03-24965. Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program Announcement of Project Selections

AGENCY:

Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded under Fiscal Year 2003 appropriations for the Over-the-Road Bus (OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The OTRB Accessibility Program makes funds available to private operators of over-the-road buses to help finance the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT's over-the-road bus accessibility rule, published in the Federal Register on September 24, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

The appropriate FTA Regional Administrator for grant-specific issues; or Blenda Younger, Office of Program Management, 202-366-2053, for general information about the OTRB Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A total of $6.9 million was made available for the program in FY 2003: $5.2 million for intercity fixed-route providers and $1.7 million for all other providers, such as commuter, charter, and tour operators. A total of 84 applicants requested $17.6 million: $10.5 million was requested by intercity fixed-route providers, and $7.1 million was requested by all other providers. Project selections were made on a discretionary basis, based on each applicant's responsiveness to statutory project selection criteria, fleet size, and level of funding received in previous years. Because of the high demand for the funds available, most applicants received less funding than they requested, but all qualified applicants received some funding. The selected projects will provide funding for the incremental cost of adding lifts to 128 new vehicles, retrofitting 80 vehicles, and $335,546 for training. Each of the following 74 awardees, as well as the 10 applicants who were not selected for funding, will receive a letter that explains how funding decisions were made.

Operator	City/State	Award amounts
		Intercity fixed-route	Other	Total
Region I:
Bonanza Bus Lines	Providence, RI	$109,935		$109,935
Bristol Tours, Inc	Bristol, VT		39,547	39,547
Concord Coach Lines, Inc	Concord, NH	48,800		48,800
Entertainment Tours	Braintree, MA	63,000		63,000
Peter Pan Bus Lines	Springfield, MA	157,859		157,859
Vermont Transit Co	Burlington, VT		33,151	33,151
Region II:
Adirondack Trailways	Hurley, NY	187,500		187,500
Blue Bird Coach Lines, Inc	N.Tonawanda, NY		87,030	87,030
Hampton Jitney, Inc	Southampton, NY		28,800	28,800
Shortline (Hudson Transit)	Mahwah, NJ	180,000		180,000
Sunrise Coach Lines, Inc	Green Port, NY		39,384	39,384
Syracuse and Oswego Motor Lines	E. Syracuse, NY		43,481	43,481
Trans Express, Inc	Brooklyn, NY		33,750	33,750
Trolley Tours, Inc	Forked River, NJ	72,000	22,950	94,950
Utica Rome Bus Company	Clinton, NY		41,990	41,990
Region III:
Abbott Bus Lines, Inc	Roanoke, VA		91,482	91,482
Angelic Luxury Coach, Inc	District Hgts, MD	35,000		35,000
Brown Bus Company	Richmond, VA		28,710	28,710
Butler Motor Transit	Butler, PA		37,800	37,800
Capitol Bus Company	Harrisburg, PA	50,400		50,400
Elegance Bus Tours, Inc	Suitland, MD	35,000		35,000
Eyre Bus Service, Inc	Glenelg, MD		63,142	63,142
First Priority Tours, Inc	District Hgts. MD		20,965	20,965
Hagey Coach, Inc	Franconia, PA		50,400	50,400
Krapf's Coaches, Inc	West Chester, PA		25,200	25,200
Lenzer Tour and Travel	Sewickley, Pa		37,800	37,800
Penn Highway Transit Co	Lancaster, PA		33,712	33,712
Perkiomen Tours	Pennsburg, PA		33,300	33,300
Susquehanna Transit Co	Avis, PA	100,596		100,596
Thomas Tours	Beltsville, MD		12,617	12,617
Trans-Bridge Lines	Bethlehem, PA	154,101		154,101
Region IV:
Americoach Tours	Memphis, TN		38,250	38,250
Blue Grass Tours, Inc	Lexington, KY		28,507	28,507
Carolina Trailways	Raleigh, NC		33,151	33,151
Champion Coach	Greenville, SC		27,000	27,000
Escot Bus Lines, Inc	Tampa, FL		39,368	39,368
Good Time Tours	Pensacola, FL		2,700	2,700
Lancaster Tours and Travel	Lancaster, SC		35,000	35,000
North Mississippi Services	Tupelo, MS		45,814	45,814
Region V:
Alpha Bus Leasing	Cincinnati, OH		54,871	54,871
B&W Charters, Inc	Kalamazoo, MI		36,961	36,961
Brecksville Road Transit, Inc	Brecksville, OH		37,104	37,104
Cavallo Bus Lines, Inc	Gillespie, IL		35,000	35,000
Colonial Coach Lines	Des Plaines, IL	112,274		112,274
Dixon Meyers Bus Transportation	Mt. Morris, IL		35,946	35,946
Jefferson Lines	Minneapolis, MN	133,250		133,250
Peoria Charter Coach Co	Peoria, IL	35,910		35,910
Pioneer Coach Lines, Inc	Chicago, IL		27,000	27,000
Red River Trails	Moorhead, MN		27,239	27,239
Robinson Coach	Evanston, IL		35,500	35,500
Trobec Bus Service, Inc	St. Stephen, MN		27,000	27,000
Vandalia Bus Lines, Inc	Caseyville, Il		52,332	52,332
Wisconsin Coach	Waukesha, WI	108,000		108,000
Region VI:
Cowtown Bus Charters, Inc	Fort Worth, TX		28,474	28,474
El Expresso	Houston, TX	76,050		76,050
Fun Time Tours	Corpus Christi, TX		38,554	38,554
Gotta Go Express Trailways	Fort Worth, TX		25,626	25,626
Greyhound	Dallas, TX	2,588,544		2,588,544
Gulf Coast Transit	Houston, TX		38,250	38,250
Kerrville Bus Co	San Antonio, TX	176,670		176,670
TNM&O	Lubbock,TX	165,755		165,755
Valley Transit	Harlingen, TX	99,453		99,453
Region VII:
Burlington Trailways	W. Burlington, IA	85,488		85,488
Tiger Air Express, Inc	Columbia, MO	45,022		45,022
Region VIII:
Express Charters, Inc	Fort Collins, CO		27,000	27,000
Utah Trailways	Salt Lake City, UT	28,135		28,135
Region IX:
Marin Airporter	San Rafael, CA	112,365		112,365
Pacific Coachways	Garden Grove, CA		25,200	25,200
Quest Transportation, Inc	San Luis Obispo, CA	74,160		74,160
RDH Transportation Services	Honolulu, Hawaii		55,576	55,576
Silverado Stages, Inc	San Luis Obispo, CA	74,160		74,160
Region X:
Central Washington Airporter	Ferndale, WA	44,305		44,305
Northwestern Stage Lines	Spokane, WA	29,250		29,250
Premier Alaska Tours, Inc	Anchorage, AK		26,316	26,316
Total		5,182,982	1,688,950	6,871,932

Eligible project costs may be incurred by awardees prior to final grant approval. The incremental capital cost for adding wheelchair lift equipment to any new vehicles delivered on or after June 9, 1998, the effective date of TEA-21, is eligible for funding under the OTRB Accessibility Program.

Applicants selected for funding may be contacted by FTA regional offices if additional information is needed before grants are made. The grant applications will be sent to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for certification under labor protection requirements pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5333(b). After referring applications to affected employees represented by a labor organization, DOL will issue a certification to FTA. Terms and conditions of the certification will be incorporated in the FTA grant agreement under the new guidelines replacing those in 29 CFR Part 215. Please see Amendment to Section 5333(b), Guidelines to Carry Out New Programs Authorized by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21); Final Rule (64 FR 40990, July 28, 1999).

Issued on: September 26, 2003.

Jennifer L. Dorn,

Administrator.