The information collection request is
for a revision of a currently approved collection under OMB control
number 2132-0564 “Survey of FTA Stakeholders". This is a revision
due to changes to methodology that include an effort to increase
stakeholder feedback by expanding the number of potential survey
respondents universe from the 1,188 CEO's and senior executives as
done in previous years to include the addition of over 4500 other
managers and professional staff that have direct interaction with
FTA. The revision also includes a decrease in burden hours due to
FTA utilizing survey analytics to appropriately determine the exact
amount of time spent filling out the survey. This is a voluntary
collection of information via a survey that is distributed on a
biennial basis. The survey provides FTA decision makers with the
information necessary to determine current levels of service,
establish realistic service delivery standards and opportunities
for improvement, and establish mechanisms for ongoing monitoring of
customer satisfaction. The information collected from FTA's
grantees helps ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and
satisfying experience with the Agency's programs. The entities that
will respond to the "Rating FTA Services to its Customers" survey
include the CEO's, CFO's Executive Director as well as professional
stuff to include engineers, urban planners, grant managers at
public and private transit operators, state agencies and
Metropolitan Planning Organizations across the country. As
required, the supporting statement A, supporting statement B,
survey instrument, methodology, and checklist was submitted for
review and received approval from DOT's Office of Bureau for
Transportation Statistics (BTS) on July 16, 2021.
EO: EO
13571 Name/Subject of EO: Streamlining Service Delivery and
Improving Customer Service
EO: EO 12862 Name/Subject of EO: Customer Service
The estimated number of
respondents is 6,454, an increase of 5,266 respondents from the
previous request of 1,188 respondents. There is an increase in the
number of respondents due to FTA’s efforts to expand outreach to a
broader cross-section of FTA stakeholders. Respondents are split
into two groups. Group A includes Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)
and other executive leaders of transit agencies, state DOTs, and
other FTA stakeholders. Group B includes unit supervisors and
professional staff such as engineers, urban planners and budget
analysts from the same organizations. The previous IC only targeted
respondents in Group A. The current IC targets respondents in both
Group A and Group B. To further expand stakeholder outreach, FTA
accessed an additional database, and allowed multiple respondents
to submit responses from a single organization. Previously, since
only CEOs or other top executive leader of an organization
responded, there could be only one response per organization
because there is only one top executive leader per organization.
However, the expansion of the target population to other labor
categories allows multiple people from the same organization to
respond to the survey (CEO, engineer, urban planner, etc.). There
is a decrease in the estimated annual total burden hours, despite
the increase in number of respondents, in large part because FTA
found through outreach efforts that respondents actually spent less
time interacting with the previous survey than estimated. In
addition to stakeholder outreach outlined in #8 of the supporting
statement, in 2019, FTA utilized survey analytics to appropriately
determine the amount of time spent filling out the survey. Survey
data analytics showed that respondents spent approximately 8-10
minutes interacting with the survey, instead of the previously
estimated 1 hour. Including time spent accessing technology and
systems, and retrieving, validating and verifying information, the
estimated burden hours per respondent was revised from 1 hour to 15
minutes. Total cost to the government increased, primarily due to
additional estimated staff project time, and also to reflect
current labor rates. Total cost for respondents increased due to
the increase in number of respondents.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
2021 Survey of FTA Stakeholders Part A Supporting Statement Final.docx
2021 FTA Stakeholder Survey Instrument.pdf
Survey of FTA Stakeholders Group B (Other Transit Professional Staff - urban planners, engineers, etc.)