Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission - Comments

I believe the court is correct in their opinion and specifically their definition of 'exclusive'. In many FTA-funded services, arguments could be made for grantees providing services exclusive to certain groups. It is my belief that the vast majority of FTA grantees and sub grantees adhere to this principle. The sticking point of the school tripper issue is the definition of exclusive, and exactly what constitutes being open to the general public. Open to the public should be judged on its intent, and availability, and not overall results. If it can be reasonably demonstrated that efforts have been made to inform the public about services open to the public, such as publishing route schedules, then the service should be deemed open to the public. The public has a right to choose whether or not it participates in such a service; open to the public should not mean whether or not the public uses the service. If a transportation provider refuses to admit entry to a member of the general public for no documented reason, then it could be deemed exclusive and not open to the public. It seems to me school children are part of the general public, and general public makes up the 'market' for a public transportation provider, whose mission it is to provide service to the general public. Should a service provided by a public transportation provider be deemed exclusive because a particular segment of the population uses the service? It should not because all have the opportunity to utilize the service. The larger policy issue of federally supported public transportation is being ignored and erodes the position of FTA on the school tripper issue. Essentially all publicly-funded transportation competes with any private entity desiring to provide the same service. However, the policy position of the federal government appears to be to support mass transportation as a public utility; at this position it is nearly impossible to make a valid argument of 'non-compete' with school tripper service.