826 to 27,998. (5) In New York the irrepressible William Randolph Hearst was a constant editorial voice in favor of replacing the private operators of city-owned subway lines with public operators. And in a small but interesting assortment of American cities, public sector operation of urban transport services actually came to pass in the first quarter of the twentieth century. (6)

Another matter that bears on this issue is the degree to which even privatelyoperated urban transport was always closely allied with the public, a political domain. The case can surely be argued that the industry was never a sure example of unfettered free enterprise openly selling goods to a willing market in an unregulated environment. There were always franchise fees, municipal regulations, and a variety of other public sector controls over what in other situations were simple business decisions and transactions. Take the matter of transit fares, for example. A devastating impact on the public transport industry - not to mention on the world's economy - was delivered by inflation triggered by the end of the First World War. Costs rose in jumps of unprecedented magnitude, yet in all too many cases a street railway company was contractually bound to a specified rate of fare on its franchised routes, a rate of fare which elected officials of a municipal government would agree to renegotiate only at their political peril.

Another side of the issue is the degree to which privately owned and financed urban transport companies were used by the political apparatus to help realize public policy goals. Land use patterns, for instance, were far less a matter of public sector control in 1904 than they are now, and many street railways expanded their systems and realized enormous returns from real estate speculation along their routes with no interaction at all with local government. But in other cases street railway expansion, while perhaps quite profitable to the companies, also helped realize planning objectives of city and county officials and only became possible following negotiations and compromises between private and public interests.

A larger fact was soon to emerge, however, that put the urban transport industry on a very different course. And it is that the robust and halcyon days failed to return hen the nation resumed a peacetime economy after the First World War. The growth of transit patronage began to slow and was no longer keeping pace with the growth of the urban population. Patronage eventually peaked at 17.2 billion annual riders in the year 1926. Then a downturn began; and while the Second World War arrested the decline, with the return of peacetime conditions in the late 1940's the downturn continued. The American mass transit industry, as measured by national trends and performance indicators, was in a serious tail spin.

By then, strangely, instead of continued deterioration the improbable happened. Even though the industry was weakened by cultural, demographic, economic and political developments, it managed to survive and be transformed into a full public sector activity. Consider this: in America, urban mass transportation is the only major activity to undergo such transformation.

Why did this happen? Clearly, publiclyoperated mass transit is not today the robust private sector activity that was once an important bellwether of the national economy. In fact, while transit advocates often cite marginal patronage increases which have been registered in the years since 1973, in an effort to put the industry in the best possible light, it may be well to cast the industry's current performance in bleaker terms to help understand transit's true role in today's society.

As has been noted, the all-time peacetime high in transit riding took place in the year 1926 when 17.2 billion fares were paid.(7) Transit riding today, with approximately nine billion annual trips, is approximately 52 percent of the 1926 high. Yet over the same period populations, and especially urban populations, experienced tremendous growth. The nation's total population of 113 million people in 1926 had grown by just about 120 percent to slightly over 249 million in the 1990 census. And the urban population million in 1926 and 187 million in 1990.

This permits an interesting calculation to be drawn. In the year 1926, each man, woman, and child who resided in urban America took the equivalent of 282 trips on the nation's public transport systems. Today, thanks to a vastly increased urban population and reduced patronage on mass transit, that figure has fallen to 48.

Now, admittedly this is not the only way of painting the picture, a reduction in what might, for want of a better term, be called "impact" of public transport on the community at large from 282 to 48 over three quarters of a century. More importantly it raises an important methodological consideration that must be addressed when discussing public transport today, the use of national averages. For the fact is that numbers, while telling the truth, can often conceal as much as they reveal, the classic anecdote begin the declaration that a given group of people have an average age of fortytwo. While this conjures a vision of middle age, in fact the group is composed solely of people in their teens and people in their seventies. Public transport is a roughly analogous case.

Unlike water purification, highway construction and parking management, public transports intensity is not merely a function of population, and not even of urban population. Public transport is an activity whose focus is primarily the nation's older cities. Two such metropolitan areas, New York and Chicago, account for seven percent of the nation's total population and nine percent of its urbanized population. But the two cities generate over forty percent of the nation's transit patronage, and while the national index of annual per capita transit rides is a mere 48, in New York the ratio is 168, and in Chicago, the number is 93. The nation's five largest urbanized areas account for 14 percent of the country's population, and generate over fifty percent of the transit rides! (8)

Transit, in other words, is highly localized and highly specialized.

There's another kind of specialization transit exhibits and which reflects an importance that can also be eclipsed by statistics. It centers on transit's relationship to peak hour work trips into and out of a central downtown business district, a market that typically accounts for sixty or more percent of a system's patronage today. Conventional wisdom holds that in many cases transit systems are today carrying peak hour loads that equal and in some cases exceed patronage in the World War One era. A further suggestion is that overall employment levels in many downtown business districts have themselves remained relatively stable over the past several decades, stable when compared to such trends as overall population growth, increased automobile ownership, decreased use of public transport, and so forth.

If these two contentions have any measure of validity at all - many transit systems have suffered little loss of peakhour trips in and out of the downtown business district, and downtown employment levels have been relatively steady - if these dual contentions can stand, perhaps some light has been cast on the matter of transit's true importance and worth to the community. Despite a loss of general impact on the life and times of an entire urbanized area as well as urbanized areas in general, for this one selected piece of performance - carrying workers into the central business district in the morning and home again in the evening - transit has demonstrated remarkable, and often unnoted, durability. It may well have captured a constant share of a steady market.

This durability, of course, has not come cheaply. Transit's peak hour orientation has proven to be very, very costly. Capital facilities and equipment are only needed for a relatively few hours each week, for instance. Of course an urban highway built to handle peak rush hour traffic volumes exhibits much the same performance profile, but somehow the perception of an empty bus parked back in a garage at noontime seems more wasteful than a lightly trafficked midday expressway.

But transit's more severe penalty for its peak hour orientation comes on the operating side of the ledger, not its use of capital resources. Transit is heavily labor intensive, with wages and fringe benefits typically accounting for seventyfive to eighty percent of all direct operating costs. In addition, public transport enjoys a long history of collective bargaining, thanks to its roots in the private sector and the working agreements that are in effect today tend to reflect the importance organized labor places on steady, full time work for its members. The results are work rules and other cost drivers that often preclude and efficient use of labor to meet the specialized demand of today's market. It has only been in fairly recent years that administrators have pursued the idea of securing labor's support for the use of some percentage of part-time workers whose hours of employment would correspond with transit's own peak hours. Another tendency has been to develop programs to increase off-peak use of transit resources in an effort to reduce what is commonly called the peak-to-base ration, often by the use of differential fares. A slightly difference approach, and one which transport administrators have thought to be reluctant to approach is to reduce the peak-to -base ration by shifting some percentage of a transit system's rush hour passengers to less costly forms of transportation as van pools, subscription bus service, and so forth. (9)

But these are techniques and procedures for mitigating the effects of transit's current orientation. They are not part of its overall historical development.

Urban transport survives today as a public sector activity because over a long period of time it has been seen to play an important role in insuring certain kinds of mobility. Changing mores and demographics have altered that role, and each city in America does not have the same reliance on transit as every other. But systems of urban transport do carry eight billion riders a year; they operate 70,000 or more transit vehicles; they provide work for almost 200,000 people. This is the context within which today's urban transport administrators must develop their agendas.

(This section was written by Brian Cudahy, Office of Policy, Urban Mass Transportation Administration for a presentation at the 1984 Transit Board Members Seminar in New Orleans, Louisiana.)

The Federal Transit Program

In 1964, Congress responded to a growing financial crisis in the transit industry by adopting the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (renamed the Federal Transit Act in 1991). This important legislation began the federal program of financial assistance to public transit, which has helped lead the way to a rebirth of the public transit industry in the United States.

Adoption of the Federal Transit Act marked the beginning of what has become nearly a 40-year partnership among local public transit system operators and all levels of government – local, state, and federal – in financing this essential public service. The federal role of this longstanding financial partnership is based on the fact that public transit is one of the major components of the nation’s transportation infrastructure necessary to the achievement of key national objectives including:

® Mobility for all Americans including those who are economically disadvantaged, elderly, or disabled.

® Environmental quality including clean air and more efficient land use patterns;

® Energy conservation and reduced dependence on foreign oil;

® Congestion relief and the opening up of job markets to all citizens; and

® Economic growth and strengthened international competitiveness.

The federal transit program has been reauthorized eight times by Congress over the past 36 years and each year Congress is called upon to appropriate funds to support needs of the nation’s public transit system. The federal program is funded from both the general fund of the U.S. Treasury and a trust fund account called the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund. The Mass Transit Account is supported by a dedicated source of revenue – currently 2.86 cents of the 18.4 cents per gallon excise tax on gasoline.

During the 1980’s, the Reagan Administration sought to make dramatic cuts in the federal transit program. Although Congress consistently rejected the Administration’s proposals to eliminate or drastically reduce the program, these efforts did lead to a decline in federal transit assistance from approximately $4.6 billion in 1981 to a low of $3.0 billion in 1990.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), signed by President Bush, marked a major change in federal transit policy. Not only were authorized funding levels raised above their 1981 levels, significant amounts of federal-aid highway funds were made flexible for both highway and transit use. The new legislation called for revisions in the transportation planning process to more fully include transit agencies and other local decision makers.

TEA 21

The federal transit program was reauthorized most recently on June 9, 1998, when President Clinton signed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, or TEA–21 which establishes authority to appropriate general revenues and to spend trust monies for federal transit and highway programs, on an annual basis, from Fiscal Year 1998 through 2003. TEA 21 represents the most significant public transportation infrastructure investment in U.S. history, authorizing up to $41 billion dollars for transit over the six-year period. Until the enactment of TEA 21, the federal transit program was susceptible to annual budget cuts or caps resulting from federal deficits or economic downturns. However, TEA 21 provides that a significant portion ($36 billion) of federal transit funds are "guaranteed" – protected by a unique budgetary "firewall" erected between transit funds and other programs funded from the U.S. domestic discretionary budget. Currently, highway and transit funding and violent crime reduction are the only discretionary spending categories that have such guaranteed funding under U.S. law.

Since the enactment of TEA 21, Congressional Appropriators have funded the federal transit program at the TEA 21 guaranteed levels–$5.3 billion in FY 1999, and $5.8 billion in FY 2000. TEA 21’s assured level of funding is critical to the federal transit program and the improvement of the nation’s public transportation infrastructure. The transit firewalls provide a predictable funding structure for U.S. transit agencies, enabling them to develop realistic multiyear capital programs and to foster innovative financing for major construction projects. Also, as a result of TEA 21, formula funds can be used without limit for any capital expenditure and for the purchase of associated capital maintenance items. This helps transit agencies extend the economic life of transit vehicles and railways, allowing them to operate at peak efficiency.

The collaborative planning requirements of TEA 21 have introduced comprehensive, integrated planning goals which recognize that transportation decisions are best made at the local level. Retaining many of the successful programs and policies created under ISTEA, TEA 21 significantly increases the authorized funding levels for portions of several highway flexible programs, including the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ). Since the commencement of TEA 21, 40 States have used CMAQ funds to transfer nearly $1.5 billion for transit use.

Federal mandates in the 1990's resulted in new financial demands on transit agencies. Capital investment and operating expenditure needs have grown due to the accessibility and alternative service requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the emissions reduction requirements of the Clean Air Act, and the drug and alcohol testing requirements of the Omnibus Transportation Employees Testing Act.

A growing federal commitment to transit remains essential. Increasing traffic congestion in our cities, air pollution from auto use, the need for energy conservation, and mobility for all of our citizens, including the elderly and disabled, require an adequate investment in the nation' public transportation infrastructure. Public transportation and better coordination between all transportation modes and land use are critical to the economic vitality of our nation and its local communities.

APTA members will continue to tackle the problems transit will face and establish principles to guide transit policy. The importance of the federal commitment, both financially and through policy, cannot be overstated. The transit industry is united to insure that a multimodal National Transportation System, with transit as an equal partner in meeting the transportation needs of all Americans, becomes the reality for the 21st Century.

Footnotes

1.Problems of urban crowing are treated in Jacob Riis' classic study, How the Other Half Lives. (New York: Scribners, 1890). For a discussion of how early street railways affected urban development in one major American city, see: Sam B.Warner, Jr., Streetcar Suburbs; the Process of Grown in Boston, 1870- 1900. (Cambridge,Massachusetts: Harvard University Press and the M.I.T. Press, 1962).

2. This was also an era of tremendous population growth. The total national population increased by 67% from 1890 to 1920, for example.

3.This claim was advanced in 1911 by Professor Thomas Conway of the Wharton School in Philadelphia. Conway would later become the president of three different electric interurban railways and also play a major role in the development of what is at least arguably the finest transit vehicle ever developed, the Electric Railway Presidents' Conference Committee Streetcar,more commonly called the PCC car.

4. In 1926 approximately 13% of all rides taken on U.S. urban transport vehicles were taken on rapid transit lines

5. For a discussion of public attitudes toward urban transport providers in Chicago during the years leading up to this referendum, see: Robert David Weber, Rationalizers and Reformers: Chicago Local Transportation in the Nineteenth Century. (Ann Arbor University Microfilms, 1971).

6. The Staten Island ferry in New York shifted from private to public in 1905. More conventional urban transport systems made the shift as follows: San Francisco (1912); Seattle (1914); Detroit (1922).

7. The year 1946 saw more transit riding than any other, 23.4 billion passengers. But this traffic was very much a function of the extraordinary condition brought on by the Second World War, and there remains validity in calling 1926 transit's high water mark.

8. By using as the measure of comparison passenger miles, and not simply passengers, New York and Chicago increase their collective share to 52%. The nation's twenty largest urbanized areas, with 49% of national population, account for 85% of transit utilization.

9. For further analysis of each of these three techniques, see: C.A. Lave, :Is Parttime Labor a Cure for Transit Deficits? Traffic Quarterly, 34 (1980), p.61; D.T. Hartgen and D.L.Weiss, "Differential Time-of-Day Transit-Fare Policies: Revenue, Ridership, and Equity," Transportation Research Record No. 625. (Washington, D.C.: Transportation Research Board, 1977).

CHAPTER 2 Often Asked Questions About Public Transportation and Your Role as a Board Member

1. Who are transit board members and how do they get to serve?

Transit board members represent all types of professions, and in many cases, have already distinguished themselves as representatives of the community. People on transit boards are chosen in two ways: (1) they are appointed by an outside authority or (2) they are elected by the general public. Within these two ways, a variety of approaches may also exist. Sometimes a mayor or the governor may have the legal power to appoint but chooses instead to appoint only those people recommended by another outside body or executive. Also, some elected board members may be chosen by specific districts, or as representatives at-large.

2. What is a policymaking body?

The definition of a board is "an organized group of people with authority collectively to control and foster an institution that is usually administered by a qualified executive and staff." The right of this board to exist and to exercise power often comes from a formal governmental authorization, such as a legislative act or charter. Within its authority to control and foster the institution is its prime responsibility to develop and ratify principles, plans and courses of action for that institution. This is known as policymaking.

3. What is the difference between policy and management?

Policy has been defined as a general rule of principle, or a statement of intent or direction, which provides guidance to administrators in reaching decisions with respect to the particular matters entrusted to their care. Management is the day-to-day- administration of that guidance, and its application to the events and situations which are a part of transit operation. Policy is the making of the rule; management is its application to the everyday activities. Policy provides the direction; management makes it work.

4. In what ways do the general manager and the board complement each other?

The overriding goal of a transit board is to enhance the effectiveness and excellence of the system. To this end, the board acts in a legislative capacity, establishing the mission and setting policies. The general manager is held accountable for the running of the dayto- day operations.

To understand the board-general manager relationship, it is necessary to understand that each complements the other in six ways:

The board is corporate and acts only on the basis of group discussion and decision, often struggling to achieve consensus. The general manager is individual and acts with the authority and integration of a single personality.
The board is continuous; the general manager is temporary. This distinction is not always apparent, particularly when managers have a long tenure and board members a short one. While its members come and go, the board endures, and it has an obligation always to act in terms of a long-range perspective. The general manager has the direct responsibilities of operation. He should carry them out with due regard to ultimate as well as immediate considerations, but he must always face the fact that he will not be present forever, whereas presumably the board will be.
The board is part-time. The manager is full-time. He is identified with the agency and typically earns his livelihood from it. His work is a central focus of his life. The board, though always in existence, can call upon only the parttime services of its members.
The board has, at most, only a minimal separate staff to support its work. The general manager has a hierarchy of helpers.
The board has ultimate responsibility for the institution, subject to the requirements of external authority. The general manager, who holds his office at the pleasure of the board, has more limited and immediate responsibility.
The board is typically made up of people who are nonexpert in the service performed by the program, although they often possess special knowledge in matters related to its work; they represent the broad community of constituency. The general manager is usually a professional or is possessed in expert competence in a managerial role, representing the agency itself and the profession or activity with which its program is concerned.

5. What are some of the qualities of a well-run board?

All boards start as a collection of individuals and personalities seated around a table with varying degrees of unity and purpose drawing them together. As time goes on, however, the interaction of personalities produces a process of group bonding, and an intangible sense of the uniqueness of their mission.

Board members often represent, separately or together, a constituency and bring to the group (and to the general manager) the reflections of the needs and wants of that group. These are weighed against the other considerations of the board and evaluated in the decision- making process.

While all boards differ in strengths and weaknesses, some quality present in boards that have outstanding group spirit can be identified:

Every board member accepts every other board members with a due appreciation of their strengths and tolerance of their quirks and weaknesses.
There is an easy familiarity of approach among the members o f the board, with an awareness of one another's backgrounds and viewpoints.
Everyone concerned with decisions helps to make them.
The contribution of each person or group is recognized.
The board has a sense of being rooted in an important tradition and of producing continuity for a program that has been and continues to be important. Alternatively, the board is launched on a new and exciting mission, and its members are constantly challenged by the need to be innovative.
The attitude of the board is forwardlooking and is based on a confident expectation of growth and development in the program.
There is a clear definition of responsibilities so that each person knows what is expected of them.
The members of the board can communicate easily with one another.
There is a sense that the whole board is more important than any of its parts.
There is a capacity to resolve dissent and discord or, if it cannot be resolved, to keep it in perspective in terms of larger purposes.
There is acceptance of and conformity to a code of behavior, usually involving courtesy, self-discipline, and responsibility.
12.There is an awareness of the fact that all boards contain clusters or pairs of people who tend to like or dislike one another, as well as some who may not be closely involved with others; but there is also a capacity to use these personal relationships as effectively as possible to achieve the larger purposes of the program.
There is an ability to recognize and use wisely the influence of individual board members that arises from their power, connections, wealth social status, age, or ability.
In case of internal conflict, the group has the capacity to examine the situation objectively, identify the sources of difficulty, and remedy them.
The board has several magnetic an non-threatening people who genuinely care about good feeling on the board and spontaneously foster it.
Most important of all, the board members share a clear understanding of and commitment to the mission of the agency.

6. What are some of the ethical responsibilities of board members?

In the course of a board's work, conflicts of interest are among the most common ethical issues. Although several kinds of conflicts of interest can arise, a few basic distinctions can be made:

A potential conflict of interest is present when possible danger is inherent in the situation such as when a relative of a board member is a member of the staff, or when a board member is so dedicated to a single objective that he might forget the system's central mission.

An actual conflict of interest occurs when opposing loyalties must be confronted, such as when a board member owns or acquires land that may be affected by a decision on new bus routes or rights-of-way.

A self-interested decision occurs when a board member chooses a course of action because it ultimately represents personal advantage to himself, or to someone with whom he has personal ties - rather than to the transit system or community he serves.

Most people who join a board have had enough experience to know that they should be vigilantly self-monitoring so far as their own conflicts of interest are concerned. two basic practices are easy to follow: board members should make any potential difficulties know to their colleagues on the board, and they should absent themselves from any situations in which their conflicts of interest could influence decision making.

A board can also help prevent potential conflict of interest from becoming troublesome by establishing and adhering to policies that address difficulties found in its type of organization. It is important to note that state law will vary in defining what is a conflict to interest, and what is a permissible response to that conflict. It is very important and essential that board members seek legal advice from the transit system's attorney if there are questions. Other issues to consider and consult with concern acceptance of gifts or entertainment, ex parte communications, and following the spirit of the law.

Finally, board members should be aware of any federal or state regulations and/or contractual funding provisions that determine what are conflicts of interest and how they are to be handled. FTA may have contractual conflict of interest requirements that are stricter than your state law provisions. Again, seek the advice of your system's counsel.

7. What is APTA?

APTA is the American Public Transportation Association, a not-forprofit organization that has been representing the transit industry since 1882 - a span of over 112 years. As the Washington, D.C. based representative of the transit industry, APTA's more than 1,300 members include transit systems in the United States and Canada, suppliers and manufacturers, state associations, universities, and management and consultant firms. Ninety percent of those using transit in the U.S. and Canada are carried by APTA members.

APTA is organized to function on behalf of all parts of a diversified transit industry. It is governed by a Board of Directors and Executive Committee in which the voting control and authority are vested in transit policy board members, transit operating officials, and business members who are elected by

As an APTA member you are encouraged to participate, contribute and benefit from a myriad of programs, activities and services that are part of your transit industry association.

8. How can you get involved in APTA and the Transit Board Members Committee?

APTA welcomes and encourages participation by its members. During the course of a year, the Association holds several major meetings directed at the issues and topics affecting transit operation. These include the Legislative Conference; the Commuter Rail Conference; the Bus and Paratransit Conference; the Rail Transit Conference; and the Annual Meeting.

Please check with your transit system’s general manager, or with APTA’s Member Services Department for a detailed description of these meetings.

In addition, APTA sponsors the Transit Board Members Seminar, a meeting devoted exclusively to transit board members and the issues affecting them. Usually held in July, the seminar attracts board members from all over the country and Canada, and encourages peer interaction on the problems and solutions that are a part of policy making everywhere. The seminar is a learning experience for both new and longer tenured board members and has consistently been regarded as the seminal meeting for transit’s policy makers.

In another area, both APTA and the Transit Board Members Committee urge transit board members to actively participate in the activities and actions of the Transit Board Members Committee. Every member in good standing of a member transit system board is eligible to be a member of the committee. To become a member of APTA's Transit Board Members Committee (or any other committee within APTA) send a letter requesting membership to the committee’s staff advisor. As a courtesy, a board member should inform fellow board members as to the request. This letter must also include the mailing address at the transit system to which communications pertaining to the committee are to be sent.

9. What is FTA?

FTA is the Federal Transit Administration, the part of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) which administers the federal program of financial assistance to public transit. FTA was created in 1968. The FTA Administrator is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and reports to the Secretary of Transportation.

FTA provides a major source of funding under 49 USC & 5307, 49 USC & 5309, and through other mechanisms, and exercises significant influence over transit operations through regulations promulgated under federal law and through requirements in funding contracts and certifications.

10. What is federal regulation?

A federal rule or regulation is a federal agency statement designed to implement, interpret or prescribe law or policy describing the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of the agency. The rule may describe general or particular applicability or future effect. The phrase "rule making" refers to the agency’s process for formulating, amending, or repealing a rule. A federal rule generally is first published as a notice of proposed rulemaking, and interested parties are invited to comment on it. When the rule is made final, the preamble to it discusses the comments and the agency’s response to them.

11. What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination based on disabilities in the areas of employment, public services, public accommodations and services operated by private entities, public transit and telecommunications. Under the terms of the ADA, employers are prohibited from discriminating against any qualified individual with a disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions or privileges of employment. All programs, activities and services provided or made available by state and local government, including public transportation, are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of disability, regardless of whether or not those entities receive federal financial assistance.

12. What is the Clean Air Act?

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 recast the planning function to ensure that, in areas experiencing air quality problems, transportation planning is geared to improved air quality as well as mobility. State and local officials are required to find ways to reduce emissions from the vehicle fleet (including transit buses), to develop projects and programs that will alter driving patterns to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles, and to make alternatives such as transit an increasingly important part of the transportation network. The Act focuses on the issue of "conformity" which is a determination made by the metropolitan planning organization and the U.S. Department of Transportation that transportation plans and programs in nonattainment areas meet the requirement of reducing pollutant emissions.

13. What are some of the important regulations and laws affecting public transit operation?

The regulations of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) are only those of one of at least 12 government agencies that affect the mass transit industry.

The principle laws affecting transit are the Federal Transit Act, as amended; TEA 21; the Federal-Aid Highway Act, as amended, the National Environmental Policy Act; the Clean Air Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Americans with Disabilities Act; The Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act; the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966; and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

While the regulations of FTA are the most important affecting public transit operation, several regulations of the Department of Transportation (e.g., Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Regulations governing Nondiscrimination in Federally-Assisted programs of the DOT; Uniform Relocations Assistance and Real Property Acquisition requirements; regulations governing Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap; and regulations governing Debarment and Suspension of Grant Recipients) have a major impact on the transit industry.

Increasingly, the transit industry is governed by the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency (e.g. emission standards; and requirements concerning underground storage tanks.)

The Labor Department's regulations implementing the Davis-Bacon Act impact federally-assisted construction projects; while transit operations are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act and its implementing regulations. Finally, commuter rail operations and light rail operating over or connected to the general system of railroads are governed by the safety requirements of the Federal Railroad Administration.

14. What is the difference between authorization and appropriations?

Authorization is legislation that creates the structure of a program including any formulas and guidelines for awarding funds. Authorizing legislation may set an upper limit on program spending or may be open ended as in "such sums as may be necessary". General revenue funds to be spent under an authorization must be appropriated by separate legislation.

Appropriation is legislation that grants money from general revenues to a program that usually has been authorized previously by other legislation. The amount of money appropriated may be less than the amount authorized.

15. What is the process for getting an FTA grant?

There are two basic FTA grant programs: formula grants and discretionary grants. The exact process and requirements for application for formula grants are set out in various program Guidance Circulars issued by FTA. The vast majority of the application process requires the applicant to certify that it has complied with the myriad pre-grant legal requirements.

For discretionary grants, the applicant must submit a standard Governmentwide grant application form, a description of the project, a justification for the project, and a proposed budget. The legal certification requirements applicable to formula grants are also applicable to discretionary grants. The principal difference between the two types of grants that arises during the application process is that the basic FTA act authorized the Secretary of Transportation (by delegation to the FTA Administrator) to impose appropriate terms and conditions on discretionary grants will have to meet requirements that are not imposed on recipients of formula funds. In the past few years, FTA has been imposing special conditions on major discretionary grants through the grant contract executed b FTA and the grant recipient. In contrast, FTA is, by statute, limited in the conditions that it can impose on formula grants.

For more information, please see the definitions of 5307 and 5309 contained in the Glossary.

16. Besides FTA, who else is an important factor in public transportation?

The Congress

The Office of Management and Budget

The Office of the Secretary of Transportation

The Federal Highway Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration

The Environmental Protection Agency

The Department of Labor

The Internal Revenue Service

The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

The Office of Federal Motor Carrier Safety

In the Senate:

Senate Committee on Appropriations

Jurisdiction: Annual funding level of FTA program

Senate Committee on the Budget

Jurisdiction: Federal budget priorities

Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

Jurisdiction: Authorization of FTA program

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Jurisdiction: Regulation of railroads, including commuter railroads and intercity buses, highway safety

Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works

Jurisdiction: Clean Air Act, alternative fuels, authorization of highway program

Senate Committee on Finance

Jurisdiction: Tax laws, trade

In the House:

House Committee on Appropriations

Jurisdiction: Annual funding level of FTA program

House Committee on the Budget

Jurisdiction: Federal budget priorities

House Committee on Ways and Means

Jurisdiction: Tax laws, trade

House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Jurisdiction: Authorization of FTA and highway programs, commuter railroads

House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Jurisdiction: Clean Air Act, alternative fuels

17. What is a board member's responsibility to the transit system?

A board member is appointed or elected to his or her position with the obligation to support the overall goals of the transit system. It is this "duty of loyalty" that translates into a belief in and support of the purposes and philosophy inherent in the transit systems operation. A distinction should be made, however, between the responsibility of board member to evaluated specific strategies for accomplishing the overall goals. Although a sitting board member does not have the right to initiate action that would fundamentally harm the system, the board member does have the right and responsibility to consider and express positions on alternative strategies for accomplishing the overall goals. Although a sitting board member does not have the right to initiate action that would fundamentally harm the system, the board member does have the right and responsibility to consider and express positions on alternative strategies for accomplishing fundamental goals. A board member serves to perpetuate the existence of efficient and effective public transit and not its demise. Other responsibilities include the responsibility of board members to actively participate in board functions, to regularly attend board meetings, and to acquaint themselves with the necessary information that would allow a reasonably prudent board member to render and informed decision.

18. What state and local agencies may impact a transit system?

State:

State Legislature

Department of Transportation

Highway Department

Department of Motor Vehicles

Governor State Environmental Agency

Local:

Mayor

City Council

Metropolitan Planning Organization

Zoning Commission

Building Commission

City Department of Transportation Council of Governments Local Transportation Commission

These are not all-inclusive lists, and not all local transit agencies are impacted by the groups listed. The lists are intended to be illustrative only to provide an idea of the scope of the types of agencies that affect the working of a transit agency.

19. What Constitutes the Federal Grant Process?

There are three major grant programs through which the Federal Transportation Administration provides financial assistance for mass transportation: the section 5309 discretionary program; the Section 5307 formula program for urbanized areas with a population of over 50,000; and the 5311 formula grant program for areas with a population of under 50,000.

DISCRETION CAPITAL PROGRAM

Section 5309 of the FTA Act authorizes grants to be made on a discretionary basis by the Secretary of Transportation ""on such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe" to assist state and local public transit agencies in financing major capital projects including (in fact, virtually all of the funds for New Start projects and a majority of Section 5309 bus funds, in recent years, have been allocated on the basis of congressional earmarks):

New Start Projects – new fixed guideway systems and extensions to existing fixed guideway systems, including rolling stock (approximately 40 percent of the annual Section 5309 total).
Fixed Guideway Modernization Projects – modernization of existing fixed guideway systems including rolling stock (approximately 40 percent of the annual Section 5309 total). Rail modernization funds are allocated to areas with fixed guideway modernization needs under a four-tiered formula.
Bus Projects – acquisition, construction, and improvement of buses and bus-related facilities (approximately 20 percent of the annual Section 5309 total).

The Federal share of a Section 5309 project is 80 percent with a 20 percent local match from non-Federal sources. Application Authorization: An applicant’s governing board must authorize the submission of the grant application and must authorize the applicant’s chief executive to sign the grant contract on behalf of the applicant when the project is approved.

Grant Application:

The Section 5309 grant application must contain a wide range of information concerning compliance with various Federal statutes and regulations, including a description of the project, its impact on the community and the environment. A public hearing must be held. At a minimum, the grant applicant must have the legal, financial, and technical capacity to carry out the project; indicate that it will have satisfactory continuing control over the facilities and equipment to be purchased under the grant; and have sufficient capacity to maintain the facilities and equipment.

URBAN FORMULA PROGRAM

General Description

The Section 5307 Formula Program makes Federal resources available to urbanized areas for planning and capital assistance purposes. The Section 5307 Program is intended to reduce the Federal Government’s role in the grant development and approval processes, while enhancing the responsibilities of state and local governmental entities. It is the intent of the program that Sate and local agencies: 1.Allocate and suballocate program resources among recipients in an urbanized area without Federal involvement. 2. Identify and select the projects to be included in the program of projects and budget. 3. Self-certify that various statutory requirements have or will be met. 4. Not be required to submit individual project justifications. 5. Submit a single grant application for a program of projects and budget in lieu of many individual project applications. 6. Submit program expenditure detail in lieu of project budgets, thus eliminating the need for Federal approval of most routine budget revisions and most technical grant amendments.

Designated Recipients

The primary eligibility requirement for funding under the Section 5307 program is the designation of a grant recipient. The recipient so designated in each urbanized area must be a public body and have the legal authority to receive and dispense Federal funds. The Governor, responsible local officials and publicly-owned operators of mass transportation services jointly designate a recipient or recipients to apply for, receive, and dispense funds for urbanized areas of 200,000 or more population. The Governor or the Governor’s designee is the designated recipient for urbanized areas under 200,000 population. Application Requirements To be considered for funding under Section 5307, each designated recipient is required to develop, publish, afford an opportunity for a public hearing on, and submit for FTA approval a program of projects. The normal Section 5307 application includes: required Office of Management and Budget (OMB) budget information forms; a description of the program and projects and the budget for the projects; an expenditure detail for each individual project; supplemental exhibits required under FTA grant application procedures which indicate recipient compliance with various laws and regulations; an authorizing resolution by the governing body of the applicant authorizing the filing of application; an opinion of counsel establishing the legal eligibility of the applicant to apply for the receipt of a Federal grant; recipient self-certifications concerning a number of statutes and regulations; and standard assurance concerning compliance with various Federal laws.

RURAL FORMULA PROGRAM

Program Description

Section 5311 authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to apportion funds to the Governor of each Sate for public transportation projects in non-urbanized areas. Section 5311 funds are appropriated by Congress on an annual basis and are apportioned on a population- based formula and may be used for all projects included in a State’s Section 5311 program of projects. The annual program of projects must provide for fail and equitable distribution of funds within the State, including Indian reservations, and must provide for the maximum feasible coordination with transportation services assisted by other Federal sources.

Use of Funds

Section 5311 funds may be used for planning, capital, and operating assistance to State agencies, local public bodies, non-profit organizations, Indian Tribes and groups, and operators of public transportation services. The Federal share of eligible capital and project administrative expenses is not to exceed 80 percent of the net cost of the project. The Federal share of net operation costs shall not exceed 50 percent.

Program Management

FTA gives the States the maximum discretion possible in designing and managing the Section 5311 program. Where possible, FTA will defer to States in developing program standards, criteria, procedures and policies. Beginning on October 1, 1988, FTA authorized States to rely on their own laws and procedures instead of Federal procedures in the areas of financial management systems, equipment, and procurement. Each State has designated a State agency which will have the principal authority and responsibility for administering the Section 5311 program. This agency is responsible for all elements of the program including, but not limited to, developing project selection criteria, reviewing and selecting projects for approval, forwarding programs of projects and grant applications to FTA, certifying eligibility of applicants and project activities, ensuring compliance with Federal requirements, and monitoring local project activities including project audits and closeouts.

FTA CONTRACTS

All Federal grant programs come with "strings attached" in the form of grant conditions that a recipient of assistance must follow in return for receiving the grant. There are numerous grant conditions and implementing regulations associated with the program of financial assistance for public transit. These conditions are, for the most part, contained in part II of the grant contract that is entered into by FTA grant recipient for every grant issued by FTA. Frequently, many of the conditions and requirements must be met prior to grant approval and are reflected in the various grant application documents discussed above.

20. What are the new federal restrictions on lobbying?

On December 23, 1989, new federal restrictions on the use of federal funds to support lobbying activities for specific grants and contracts went into effect. The new lobbying restrictions prohibit the use of federally appropriated funds to pay for influencing legislative or executive branch federal government officials in connection with specific grants and contracts. Lobbying is not prohibited. Using federally appropriated funds to pay for lobbying, however, is prohibited.

In addition, it should be noted that the new restrictions apply only to lobbying for specific grants and contract; they do not apply to lobbying on policy issues such as the need for an expanded federal transit program. The implementing regulations require the submission of certifications and periodic reporting by grant applicants to aid in the enforcement of these new restrictions.

The Handbook for Transit Board Members recommends as another reference book, Governing Boards by Cyril O. Houle, and published by Jossey-Bass Publishers in their Nonprofit Sector Series. Several of the responses in the "Often Asked Questions" section of this Handbook are referenced by information found in the Governing Boards book.

CHAPTER 3 Glossary

SOME IMPORTANT TERMS IN TRANSIT

ACCESSIBILITY

The extent to which facilities are barrier free and useable by persons with disabilities, including wheelchair users.

ADVANCED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (APTS)

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology that is designed to improve transit services through advanced vehicle operations, communications, customer service and market development.

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Low-polluting fuels which are used to propel a vehicle instead of high-sulfur diesel or gasoline. Examples include methanol, ethanol, propane or compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas, low-sulfur or "clean" diesel and electricity.

AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION (ATU)

A major labor union representing workers in the transit industry; membership is limited to operators, mechanics and other non-supervisory employees of the transit industry.

AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION (APTA)

Originally founded more than one hundred years ago, APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,270 organizations responsible for planning, designing, constructing, financing, and operating public transportation systems.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990 (ADA)

A civil rights law passed by Congress in 1990 which makes it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in employment, services provided by state and local governments, public and private transportation, public accommodations and telecommunications.

ANNUAL ELEMENT

Those transportation improvement projects, contained in an area’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), that are proposed for implementation in the current year. The annual element is submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) as part of the required planning process.

APPORTIONMENT

A federal budgetary term that refers to a statutorily prescribed division or assignment of funds. It is based on prescribed formulas in the law and consists of dividing authorized obligation authority for a specific program among transit systems.

APPROPRIATION

A federal budgetary term that refers to an act of Congress that permits federal agencies to incur obligations and make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. An appropriation act is the most common means of providing budget authority, but in some cases the authorization legislation itself provides the budget authority.

ARBITRATION

A method of settling disputes where labor and management present their case to an impartial third party, called an arbitrator, who has the responsibility of deciding the case. "Binding arbitration" results in a final and binding award, which is often enforceable in the courts. "Compulsory arbitration" is that required by law.

AUTHORIZATION

Basic, substantive legislation which establishes or continues the legal operation of a federal program or agency, either indefinitely or for a specific period of time, or which sanctions a particular type of obligation or expenditure within a program. An authorization may set appropriation limits. See TEA 21.

AUTOMATIC FARE COLLECTION SYSTEM (AFC)

A system of controls and equipment that automatically admits passengers on insertion of the correct fare in coins, tokens, tickets or farecards; it may include special equipment for transporting and counting revenues, and use of an all system "smartcard."

AUTOMATIC VEHICLE LOCATION SYSTEM (AVLS)

Technology that tracks the current location of fleet vehicles to assist in dispatching, maintaining schedules, answering specific customer inquiries, etc.

BARGAINING AGENT

A labor union designated by an appropriate government agency or recognized by the employer as the exclusive representative of all employees in the bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining.

BASE PERIOD

The period between the morning and evening peak periods when transit service is generally scheduled on a constant interval. Also known as "off-peak period."

BASE FARE

The price charged to one adult for one transit ride; excludes transfer charges, zone charges, express service charges, peak period surcharges and reduced fares.

BLOCK

A definition as it pertains to bus – a collection of runs making up a bus’s daily work assignment. One block may be operated by two or more bus operators.

BUDGET AUTHORITY

A federal budgetary term that refers to legal authority given by Congress to federal agencies to make funds available for obligation or expenditure.

BUDGET RESOLUTION

A federal budgetary term that refers to a concurrent resolution passed by both Houses of Congress, but not requiring the signature of the President, setting forth the congressional budget for each of five fiscal years. The budget resolution sets forth various budget total and functional allocations, and may include reconciliation instructions to designated House or Senate committees.

BUS (MOTORBUS)

A rubber-tired, self-propelled, manuallysteered vehicle with fuel supply carried on board the vehicle. Types include advanced design, articulated, charter, circulator, double deck, express, feeder, intercity,medium-size, new look, sightseeing, small, standard-size, subscription, suburban, transit and van.

BUS DISCRETIONARY CAPITAL

Federal funding granted under Section 5309 of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass transportation Act). These discretionary funds are used for bus-related construction projects or to replace, rehabilitate or purchase buses.

CABLE CAR

An electric railway operating in mixed street traffic with unpowered, individually- controlled transit vehicles propelled by moving cables located below the street surface and powered by engines or motors at a central location not on board the vehicle.

CAPITAL ASSISTANCE

Financial assistance for transit capital expenses including preventive maintenance; such aid may originate with federal, local or state governments.

CAPITAL COSTS

Costs of long-term assets of a public transportation system such as property, buildings, vehicles, etc.

CARPOOL

An arrangement where two or more people share the use and cost of privately- owned automobiles in traveling to and from pre-arranged destinations together.

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

(CBD) The downtown retail trade and commercial area of a city or an area of very high land valuation, traffic flow, and concentration of retail business offices, theaters, hotels and services.

CLEAN AIR ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1990 (CAAA)

The comprehensive federal legislation which establishes criteria for attaining and maintaining the federal standards for allowable concentrations and exposure limits for various air pollutants; the act also provides emission standards for specific vehicles and fuels.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Negotiations between labor union representatives and employers to reach agreement on a contract describing such matters as wages, hours and working conditions.

COMMUTER RAIL

Railroad local and regional passenger train operations between a central city, its suburbs and/or another central city. It may be either locomotive-hualed or self-propelled, and is characterized by multi-trip tickets, specific station-to-station fares, railroad employment practices and usually only one or two stations in the central business district. Also known as "suburban rail."

CONFORMITY

The ongoing process that ensures the planning for highway and transit systems, as a whole and over the long term, is consistent with the state air quality plans for attaining and maintaining health-based air quality standards; conformity is determined by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), and is based on whether transportation plans and programs meet the provisions of a State Implementation Plan.

CONGESTION MITIGATION AND AIR QUALITY (CMAQ)

Federal funds available for either transit or highway projects which contribute to reducing vehicle emissions which cause air pollution. Pedestrians and bike paths are also included in this mitigation strategy.

CONTRACT AUTHORITY

A federal budgetary term that refers to a form of budget authority permitting obligations to be incurred in advance of appropriations. Advance obligations, however, have been limited by the appropriations committees with obligation limitations.

CORRIDOR

A broad geographical band that follows a general directional flow connecting major sources of trips that may contain a number of streets, highways and transit route alignments.

COST-OF-LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA)

An increase or decrease in employees’ wages or salaries made on the basis of changes in agreed-upon economic indices, usually the Consumer Price Index.

CROSSTOWN

Non-radial bus or rail service which does not enter the Central Business District (CBD).

DEADHEAD

The movement of a transit vehicle without passengers aboard; often to and from a garage, to and from one route to another, or to the point the first passenger boarded.

DEDICATED FUNDING SOURCE

A source of monies which by law is available for use only to support a specific purpose, and cannot be diverted to other uses.

DEMAND RESPONSIVE

Non-fixed-route service utilizing vans or buses with passengers boarding and alighting at pre-arranged times at any location within the system’s service area. Also called "Dial-a-Ride."

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

The cabinet level Department of the federal government that is responsible for administration of federal transportation programs including public transportation, highways, railroads, air transportation, shipping and the Coast Guard.

Each state also has a department of transportation.

DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (DBE)

A business owned and operated by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Socially and economically disadvantaged individuals include African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Americans or Asian Indian Americans,Women, and any other minorities or individuals found to be disadvantaged by the Small Business Administration (SAB) under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act.

DISCRETIONARY SPENDING

A federal budgetary terms that refers to any funds whose distribution in not automatic. Discretionary spending encompasses programs controlled by annual appropriations bills and is subject to the constraints imposed by the discretionary spending limits set in the balanced budget law.

DOWNTOWN

A period during which a vehicle is inoperative because of repairs or maintenance.

DOWNTOWN PEOPLE MOVER (DPM)

A type of automated guideway transit vehicle operating on a loop or shuttle route within the Central Business District (CBD) of a city.

DWELL TIME

The time a vehicle or train is stopped to discharge and take on passengers at a stop, including opening and closing doors.

EARMARK

A federal budgetary term that refers to the specific designation by Congress that part of a more general lump-sum appropriation be used for a particular project; the earmark can be designated as a minimum and/or maximum dollar amount.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (EIS)

A comprehensive study of likely environmental impacts resulting from major federally-assisted projects; statements are required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

EXCLUSIVE RIGHT-OF-WAY

A highway or other facility that can only be used by buses or other transit vehicles, and not shared with automobiles or freight trains.

EXECUTIVE ORDER

12372 A presidential directive that furnishes guidance to federal agencies for cooperation with state and local governments in the evaluation, review and coordination of federal assistance programs and projects.

FARE BOX RECOVERY RATIO

Measure of the proportion of operating expenses covered by passenger fares; found by dividing fare box revenue by total operating expenses for each mode and/or systemwide.

FARE BOX REVENUE

Value of cash, tickets, tokens and pass receipts given by passengers as payment for rides; excludes charter revenue.

FARE ELASTICITY

The extent to which ridership responds to fare increases or decreases.

FARE STRUCTURE

The system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various passengers using a transit network at given times for specific trips.

FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION (FTA)

Formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA); FTA is the agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation which administers the federal program of financial assistance to public transit.

FERRYBOAT

A boat providing fixed-route service across a body of water.

The yearly accounting period for the federal government which begins October 1 and ends on the following September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends (e.g., FY 00 is from October 1, 1999 to September 30, 2000).

FIXED GUIDEWAY SYSTEM

A system of vehicles that can operate only on its own guideway constructed for that purpose (e.g., rapid rail, light rail). Federal usage in funding legislation also includes exclusive right-of-way bus operations, trolley coaches and ferryboats as "fixed guideway" transit.

FIXED ROUTE

Service provided on a repetitive, fixedschedule basis along a specific route with vehicles stopping to pick up and deliver passengers to specific locations; each fixed-route trip serves the same origins and destinations, unlike demand responsive and taxicabs.

FLEXIBLE FUNDS

Those federal funds which can be used for highway, transit or other transportation projects, as decided by regional Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and state governments. Examples of such funds are the Surface Transportation Program (STP) and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) fund.

FORMULA FUNDS

Funds distributed or apportioned to qualifying recipients on the basis of formulas described in law; e.g., funds in the Section 5311 program for Small Urban and Rural Transit Assistance, which are distributed to each sate based on the state’s percentage of national rural population. See also "Section 5307."

FRA

The Federal Railroad Administration

FHWA

The Federal Highway Administration

FRINGE PARKING

An area for parking usually located outside the Central Business District (CBD) and most often used by suburban residents who work or shop downtown.

FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENT (FFGA)

Establishes the terms and conditions of federal financial participation in usually multi-year a major capital project. Within the limits of law, the FFGA provides assurance and predictability to the grantee of the federal financial support for the project, while placing a ceiling on the amount of federal support.

GEOCODING

A planning tool where persons or facilities are geographically displayed and analyzed.

HEADWAY

Time interval between vehicles moving in the same direction on a particular route.

HEAVY RAIL

An electric railway with the capacity for a "heavy volume" of traffic and characterized by exclusive rights-of-way,multicar trains, high speed and rapid acceleration, sophisticated signaling and high platform loading. Also known as "rapid rail," "subway," "elevated (railway)" or "metropolitan railway (metro)."

HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE (HOV)

Vehicles carrying more than one person. Examples of high occupancy vehicles are a bus, vanpool and carpool. These vehicles sometimes have exclusive traffic lanes called "HOV lanes," "busways," "transitways" or "commuter lanes."

HIGH SPEED RAIL

A rail transportation system with exclusive right-of-way which serves densely traveled corridors at speeds of 124 miles per hour (200 km/h) and greater.

HIGHWAY TRUST FUND

The federal trust fund established by the Highway Revenue Act of 1956; this fund has two accounts – the Highway Account and the Mass Transit Account. Trust fund revenues are derived from federal highway-user taxes and fees such as motor fuel taxes; trust fund uses and expenditures are determined by law.

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS)

Automated systems of highway transportation designed to improve traffic monitoring and management. ITS includes: Advance Public Transportation Systems (APTS), Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) and "smart vehicles" which assist drivers with planning, perception, analysis and decision-making.

INTERMODAL

Those issues or activities which involve or affect more than one mode of transportation, including transportation connections, choices, cooperation and coordination of various modes. Also known as "multimodal."

JITNEY

Privately-owned, small or medium-sized vehicle usually operated on a fixed route but not on a fixed schedule.

JOB ACCESS/REVERSE COMMUTE GRANT PROGRAM (JARC)

A program enacted through the Personal Responsibility & Work Reconciliation Act of 1996 which provides transportation access to suburban employment for urban residents.

JOINT DEVELOPMENT

Ventures undertaken by the public and private sectors for development of land around transit stations or stops.

LAYOVER TIME

Time built into a schedule between arrival at the end of a route and the departure for the return trip, used for the recovery of delays and preparation for the return trip.

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

A balanced approach to federal funding proportions for highway projects and transit projects; may also refer to employee transportation benefits so that the monthly, tax-free value of a transit pass is equal to that of a parking space; generally, any situation in which transit and highway receive equal treatment in federal funding and other federal procedures.

LIGHT RAIL

An electric railway with a "light volume" traffic capacity compared to heavy rail. Light rail may use shared or exclusive rights-of-way, high or low platform loading and multi-car trains or single cars. Also know as "streetcar," "trolley car" and "tramway."

MAGNETIC LEVITATION (MAGLEV)

A rail transportation system with exclusive right-of-way which is propelled along a fixed guideway system by the attraction or repulsion of magnets on the rails and under the rail cars.

MANAGERS OF MOBILITY

Transit systems which expand their role to include services and approaches beyond traditional public transportation to include ridesharing, high occupancy vehicle programs, public education on transit’s benefits and integration of land use, air quality and transportation decisions; the phrase was developed as part of the industry’s Transit 2000 policy effort undertaken in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

MASS TRANSIT ACCOUNT

The federal account, established by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, into which a designated portion of the federal Highway Trust Fund revenue from motor fuel taxes is placed 2.86 cents in 2000. This account is used for federal mass transportation assistance.

MEAN DISTANCE BETWEEN FAILURES (MDBF)

The average distance in miles that a transit vehicle travels before failure of a vital component forces removal of that vehicle from service.

MEDIATION

Efforts by an impartial third party to encourage agreement between a labor union and management by counseling each side and facilitating negotiations. Also known as "conciliation."

METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (MPO)

The organization designated by local elected officials as being responsible for carrying out the urban transportation and other planning processes for an area, including the programming of federal transportation funds.

MODAL SPLIT

A term which describes how many people use alternative forms of transportation. Frequently used to describe the percentage of people using private automobiles as opposed to the percentage using public transportation.

MODEL

An analytical tool (often mathematical) used by transportation planners to assist in making forecasts of land use, economic activity, travel activity and their effects on the quality of resources such as land, air and water.

MONORAIL

An electric railway in which a rail car or train of cars is suspended from or straddles a guideway formed by a single beam or rail. Most monorails are either heavy rail or automated guideway systems.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969 (NEPA)

A comprehensive federal law requiring analysis of the environmental impacts of federal actions such as the approval of grants; also requiring preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for every major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.

NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM (NHS)

A proposed transportation system consisting of approximately 155,000 miles of highway in order to provide an interconnected system of principal arterial routes serving major population centers, major transportation facilities, major travel destinations, interstate and interregional travel and meeting national defense requirements. The NHS, defined in the TEA 21, is one component of the National Transportation System (NTS).

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (NTS)

An intermodal system consisting of all forms of transportation in a unified, interconnected manner of reduce energy consumption and air pollution while promoting economic development and supporting the Nation’s preeminent position in international commerce. The NTS includes the National Highway System (NHS), public transportation and access to ports and airports.

NEW START

Federal funding granted under Section 5309 of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act). These discretionary funds are made available for construction of a new fixed guideway system or extension of any existing fixed guideway system, based on cost-effectiveness, alternatives analysis results and the degree of local financial commitment.

NONATTAINMENT AREA

Any geographic region of the United States that the U.S. Environmental Protection agency (EPA) has designated as not attaining the federal air quality standards for one or more air pollutants, such as ozone and carbon monoxide.

OBLIGATION

A federal budgetary term that refers to a binding agreement that will result in an outlay; an agreement by the federal government to pay for goods or services immediately or at some future time when the goods or services are delivered. Also known as a "commitment."

OBLIGATION LIMITATION

A federal budgetary term that refers to a limit placed in appropriations bills on the amount of federal assistance that may be obligated during a specified time period. It does not affect the scheduled apportionment or allocation of funds; it just controls the rate at which these funds may be used.

OPERATING ASSISTANCE

Financial assistance for transit operating expenses (not capital costs); such aid may originate with federal, local or state governments. Now available only in areas of less than 200,000 in population.

OPERATING EXPENSE

Monies paid in salaries, wages, materials, supplies and equipment in order to maintain equipment and buildings, operate vehicles, rent equipment and facilities and settle claims.

OPERATING REVENUE

Receipts derived from or for the operation of transit service, including fare box revenue, revenue from advertising, interest and charter bus service and operating assistance from governments.

OUTLAY

A federal budgetary term that refers to a payment made to meet an obligation; the point at which an actual payment of money is made.

PARATRANSIT

Comparable transportation service required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 for individuals with disabilities who are unable to use fixed-route transportation systems.

PARTICULATE TRAP

A filter which removes a portion of the particulates (solids, soot, etc.) from a vehicle’s exhaust stream and generally includes a regenerative unit and associated control system to burn the collected solids.

PASSENGER MILES

The total number of miles traveled by passengers on transit vehicles; determined by multiplying the number of unlinked passenger trips times the average length of their trips.

PASSENGER TRANSPORT (PT)

The weekly newspaper of the transit industry that is published by the American Public Transportation Association.

PEAK PERIOD

Morning and afternoon time periods when transit ridership is heaviest.

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

TEA 21 capitalized a number of maintenance expenses and eliminated federal operating assistance in areas over 200,000 in population.

PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM

An organization that provides transportation services owned, operated, or subsidized by any municipality, county, regional authority, state, or other governmental agency, including those operated or managed by a private management firm under contract to the government agency owner.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Transportation by bus, rail, or other conveyance, either publicly or privately owned, which provides to the public general or special service on a regular and continuing basis. Also known as "mass transportation," "mass transit" and "transit."

RAIL MODERNIZATION

Federal funding granted under Section 5309 of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act). These discretionary funds are distributed by a formula and made available to transit systems for improvements on fixed guideway systems that have been in service for at least seven years. Also known as "fixed guideway modernization."

RAPID TRANSIT

Rail or motorbus transit service operating completely separate from all modes of transportation on an exclusive rightof- way.

RESCISSION

A federal budgetary term that refers to the cancellation, in whole or part, of budget authority previously granted by Congress.

REVENUE MILES

Number of miles that transit vehicles are operated in revenue service.

REVERSE COMMUTING

Movement in a direction opposite the main flow of traffic, such as from the central city to a suburb during the morning peak period.

A form of transportation, other than public transit, in which more than one person shares the use of the vehicle, such as a van "vanpooling."

RIDERSHIP

The number of rides taken by people using a public transportation system in a given time period.

ROLLING STOCK

The vehicles used in a transit system, including buses and rail cars.

ROUTE MILES

The total number of miles included in a fixed route transit system network.

RUN

A collection of trips making up a bus operator’s daily work assignment.

SECTION 5309

The section of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964), as amended, that authorizes discretionary funds for capital public transportation projects.

SECTION 5307

The section of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act of the 1964), as amended, that authorizes grants to public transportation systems in urbanized areas (population greater than 50,000) for both capital and operating programs based on formulas set out in statute.

SECTION 13(C)

The section of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act of the 1964), as amended, related to labor protection that is designed to protect transit employees against a worsening of their position with respect to their employment as a result of grant assistance under the Act.

NATIONAL TRANSIT DATABASE

The Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act of the 1964), as amended, authorizes the U.S. Department of Transportation to gather statistical information about the financing and operations of public transportation systems, based upon a uniform system of accounts and records.

SECTION 5310

The section of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act of the 1964), as amended, that declares the national policy to be that elderly persons and persons with disabilities have the same right as other persons to utilize mass transportation facilities and services, and that special efforts shall be made in the planning and design of mass transportation facilities and services so that effective utilization by elderly persons and persons with disabilities is assured.

SECTION 5310

The subsection of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act of the 1964), as amended, that authorizes grants to nonprofit corporations and associations for the specific purpose of assisting them in providing transportation services meeting the special needs of elderly persons and persons with disabilities for whom mass transportation services are unavailable, insufficient or inappropriate.

SECTION 5311

The section of the Federal Transit Act (formerly known as the Urban Mass Transportation Act of the 1964), as amended, that authorizes grants to public transit systems outside urbanized areas, based on formulas set out in statute; the funds go initially to the Governor of each state.

SEQUESTRATION

A federal budgetary term that refers to the permanent cancellation of budget authority.

SHUTTLE

A public or private vehicle that travels back and forth over a particular route, especially a short route or one that provides connections between transportation systems, employment centers, etc.

SOFT MATCH

The practice of allowing transit systems to use toll revenue credits for the local match on federal bus purchase funds. This frees up local funds, i.e.,‘hard match for other projects.’

STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

(SIP) A state plan mandated by the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 (CAAA) that contains procedures to monitor, control, maintain and enforce compliance with national standards for air quality.

SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION

An act appropriating funds in addition to those in an annual appropriation act because the need for funds is too urgent to be postponed until enactment of the next regular appropriation act.

TEA 21

See Chapter 1.

TRANSFER CENTER

A fixed location where passengers interchange from one route or vehicle to another.

TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN (TDP)

A short-term (usually 5 years or less) planning document published by transit authorities outlining service improvements and adjustments.

TRANSIT 2000

An industry effort undertaken in the late 1980s and early 1990s to develop public policies allowing transit to achieve its greatest potential for the rest for the 20th century and beyond; recommendations included turning transit systems into managers of mobility, broadening transit’s definition to include ridesharing and other high occupancy vehicle programs, enhancing local decision-making authority, increasing federal funding and raising the federal gasoline tax.

TRANSIT PASS

A tax-free employee commute benefit in which an employer subsidizes up to $65 per month for an employee’s transit fares or vanpool charges. This benefit also applies to military and government employees.

TRANSIT SYSTEM

An organization (public or private) providing local or regional multi-occupancy- vehicle passenger service. Organizations that provide service under contract to another agency are generally not counted as separate systems.

TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION (TWU)

One of the major labor unions in the transit industry; membership is limited to operators, mechanics and other nonsupervisory employees of the transit industry.

TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP)

A program of intermodal transportation projects, to be implemented over several years, growing out of the planning process and designed to improve transportation in a community. This program is required as a condition of a locality receiving federal transit and highway grants.

TRIP

The one-way movement of a bus along a route, usually either outbound/inbound or north/southbound, east/westbound, etc.

TRUST FUNDS

Funds collected and used by the federal government for carrying out specific purposes and programs according to terms of a trust agreement or statute, such as the Social Security and highway trust funds. Trust funds are administered by the government in a fiduciary capacity and are not available for the general purposes of the government. See "Dedicated Funding Source."

UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION (UTU)

One of the major labor unions in the transit industry; membership is limited to operators, mechanics and other nonsupervisory employees of the transit industry.

An U.S. Bureau of Census-designated area of 50,000 or more inhabitants consisting of a central city or two adjacent cities plus surrounding densely settled territory, but excluding the rural portion of cities.

VANPOOL

An arrangement in which a group of passengers share the use and cost of a van in traveling to and from prearranged destinations together.

ZONE FARES

A system of fares where a transit system’s service area is divided into zones within which specified rates or fares apply.

CHAPTER 4 Where to Find More Information

The following is a listing of those APTA meetings that may be pertinent to the role and responsibilities of transit board members:

LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE

When: March

Location: Washington, D.C.

Who should attend: Board chairmen, board members, general managers, associate members, and top management people who deal with legislative and executive branches of government

Length: Usually 3 days (Sunday – Tuesday)

Program: Key general sessions highlighting Washington lawmakers and political commentators on current legislative issues of interest to transit

Organization: General sessions and workshops devoted to the examination of key issues and developments in the federal policy towards public transit

COMMUTER RAIL CONFERENCE

When: late March or April Location: Major city in North America Who should attend: Board members, commuter rail professionals, and suppliers/ consultants

Length: Usually 4 days (Sunday – Wednesday)

Program: General sessions, technical panels/workshops addressing commuter rail policy, advocacy, finance, fares, marketing, technology, engineering, design and construction

Organization: General and concurrent sessions and inspection tours

BUS AND PARATRANSIT CONFERENCE

When: May

Location: City in North America

Who should attend: Transit bus system personnel and suppliers/consultants

Length: Usually 4 days (Sunday – Wednesday)

Program: General and technical panel sessions addressing bus design, operations maintenance, safety, labor, training, personnel, scheduling and operational planning, environmental and energy conservation, bus emission and alternate fuels, procurement, materials management, and a product showcase/bus display.

Organization: General sessions and concurrent panels and inspection tours

RAIL TRANSIT CONFERENCE

When: June

Location: North American city with a rapid transit system

Who should attend: Board members, general managers, associate members, and technical personnel in cities that have commuter, light rail, heavy rail, or automated guideway transit systems

Length: Usually 4 days (Sunday - Wednesday)

Program: General sessions, technical panels, modal sessions, and workshops devoted to various subjects or commuter, light rail heavy rail and automated guideway transit, organized on a track system that features various disciples (advanced technology and safety, car equipment, construction, power, signals, and communications, operations, way and structures, planning and policy issues and human resources).

Organization: General and concurrent sessions, and inspection tours

ANNUAL MEETING

When: Late September or early October Location: Major city in North America Who should attend: Board chairmen, board members, general manages, associate members, and top management personnel

Length: Usually 4 days (Sunday – Wednesday)

Program: General sessions featuring nationally known speakers, grand awards breakfast honoring transit’s best systems, panel sessions, and special events (Note: every three years the Annual Meeting is held in conjunction with an International Public Transit Exposition, featuring the exhibiting of hundreds of transit business products.) Organization: General sessions and concurrent sessions featuring a track system of various disciplines or topics

THE TRANSIT BOARD MEMBERS SEMINAR AND BOARD SUPPORT WORKSHOP

When: Late July

Location: Varies Who should attend: Designed for board members and board support personnel only

Length: Usually 4 days (Sunday – Wednesday)

Program: Uniquely designed to examine and enlighten the role and responsibilities of today’s transit policy maker, offering special insight and education on the wide variety of subjects filling the board member’s decision-making agenda; bringing together board members from around the country, the seminar has been a yearly focal point for the sharing of concerns and solutions by those faced with making policy decisions for transit operation; designed for both new and longer serving transit board members; as part of the meeting, a workshop for board support personnel is held, addressing their role and responsibilities in helping to administer their transit board’s duties.

Organization: Small general sessions and breakout groups emphasizing close peer interaction and information sharing

ABOUT THE TRANSIT BOARD MEMBERS SEMINAR

The Transit Board Members Seminar sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association has been for over one and a-half decades the premier professional development event for policymakers from around the country and Canada.

Representing systems of all sizes and modes, the participants learn about the issues, regulations, and new developments affecting the policy-making responsibilities of transit board members. In addition to the topical sessions, board members are exposed to professional development presentations on skills that affect their roles, such as dealing with the media, collaborative decision making, time and meeting management, and developing leadership traits.

Transit Board Member Seminars also present the best opportunity for board members to share concerns and successes from their systems with others from around the country. This aspect of "peer interaction" is a highly visible and popular component of the meeting as participants share their ideas and advice with new board members and others seeking solutions. Board "networking" takes place so that common problems can be identified by those who have found the answers to pressing concerns. Board members leave the meeting sensing that they have other resources across the country from which to draw policymaking advice.

The meeting also represents an opportunity for the board members to hear from the top federal officials who deal with transit policy at the national level, and to be briefed by the APTA staff on the latest developments in Congress and in the Federal government. Information on transit terms, appropriations, regulations, and emerging issues are discussed both in group sessions and one-on-one with the appropriate APTA staff person.

Past seminar programs have addressed such relevant issues as the trends in labor negotiations and settlements; political and economic analysis of the results of national elections; the value of board retreats; how to lobby effectively; the techniques of effective board leadership; dealing with financial issues in service delivery and fare increases; and how management and policy functions interface in transit system operation.

Since 1984, the Transit Board Members Seminar has become the seminal gathering for transit policymakers, and its continued popularity in presenting educational and relevant transit issues demonstrates its unique function in the continuing professional development of today’s board members.

American Public Transportation Association

1666 K Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20006

www.apta.com

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