NTD Reduced Reporting Policy Manual

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NTD Reduced Reporting Policy Manual

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Office of Budget and Policy

National Transit Database
2022 Policy Manual
REDUCED REPORTING

The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not
meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity
to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
Grantees and subgrantees should refer to FTA’s statutes and regulations for
applicable requirements.

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Exhibits ...................................................................................................................v
Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................................vii
Report Year 2022 Policy Changes and Reporting Clarifications ................................1
Introduction ........................................................................................................................2
The National Transit Database ...................................................................................... 3
History ........................................................................................................................ 3
Continuing Grant Requirements................................................................................ 4
National Transit Database Data ................................................................................ 5
Data Use and Funding............................................................................................... 9
Failure to Report ...................................................................................................... 11
Inaccurate Data ....................................................................................................... 12
Standardized Reporting Requirements ....................................................................... 12
Reporting Due Dates ............................................................................................... 13
Data Validation ........................................................................................................ 14
Financial Data Requirements .................................................................................. 15
Service Data Requirements .................................................................................... 17
General Data Formatting Rules .............................................................................. 18
Reporting Rules and Regulations ........................................................................... 18
Reporter Types ............................................................................................................ 18
Urban Reporters ...................................................................................................... 19
Rural Reporters ....................................................................................................... 20
Transit Asset Management Reporters .................................................................... 24
Voluntary Reporters................................................................................................. 25
Transit Agency Profile Requirements .......................................................................... 25
Basic Information (Form P-10) ................................................................................ 25
Modes and Types of Service (Form P-20) .............................................................. 27
Reporter Users (Form P-30).................................................................................... 35
Basic Agency Information Requirements ....................................................................36
Identification (Form B-10) ............................................................................................ 37
Organization Types.................................................................................................. 37
Demographic Data ................................................................................................... 39
Contractual Relationship Data Requirements (Form B-30) ........................................ 41
Competitively Bid vs. Negotiated Agreements ....................................................... 42

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Purchased Transportation Fare Revenues ............................................................. 42
Reporting Contract Data for Vanpools .................................................................... 42
Capital Leasing Expenses ....................................................................................... 43
Direct Payment ........................................................................................................ 43
Contract Cost ........................................................................................................... 43
Other Costs Incurred by the Buyer.......................................................................... 44
Subsidy Contract Type ............................................................................................ 44
Key Relationships Between Forms ......................................................................... 45
Financial Data Requirements .........................................................................................46
What to Report ............................................................................................................. 47
Fully Allocated Costs ............................................................................................... 48
How to Record and Report Financial Accounts .......................................................... 49
Allocating Costs ....................................................................................................... 49
Direct vs. Shared Costs ........................................................................................... 49
Funding Sources (Form RR-20) .................................................................................. 52
Directly Generated Funds ....................................................................................... 52
Non-Federal Funding Sources ................................................................................ 56
Federal Government Sources ................................................................................. 58
Non-Added Revenues ............................................................................................. 64
Service Data Requirements (Form RR-20) ...................................................................67
Revenue Service .......................................................................................................... 68
Incidental Transit Service ........................................................................................ 68
Vehicle Revenue Miles and Vehicle Revenue Hours ............................................. 68
Unlinked Passenger Trips ....................................................................................... 72
Vehicles Operated in Annual Maximum Service .................................................... 78
Deviated Services .................................................................................................... 79
Volunteer Resources ............................................................................................... 79
Service Data for Intercity Bus Subrecipients ............................................................... 80
§5311 Intercity Bus Vehicle Revenue Miles ........................................................... 80
§5311 Intercity Bus Unlinked Passenger Trips....................................................... 80
Non-Reportable Service............................................................................................... 81
Deadhead ................................................................................................................ 81
Charter Service ........................................................................................................ 81
School Bus Service.................................................................................................. 82

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Safety Data Requirements..............................................................................................83
Reportable Events........................................................................................................ 83
Asset Inventory Data Requirements .............................................................................85
Transit Asset Management Performance Measure Targets (Form A-90) .................. 86
Capital Responsibility .............................................................................................. 87
Performance Target Categories .............................................................................. 87
Agency Tiers ............................................................................................................ 89
Narrative Report ...................................................................................................... 90
Group Plan Sponsors .............................................................................................. 90
Transit Agency Facilities (Forms A-10 and A-15) ....................................................... 91
Station Criteria ......................................................................................................... 91
Stations and Maintenance Facilities (Form A-10)................................................... 91
Transit Asset Management Facilities Inventory (Form A-15) ................................. 95
Vehicles ...................................................................................................................... 107
Revenue Vehicle Inventory (Form A-30) .............................................................. 108
Service Vehicle Inventory (Form A-35) ................................................................. 120
Federal Funding Data Requirements ..........................................................................124
Reporting Federal Funding Allocation Data (Form FFA-10) ..................................... 125
NTD Serve Rules ....................................................................................................... 126
Serving an Area ..................................................................................................... 126
Commuter Service Federal Funding Allocation .................................................... 130
Reporting Allocation Methods .................................................................................... 130
Declarations and Requests ..........................................................................................132
CEO Certification (Form D-10) .................................................................................. 133
Certification Requirements .................................................................................... 133
Waivers....................................................................................................................... 136
Waiver Types ......................................................................................................... 136
Auditor Statements..................................................................................................... 137
Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data .............................................. 138
Requests .................................................................................................................... 139
Fiscal Year-End Change Requests ....................................................................... 139
Extension Requests............................................................................................... 139
Apportionment Data Adjustment Requests........................................................... 140

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Appendix A:

Independent Auditor’s Statement for Financial Data Template ..... A-1

Appendix B:

Asset Codes.......................................................................................... B-1

Appendix C:

Automatic Passenger Counter Certification Checklist ................... C-1

Appendix D:

Vanpool Questionnaire........................................................................ D-1

Appendix E:

Shared Mobility Services & National Transit Database Reporting E-1

Cover photo: “Baby Gillig Advantage Hybrid BRT in New Castle” by Jarrett Stewart, CC
BY-NC-SA 2.0.

iv — Table of Contents

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

LIST OF EXHIBITS
Exhibit 1: 49 U.S.C. §5335 National Transit Database ..................................................... 4
Exhibit 2: Continuing Grant Requirements ........................................................................ 5
Exhibit 3: Public Transportation ......................................................................................... 6
Exhibit 4: Funding Sources (2020)..................................................................................... 9
Exhibit 5: Annual Reporting Deadlines ............................................................................ 13
Exhibit 6: Subrecipient with Different Fiscal Year ............................................................ 13
Exhibit 7: Accrual Accounting........................................................................................... 15
Exhibit 8: CEO Certification and Independent Auditor Review Requirements ............... 17
Exhibit 9: Urban Reporter Types...................................................................................... 19
Exhibit 10: State DOT and Subrecipient Reporter Types ............................................... 21
Exhibit 11: Urban and Rural Recipients ........................................................................... 23
Exhibit 12: TAM-Only Reporter Types ............................................................................. 24
Exhibit 13: Rail and Non-Rail Modes ............................................................................... 27
Exhibit 14: Urbanized Areas............................................................................................. 40
Exhibit 15: Relationship of B-30 Data to Other Forms .................................................... 45
Exhibit 16: Expense Types ............................................................................................... 47
Exhibit 17: How to Report Grant Funds ........................................................................... 48
Exhibit 18: Miles and Hours for Bus (MB, CB, RB) Modes ............................................. 69
Exhibit 19: Miles and Hours for Demand Response Modes ........................................... 71
Exhibit 20: Sampling Cycle Requirements ...................................................................... 77
Exhibit 21: VOMS ............................................................................................................. 79
Exhibit 22: Reportable Events .......................................................................................... 84
Exhibit 23: Transit Asset Management Performance Targets: Calculation .................... 86
List of Exhibits — v

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Exhibit 24: Transit Asset Management Performance Target Inputs ............................... 88
Exhibit 25: Performance Measure Calculations .............................................................. 89
Exhibit 26: Reporting Passenger Stations ....................................................................... 92
Exhibit 27: Facility Size .................................................................................................... 94
Exhibit 28:Shared General-Purpose Maintenance Facilities........................................... 94
Exhibit 29: Private Modes................................................................................................. 97
Exhibit 30: Administrative and Maintenance Facility Types ............................................ 99
Exhibit 31: Passenger and Parking Facility Types ........................................................ 102
Exhibit 32: TERM Scale ................................................................................................. 106
Exhibit 33: Active and Inactive Vehicles ........................................................................ 111
Exhibit 34: Year of Manufacture vs. Model Year ........................................................... 113
Exhibit 35: Revenue Vehicle Default Useful Life Benchmarks ..................................... 115
Exhibit 36: Manufacturer vs. Model................................................................................ 118
Exhibit 37: Total Miles and Average Lifetime Mileage per Active Vehicle .................... 119
Exhibit 38: Service Vehicle Default Useful Life Benchmarks ........................................ 122
Exhibit 39: Service in One Area ..................................................................................... 127
Exhibit 40: Service in Two Areas: Urbanized Area to Urbanized Area......................... 128
Exhibit 41: Service in Three Areas: Two Urbanized Areas and a Rural Area .............. 129
Exhibit 42: Service in Two Areas: Urban and Rural Trips ............................................. 130
Exhibit 43: CEO Certification Requirements.................................................................. 134

vi — List of Exhibits

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act

APC

Automatic Passenger Counter

ARP

American Rescue Plan Act

CARES

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act

Commuter Bus

CCTV

Closed-Circuit Television

CEO

Chief Executive Officer

CFR

Code of Federal Regulations

CMAQ

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program

COVID-19

Coronavirus Disease 2019

CRRSAA

Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act

Directly Operated

DOT

Department of Transportation

Demand Response

DRM

Directional Route Miles

DUNS

Data Universal Numbering System

FARE

Uniform Financial Accounting and Reporting Elements

FASB

Financial Accounting Standards Board

Ferryboat

FFA

Federal Funding Allocation

Fixed Guideway

Intercity Bus

Inclined Plane

Jitney

FHWA

Federal Highway Administration

FTA

Federal Transit Administration

Acronyms and Abbreviations — vii

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
FY

Fiscal Year

FYE

Fiscal Year-End

GAAP

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

GASB

Governmental Accounting Standards Board

HIB

High Intensity Busway

IAS-FD

Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data

IAS-FFA

Independent Auditor Statement for Federal Funding Allocation Data

JARC

Job Access/Reverse Commute

LOS

Level of Service

MAP-21

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act

Bus

MPO

Metropolitan Planning Organization

Monthly Ridership

NHS

National Highway System

NTD

National Transit Database

Operating Expense

OMB

Office of Management and Budget

Público

PMT

Passenger Miles Traveled

Purchased Transportation

Bus Rapid Transit

RGPT

Rural General Public Transit

ROW

Right-of-Way

STIC

Small Transit Intensive Cities

STP

Surface Transportation Program

TAM

Transit Asset Management

Trolleybus

TERM

Transit Economic Requirements Model

TNC

Transportation Network Company

viii — Acronyms and Abbreviations

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
TOS

Types of Service

Aerial Tramway

TrAMS

Transit Award Management System

TTP

Tribal Transit Program

U.S.C.

United States Code

UAFP

Urbanized Area Formula Program

UEID

Unique Entity Identifier

ULB

Useful Life Benchmark

UMTA

Urban Mass Transportation Administration

UPT

Unlinked Passenger Trips

URL

Universal Resource Locator

USOA

Uniform System of Accounts

UZA

Urbanized Area

VOMS

Vehicles Operated in Maximum Service

Vanpool

VRH

Vehicle Revenue Hours

VRM

Vehicle Revenue Miles

Acronyms and Abbreviations — ix

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

REPORT YEAR 2022 POLICY CHANGES AND
REPORTING CLARIFICATIONS
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Office of Budget and Policy has produced a
standalone reference document that addresses frequently asked questions and common
reporting issues related to the COVID-19 public health emergency. This document,
Guide: NTD Reporting and COVID-19, is available on the National Transit Database
(NTD) manuals web page. Please consult this guide for reporting instructions on unique
reporting scenarios.

Report Year 2022 Policy Changes and Reporting Clarifications — 1

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

INTRODUCTION
The National Transit Database
An overview of the NTD history, legislative basis, and
purpose
Standardized Reporting Requirements
A summary of uniform reporting requirements, rules,
and regulations
Reporter Types
An overview of reporting types for FTA funding
recipients and beneficiaries
Transit Agency Profile Requirements
An explanation of transit agency identifying
information, modes and types of services, and
reporter users

2 — Introduction

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

The National Transit Database
History
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Urban Mass Transit Act into law,
creating the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA). During the next ten
years, UMTA provided capital assistance to public agencies to replace overage transit
assets and to purchase the assets of failing private transit companies.
In 1974, Congress established the National Transit Database (NTD) program to collect
financial, operating, and asset information on transit agencies. Congress based the NTD
program on the Uniform Financial Accounting and Reporting Elements (FARE), a project
initiated by the transit industry and funded by UMTA. The NTD has become the Nation’s
primary source of information on transit agencies.
Since the early 1980s, Congress has apportioned billions of dollars in funding annually
using data reported to the NTD. In 1991, UMTA was renamed the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA).

Legislative Requirement
Congress requires agencies to report to the NTD if they receive or benefit from Urbanized
Area Formula Grants (§5307) or Formula Grants for Rural Areas (§5311). In addition, all
recipients and subrecipients of Chapter 53 funds that own, operate, or manage public
transportation capital assets are required to develop and implement transit asset
management (TAM) plans. Transit providers are required to set performance targets for
their capital assets based on the state of good repair measures and report their targets,
as well as information related to the condition of their capital assets, to the NTD. FTA
submits annual NTD reports that summarize transit service, asset, and safety data to
Congress for review and use. The legislative requirement for the NTD can be found in
Title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) §5335(a):

Introduction — 3

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Exhibit 1: 49 U.S.C. §5335 National Transit Database
(a) NATIONAL TRANSIT DATABASE — To help meet the needs of individual public
transportation systems, the United States Government, State and local
governments, and the public for information on which to base public transportation
service planning, the Secretary shall maintain a reporting system, using uniform
categories to accumulate public transportation financial, operating, geographic
service area coverage, and asset condition information and using a uniform
system of accounts. The reporting and uniform systems shall contain appropriate
information to help any level of government make a public sector investment
decision. The Secretary may request and receive appropriate information from any
source.
(b) REPORTING AND UNIFORM SYSTEMS — The Secretary may award a grant
under section 5307 or 5311 only if the applicant, and any person that will receive
benefits directly from the grant, are subject to the reporting and uniform systems.
(c) DATA REQUIRED TO BE REPORTED — Each recipient of a grant under this
chapter shall report to the Secretary, for inclusion in the national transit database,
under this section—
(1) any information relating to a transit asset inventory or condition assessment
conducted by the recipient;
(2) any data on assaults on transit workers of the recipients; and
(3) any data on fatalities that result from an impact with a bus.

Continuing Grant Requirements
If a transit provider, local government, State, or Metropolitan Planning Organization
(MPO) receives or benefits from §5307 or §5311 Federal funding, it must report to the
NTD.
Reporting requirements begin the year after a transit agency applies for urban or rural
funding or in the year the transit agency benefits from Federal funding, whichever is
sooner. Transit agencies must report if §5307 or §5311 funding applications remain open.
If a transit agency no longer receives urban or rural funding but previously purchased
capital assets with the Federal funds, the agency must report through the useful life of the
asset. Agencies also must continue reporting if they intend to apply for §5307 or §5311
in the future.

4 — Introduction

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Exhibit 2: Continuing Grant Requirements
Example: A transit agency purchases a vehicle with funds from an Urbanized Area
Formula Program (§5307) grant. The vehicle, a 40-foot bus, has a useful life of 12
years or 500,000 miles.
Solution: The transit agency reports under the NTD throughout the useful life of the
vehicle regardless of whether the transit agency receives Urbanized Area Formula
Program (§5307) grant funds during a particular year of that period.

National Transit Database Data
Through the NTD, FTA collects annual financial, asset, and operating information from
public transportation agencies across the country and requires all transit agencies to
report on an annual basis. In the Annual Report, agencies provide a summary of transit
characteristics, including financial, operating, and asset statistics. Agencies that file as
Full Reporters must also report monthly operating and safety statistics.
For more information on reporting types, please see the “Introduction: Reporter Types”
section of this chapter.

Public Transportation
Legislation establishes the NTD as a source of information on public transportation. The
term “public transportation,” (also referred to as “transit” or “mass transportation”) is
defined by law at 49 U.S.C. §5302(15) as follows:

Introduction — 5

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Exhibit 3: Public Transportation
(A)
means regular, continuing shared-ride surface transportation services that are
open to the general public or open to a segment of the general public defined by age,
disability, or low income; and
(B)
does not include —
(i) intercity passenger rail transportation provided by the entity described in
chapter 2431 (or a successor to such entity)
(ii) intercity bus service
(iii) charter bus service
(iv) school bus service
(v) sightseeing service
(vi) courtesy shuttle service for patrons of one or more specific establishments, or
(vii) intra-terminal or intra-facility shuttle services
0F

Transit agencies report data for all public transportation services they provide, including
complementary Paratransit services required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
of 1990. ADA services must be shared-ride in order to be considered public
transportation.
What Does It Mean to Be “Open to the General Public”
Transit must be open to the public and comply with the provisions of the ADA. The NTD
excludes services that are only open to specific groups of people, except for segments of
the general public defined by age, disability, or low income.
FTA does not consider the following services public transportation:
•

A bus system sponsored by a university that is only open to students, faculty, and
staff of the university and not the general public;

•

A program sponsored by an employer that provides services for only its employees
and not for the general public;

•

An Automated Guideway system in an airport that only provides service to
customers of the airport (e.g., a terminal-to-terminal tram);

Chapter 243 describes the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, operating under the business
name Amtrak.

6 — Introduction

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
•

A charter service. In accordance with FTA Charter Rule, agencies cannot report
any service reported to FTA charter registration website as public transportation;

•

A sightseeing service that an agency provides primarily for the enjoyment of sights
and sounds during the ride or for enjoyment of the ride itself and that may include
narration and round trips without disembarking the vehicle; or

•

Evacuation of people from a disaster area.

Intercity Service
Commuter Rail, Commuter Bus, and ferry services with maximum one-way trip times
exceeding 90 minutes may be intercity service. Before beginning to report such a service
to the NTD, the operator should conduct a survey or produce comparable evidence to
demonstrate that at least 50 percent of passengers make a return trip on the same day
across all service runs for one year. FTA may also request this survey or comparable
evidence from services with characteristics that suggest the intent is not to serve
passengers who make a return trip on the same day.
The service operator does not have to survey every passenger; it may conduct a sample
survey. The survey must meet the following requirements:
1. The agency must conduct the survey over a 12-month period to account for
seasonal variations in passenger behavior.
2. The agency must include the entire length of each route in the survey, including all
times of day and all days of the year.
3. If sampling by passengers, each passenger for the entire year must be given an
equal chance of selection. If sampling by vehicle operations, each vehicle
operation for the entire year must be given an equal chance of selection, weighted
by the anticipated passenger count on each vehicle. If any other strata are used in
the sample design, each stratum must meet FTA's requirements.
4. For the purpose of calculating return trips, a passenger making a single round trip
in a given day cannot be surveyed twice for inclusion in the final calculation. The
calculation establishing whether 50 percent of riders make a same-day round trip
must be calculated as:
Where
a = total unique passengers making same-day return trip
b = total unique passengers making an overnight trip,
the calculation is a  (a + b).

Introduction — 7

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
5. A person may be counted as making a same-day return trip if the person makes
one leg of the trip by another means of transportation.
If the survey determines with at least 95 percent confidence that at least 50 percent of all
passengers on a route made a return trip on the same day (or reported their intention to
do so), then FTA will permit the agency to report that route to the NTD as a commuter
service. A qualified statistician must approve the survey methodology, the sample size,
and the sampling methodology and certify that the results give the required level of
confidence.
Services with 100 percent one-way trip times of 30 minutes or less do not require a survey
to establish the service as commuter.
Agencies intending to report a service that may require a survey should contact their NTD
analyst to discuss how they can meet the requirements in advance of reporting to the
NTD.
Employer Shuttles
Transit agencies must use the following criteria to establish employer shuttle eligibility:
•

The shuttle service must meet the definition of public transportation as defined by
Federal transit law.

•

The transit agency must clearly identify that the shuttle service is open to the public
(e.g., provide timetables or service summaries on the website or another public
location).

•

The transit agency must clearly indicate on its buses or route that the shuttle
service is open to the public.

•

At a minimum, the shuttle service must travel from one origin to one destination
that can be used by the public (e.g., a single destination shuttle that travels to a
locked employer campus or military compound is not feasibly open to the public).

Employer shuttles must meet all other NTD reporting requirements. For example, the
buyer must pay the full cost of the service to report the service as purchased
transportation.

8 — Introduction

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Data Use and Funding
FTA uses NTD data to apportion funding to transit agencies in the United States. FTA
apportions funds using NTD data from two years before the apportionment year (e.g.,
Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 data are used for the FTA FY 2024 apportionment). FTA has
separate funding programs for transit agencies that operate in urbanized and rural areas.
Agencies that operate in both urban and rural areas
may receive or benefit from both funding programs.
Directly
To be eligible to receive funding from FTA, transit
Generated
Federal
17%
29%
agencies must report to the NTD and follow the
requirements listed in this manual.
Local
31%

State
23%

Exhibit 4: Funding Sources
(2020)

Exhibit 4 presents the total funds that transit
agencies have spent during FY 2020 according to
the original source of funds. Most Federal funds, of
which agencies expended more than $22.8 billion
during 2020, come from FTA funding programs for
urbanized and rural areas.

Urbanized Area Funding
Section 5307, or the Urbanized Area Formula Grants, provides capital, operating, and
planning assistance for public transportation operated in urbanized areas (UZAs), which
are areas encompassing a population of not less than 50,00 people as determined by the
most recent decennial census. FTA initiated this program under the Surface
Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, P.L. 97-424. Since 1984, §5307 has been the
primary transit assistance program of FTA.
FTA apportions §5307 funding through a formula based in part on population and
population density. For UZAs with a population over 200,000, FTA also apportions
funding based on other factors associated with transit operations, such as revenue miles,
operating costs, and passenger miles.
For UZAs with a population under 200,000, Congress apportions 3.0 percent of §5307
funds according to the Small Transit Intensive Cities (STIC) formula. Under the STIC
formula, FTA provides funds to the smaller UZAs that have an average level of service
(LOS) equivalent to or greater than the average LOS of larger UZAs with populations
between 200,000 and 1,000,000.
FTA allocates STIC funding based on the following measures calculated primarily NTD
data:

Introduction — 9

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
•

Passenger Miles Traveled (PMT) per Vehicle Revenue Mile (VRM)

•

PMT per Vehicle Revenue Hour (VRH)

•

VRM per capita

•

VRM per capita

•

PMT per capita

•

Passenger Trips per capita

For UZAs with a population over 200,000, FTA also uses NTD data to apportion funds for
the State of Good Repair Grants Program (§5337) and Bus and Bus Facilities Formula
Program (§5339).
If you have questions about FTA funding, please contact the FTA Regional Administrator
assigned to your transit agency. The NTD is the FTA program for transit data; however,
it does not handle the apportionment of Federal funds.

Rural Funding
Section 5311, or the Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program, provides capital, operating,
and planning assistance for public transportation operated in rural areas. FTA classifies
rural areas as areas with populations of less than 50,000 as determined by the most
recent decennial U.S. Census. Agencies must report funds expended from all §5311 grant
programs, including funds from the §5311(b)(3) Rural Transportation Assistance Program
(RTAP).
Section 5311 funding recipients (State Departments of Transportation [DOTs]) report on
behalf of their subrecipients. FTA considers Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands,
American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands as States for rural data
collection and funding. State DOTs also file a Statewide Summary report to the NTD.
Funding by State
FTA apportions §5311 funds to States by a statutory formula based on the latest available
U.S. decennial census data and NTD data. FTA apportions 83.15 percent of funds in the
statutory formula based on the non-urbanized population and land area of the States. The
remaining 16.85 percent of the formula is based on States’ non-urbanized Vehicle
Revenue Miles, land area, and low-income population.

10 — Introduction

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Tribal Transit Program
Five percent of Rural Formula (§5311) funding is available for the Public Transportation
on Indian Reservations program (Tribal Transit Program [TTP]) under the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law. Twenty percent of the TTP funds must be distributed on a competitive
basis, while the remainder must be apportioned by formula.
•

Tier 1 (50 percent of TTP funding) — Vehicle revenue miles (VRM) are used to
allocate this funding among all Indian Tribes.

•

Tier 2 (25 percent of TTP funding) —VRM are used to allocate this funding equally
among Tribes providing at least 200,000 VRM

•

Tier 3 (25 percent of TTP funding) —This funding is allocated to Tribes that provide
public transportation on reservations where more than 1,000 low-income
individuals reside. No Tribe can receive more than $300,000 from this tier.

Failure to Report
The NTD may issue a Failure to Report if an agency:
•

Fails to submit a report

•

Submits a late report

•

Submits an incomplete report

•

Fails to respond to validation questions

If a transit agency receives a Failure to Report notice, FTA does not include its data in
the apportionment of urbanized area and rural funding. However, FTA, at its discretion,
may include any submitted data in publicly available NTD datasets
FTA may issue a Failure to Report notice for an urbanized area transit provider in
connection with the Annual Report, Monthly Ridership, or Safety & Security reporting.
A report is late if the agency has not submitted it by the applicable due date. These due
dates ensure there is time to review the submitted data before they are included in NTD
publications and in the apportionment.
A report is incomplete if:
•

It does not contain all of the required information;

•

The agency did not collect and submit the data in conformance with the NTD
requirements;

Introduction — 11

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
•

The report is not accompanied by the applicable Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Certification and Independent Auditor Statements (see the “Declarations and
Requests: CEO Certifications” and “Declarations and Requests: Auditor
Statements” sections); or

•

The agency does not properly respond to validation questions.

When NTD validation analysts have questions about submitted data during the validation
process, transit agencies may revise data to reflect accurate information. Revisions to
data require the concurrence of the CEO, and, in some cases, the concurrence of the
independent auditor. If an agency does not revise questioned data, then the agency must
provide sufficient documentation to the NTD to establish accuracy.
FTA may issue a Failure to Report notice if an agency fails to respond to validation
questions in a timely manner. For example, an agency may receive a Failure to Report
notice if it does not fully allocate costs among all modes and types of service and does
not provide a sufficient explanation.
When FTA issues a Failure to Report notice, it notifies the CEO of the transit agency and
the FTA Regional Administrator.

Inaccurate Data
Transit agencies are responsible for the data that they report to the NTD. If the data do
not follow FTA prescribed procedures or seem unreasonable or inaccurate—or an agency
cannot provide a reasonable response to explain data—FTA may publish the data with a
“questionable” (Q) notation.
In accordance with 49 CFR 630.2, FTA may enter a zero or adjust any questionable data
item(s) in any reporting entity’s NTD submission that is used in computing the Section
5307 apportionment if the agency does not adequately address validation issues within
the specified time frame, or if the data does not meet the NTD’s reporting requirements.
Agencies may find that they reported inaccurate data in previous years; however,
agencies cannot adjust data after FTA closes the report for the year.

Standardized Reporting Requirements
All agencies must conform to uniform reporting standards. This includes timely reporting,
accurate data collection, and uniform accounting systems. The data in the NTD Annual
Report must cover the agency’s 12-month fiscal year ending in 2022.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Reporting Due Dates
FTA determines each agency’s NTD report due date based on the agency’s fiscal year
end date. Reporters submit their Annual Report four months after the fiscal year expires.
The NTD reporting system allows for reporting waivers for transit agencies that
experience unusual or unforeseen circumstances. See the “Declarations and Requests”
chapter for the types of requests available.
Agencies requesting a reporting ID must submit ID requests to NTD by the end of the first
fiscal year in which they wish to report. For example, an agency whose fiscal year ends
on June 30 must submit an ID request by June 30, 2022, to report to the NTD in 2022.
During the revision period, reporters work with NTD analysts to ensure that the data are
accurate per NTD reporting requirements. The end of the revision period is called the
report “Closeout.”
Exhibit 5: Annual Reporting Deadlines

Fiscal Year
End Date

Waiver,
Special
Request, etc.
Deadline

Annual
Report
Due Date

Last Date
Report
to Submit
Closeout
Report
Date
Revisions

June 30

August 31

October 31

March 1

March 15

September 30

November 30

January 31

May 1

May 15

December 31

February 28

April 30

July 1

July 15

State DOTs may report subrecipient data according to a subrecipient’s fiscal year if the
fiscal year covers a consecutive twelve-month period and ends no later than December
31 of the current NTD report year. In these cases, the subrecipients must be able to meet
State and NTD reporting deadlines.

Exhibit 6: Subrecipient with Different Fiscal Year
Example: A State DOT files its NTD Annual Report with a fiscal year end date of
December 31, 2022. One of its subrecipients collects and reports data to the State
based on its own fiscal year, ending June 30, 2022.
Solution: The State may report subrecipient data according to the subrecipient’s
fiscal year ending in 2022 for its 2022 annual report.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Data Validation
The NTD data validation process ensures that reporting requirements are met and that
the reported data are reasonable. FTA assigns an NTD validation analyst to each agency
to support the validation process and assist transit agency personnel in understanding
reporting requirements and terminology.
Validation includes, but is not limited to:
•

Time series checks against previous years’ data to identify data that have changed
significantly.

•

Logic checks between data items on different forms; and

•

For the first year a data element is available (including for new modes and types
of service): range checks for typical values found among transit agencies with
similar operating characteristics.

NTD validation is an interactive, iterative process with two alternating phases: presubmission and post-submission.
•

Pre-submission (“working data” stage) validation — while reporting agencies
enter data, the online reporting system executes an automated review of data prior
to report submission. The report is ready to be submitted when there are no open
validation issues without explanations from the agency. Since some issue checks
evaluate elements across more than one form, NTD reporters should check for
data issues flagged by validation after all forms are complete.

•

Post-submission (the “in review” stage) validation — once the report is
submitted, it undergoes further review by the assigned Validation Analyst.

Issue Classification
Issues are classified by issue type according to severity and action necessary to submit
the NTD Annual Report:
•

Important issues are raised when data do not fall within expected ranges or do
not appear to conform to NTD definitions. Important issues can be addressed by
revising the relevant data, or by writing a comment explaining why the data are
correct; and

•

Critical issues are raised when data are logically inconsistent and must be
corrected.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
FTA does not view the report as complete until all issues — important and critical — are
addressed.

Financial Data Requirements
All transit agencies must use accrual accounting methods to report financial data.
Additionally, transit accounting systems must follow or directly translate to the Uniform
System of Accounts (USOA).

Accrual Accounting
The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) requires that all financial data in
the NTD Annual Report follow accrual accounting principles:
•

Agencies record revenues when they earn them, regardless of whether they
actually receive the revenue in the same fiscal year; and

•

Agencies record expenditures as soon as they owe an entity, regardless of if they
actually pay the funds for the expenditure in the same fiscal year.

If a transit agency uses a cash-based accounting system, it must adjust its data to report
on an accrual basis.
The following exhibit demonstrates the use of accrual accounting for an operating
expense (OE).
Exhibit 7: Accrual Accounting
Examples

Solutions

Example 1: A transit agency employee
works the last two weeks of the transit
agency’s Year 1 and earns $1,500.
However, the employee does not receive
his pay until 10 days later in Year 2 when
payroll issues a check. How does the
agency report the $1,500?

The agency reports the $1,500 in the
Year 1 Annual Report. Though the
agency did not issue the paycheck during
the Year 1 report year, the transit agency
incurred the liability to pay the employee
in the Year 1 report year.

Example 2: An agency purchases fixed
route service from another agency. The
contract states that the buyer (the
agency) will reimburse the seller for the
cost of operations. The seller operates

The agency reports the expense in Year
1. It incurred the expense as soon as the
seller operated service, regardless of
when the financial transaction occurred.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Examples

Solutions

service in Year 1 and sends an invoice to
the buyer in Year 2. For which year
should the agency report this expense?

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
NTD reporting requirements for financial data largely follow GAAP. FTA USOA is not a
self-contained financial system that addresses every possible NTD transaction and
situation. The NTD is a system of accounts that complies with GAAP and Standards of
Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting. However, small differences do exist
between the NTD and GAAP, specifically the accounting of costs for capital grant
purchases.
If conflicts arise between GAAP and NTD reporting instructions and requirements, transit
agencies must follow the NTD rules. The rules for NTD accounting are as follows:
•

Unique NTD requirements supersede GAAP. If a unique requirement exists for
NTD purposes, follow the NTD.

•

In the absence of unique NTD provisions to the contrary, follow GAAP.

Two organizations are responsible for determining GAAP:
•

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is responsible for general
GAAP affecting all types of entities.

•

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is affiliated with the FASB
and specializes in government agencies in the United States. In the event of a
conflict between the FASB and GASB pronouncements, the GASB rule prevails
for governmental entities.

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Both FASB and GASB pronouncements are available online on the FASB and GASB
websites. Most accounting firms assist their clients in obtaining GAAP documents and
applying GAAP requirements.

CEO Certifications
The CEO and an independent auditor—depending on the reporter type—must review and
confirm that an accounting system complies with NTD requirements. The reporter types
are defined in the “Reporter Types” section below.
Exhibit 8: CEO Certification and Independent Auditor Review Requirements
Reporter Type

CEO or Independent Auditor Approval

Full Reporter

CEO and Independent Auditor

Reduced Reporter

CEO and Independent Auditor (except
Tribes)

Separate Service

CEO and Independent Auditor

Build

N/A

Plan

N/A

State Department of Transportation

N/A

Rural (subrecipient)

N/A

Reduced Asset Reporter

N/A

Group Plan Sponsor Only

N/A

Service Data Requirements
Service data are an integral part of the NTD. Service data are operating statistics that
provide insight into the effectiveness and productivity of a transit agency. All agencies
must report accurate and truthful service data in a uniform manner.
The NTD mandates that almost all service data be collected and recorded daily so that
the data are 100 percent accurate. For example, agencies must collect and record 100
percent of all miles and hours vehicles travel in revenue service. FTA does not allow
agencies to estimate these data.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
However, FTA recognizes that certain statistics are challenging to collect and can
drastically increase the reporting burden for transit agencies. To assist reporters who
would find conducting 100 percent count burdensome, transit agencies who report to the
urban module may estimate Unlinked Passenger Trips (UPT) through sampling. The NTD
program provides a sampling method and sampling guidance on the NTD website.
Agencies also may use a custom sampling plan to collect these data. However, a qualified
statistician must certify that the sampling procedure meets FTA requirements for
statistical precision and accuracy.

General Data Formatting Rules
Data reported must adhere to the following rules:
•

Round all financial data to the nearest dollar.

•

Follow other rounding directions for each form.

•

Unless otherwise indicated, report data as whole numbers.

•

Use four digits for year entries

The NTD incorporates these rules, formatting data automatically when you complete a
cell entry.

Reporting Rules and Regulations
The FTA Uniform System of Accounts (USOA), 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Part 630 (National Transit Database), and 49 CFR Part 625 (Transit Asset Management)
are essential to understanding the forms and instructions presented in this manual.
You can obtain these documents, as well as the other reference documents listed in the
NTD Reference Documents exhibit below, by visiting the NTD website.
You may also call the NTD Help Desk at [email protected] for assistance.

Reporter Types
Beneficiaries and recipients of §5307 and §5311 funds must file an Annual Report. The
database separates these recipients and beneficiaries into respective reporting groups:
urban reporters and rural reporters. Beginning in Report Year (RY) 2018, agencies that
receive Chapter 53 funds and own, operate, or manage capital assets in public
transportation are also required to file an annual report, even if they do not receive §5307

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
or §5311 funds. Agencies that do not receive or benefit from FTA funding may elect to
submit their data to the NTD as Voluntary Reporters.
FTA defines a Federal grant beneficiary as a transit agency that directly or indirectly
benefits from Chapter 53 funds. This includes grant money and grant-funded assets that
agencies receive and use from pass-through funding, contracts, or purchased
transportation (PT) agreements. For more information on contracts, please see the
“Types of Services” section of this chapter.
Beneficiaries that only receive §5307 or §5311 funds for Job Access/Reverse Commute
(JARC) projects, and do not provide any public transportation service, are exempt from
NTD reporting.

Urban Reporters
Urban recipients and beneficiaries report data using urban reporter types. The nature of
the transit agency determines how it reports to the NTD.
Exhibit 9: Urban Reporter Types
Reporter Types

Who Qualifies

Full

• Receives or benefits from §5307 funding.
• Operates either: (1) more than 30 vehicles across all modes
and types of service or (2) operates 30 vehicles or less
across all modes and types of service and operates Fixed
Guideway (FG) and/or High Intensity Busway (HIB).

Reduced

• Receives or benefits from §5307 funding.
• Operates 30 vehicles or less across all modes and types of
service and does not operate FG and/or HIB.

Separate Service

• Receives or benefits from §5307 funding.
• Does not directly operate service.
• Contracts out modes that are reported by another transit
agency.

Build

• Receives or benefits from §5307 funding.
• Does not directly operate or contract out service.
• Building a new mode of service.

Plan

• Receives or benefits from §5307 funding.
• Does not directly operate or contract out service.
• Spends §5307 funding on planning activities.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Full Reporter requirements do not apply until the following fiscal year if a Reduced
Reporter exceeds the 30 Vehicles Operated in Maximum Service (VOMS) threshold
within a fiscal year. Similarly, former Rural Reporters who begin operating in an urbanized
area are required to report that service effective no later than the fiscal year after which
service in the urbanized area begins. Former Rural Reporters exceeding the 30 VOMS
threshold may request a waiver to report as a Reduced Reporter in the first year.
Full Reporters must provide the Annual Report and the Monthly Ridership and monthly
Safety and Security reports. All other reporter types file on an annual basis only. You can
find Monthly Ridership guidance in the “Service Data Requirements: Monthly Ridership
Reporting (MR-20)” section of the 2022 Full Reporting Policy Manual and Safety and
Security reporting requirements in the Safety and Security Policy Manual, both published
annually on FTA's web page for NTD manuals.

Rural Reporters
Section 5311 Formula Grants for Rural Areas recipients (State DOTs) report on behalf of
their subrecipients. In addition to providing individual reports for each subrecipient, State
DOTs file a Statewide Summary Report to the NTD. FTA considers Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands as States for
NTD rural data collection and funding.
A subrecipient is a State or local government authority, nonprofit organization, or operator
of transportation or intercity bus service that receives §5311 funding or are public
providers of Chapter 53 funding received from a State DOT. Subrecipients send NTD
data to State DOTs on a quarterly, monthly, or annual basis, depending on the State’s
policy.
Tribes that receive or benefit from FTA Tribal Transit Program grants, a subsection of
§5311 funding, report directly to the NTD. Tribes that receive §5311 funding from the
State DOT also file a subrecipient summary form through the State DOT report.

Statewide Reporting Requirements for Departments of Transportation
State DOTs receiving §5311 funds may set aside up to 10 percent of their annual
allocation for the purposes of administering the program. FTA collects basic statewide
information on the Statewide Characteristics (RU-30) form.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
§5311 Revenues Expended on Administration
States report the §5311 revenues they expended during the fiscal year as a result of
administering the program. Since the §5311 program operates on a reimbursement basis,
revenues expended during the report year will be expended during the same year. Report
the operating revenue expended during the report year from FTA §5311 Formula Grants
for Rural Areas funds.
Number of Counties with §5311 Service
States report the total number of counties in the state that are currently served, in whole
or in part, by Formula Grants for Rural Areas (§5311)-funded operators. States are to
include counties that are served by directly reporting Indian Tribes in this total. A county
is served if the subrecipient picks up or drops off passengers within its limits.

State Department of Transportation Reporting Structure
State DOTs submit data on the public transit operations of subrecipients to whom they
award Federal program funds. There are four distinct subrecipient (see below). State
DOTs provide only a summary form for each urban transit provider or tribe receiving
§5311 funds from the State, given that these agencies already report directly to the NTD.
Exhibit 10: State DOT and Subrecipient Reporter Types
Reporter Types

State Department
of Transportation

Subrecipient

Who Qualifies

N/A

A State DOT that directly receives
and distributes rural funding to rural
subrecipients. It is responsible for all
subrecipient data. State DOTs may
elect to file subrecipient reports on
behalf of the subrecipient or assign
the task to individual rural transit
providers.

Rural General Public
Transit
State Subrecipient Intercity Bus
Urban/Tribal Recipient
Reduced Asset

Operators of transportation that either
receive or benefit from §5311 funding
or are public operators of Chapter 53
funding received from the State DOT.
Each subrecipient files an Annual
Report under its applicable DOT.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Rural General Public Transit
Most §5311 subrecipients are Rural General Public Transit (RGPT) providers. They
provide rural service and either receive or benefit from §5311 funding or report voluntarily.

Intercity Bus
Under §5311(f), States must set aside 15 percent of §5311 apportionment for intercity
bus providers, unless the State’s Governor certifies that intercity bus needs are already
being met. States must provide an NTD report for each intercity bus provider that benefits
from this funding set-aside, also referred to as §5311(f) funding.
The NTD report must include the operating and capital expenses from §5311(f) funding,
as well as VRM and UPT for service funded, in whole or in part, by §5311(f). For example,
if a route is partially funded by §5311(f), the State must report the total VRM and UPT for
that route. Note that FTA does not include the VRM for the Intercity Bus subrecipient type
in its §5311 apportionment formula.

Urban/Tribal Subrecipients
Transit agencies commonly provide service in a rural area as well as an UZA or Tribal
Area as defined by the Census Bureau. In these situations, a transit provider may receive
or benefit from multiple FTA formula programs. The exhibit below shows how a transit
agency reports to the NTD when it uses both §5307 Urbanized Area Formula Grants and
§5311 Formula Grants for Rural Areas:

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Exhibit 11: Urban and Rural Recipients

Similarly, if an Indian Tribe is both a direct recipient of §5311 TTP funds as well as §5311
funds through the State, the tribe must complete both the direct report to the NTD as well
as an abbreviated summary to the State.
In both cases, the State submits the Urban/Tribal Subrecipient report to document all
expenditures from §5311 for independently reporting subrecipients.

Reduced Asset
Please see Exhibit 12 for more information on reduced asset reporter qualifications.

Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages
Federally recognized Indians Tribes may receive TTP grants from FTA as a set-aside of
the §5311 program. Tribes that receive TTP funding must report directly to the NTD as
Reduced Reporters.
FTA also encourages federally recognized Tribes that operate public transportation but
do not participate in the TTP to file a report to the NTD on a voluntary basis. By reporting
voluntarily, Indian Tribes qualify for inclusion in future TTP apportionments.
Note that transit agencies may report Indian Health Services (IHS) transportation
programs only if the service provided meets the definition of public transportation.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Self-Reporting Subrecipients
A State DOT may authorize an individual subrecipient to enter its data into the NTD online
reporting system as a “self-reporting subrecipient”; however, State DOTs are ultimately
responsible for submitting and ensuring the accuracy of the completed State report. Selfreporting subrecipients do not report as independent agencies—a State DOT must
include all subrecipients in its report.

Transit Asset Management Reporters
The TAM rule (49 CFR Part 625) is a set of Federal regulations that outline minimum
asset management practices for transit providers. Transit agencies that receive Chapter
53 funds and own capital assets that are used for public transportation services are
required to report asset information to the NTD, even if the agency does not manage or
operate those assets.
Some agencies affected by the rule are only required to report TAM-related data to the
NTD. Because the rule does not mandate reporting information about service area, FTA
has established two unique reporter types for agencies outside of the Urban and Rural
reporter types.
Agencies that only receive §5310(b)(1)(D) funding for alternatives to public transportation
that assist seniors and persons with disabilities with transportation are exempt from the
requirements of the TAM rule because assets funded under the program are not used to
provide public transportation. These services are typically client-based or locationspecific and do not meet the definition of public transportation.
The following reporter types must provide identification information and applicable asset
condition assessment and performance data to the NTD.
Exhibit 12: TAM-Only Reporter Types
Reporter Types

Who Qualifies

Reduced Asset

• Receives or benefits from FTA funding (Chapter 53)
other than §5307 or §5311 funding (e.g., §5310), and
• Owns, manages, or operates capital assets used in
providing public transportation services.

Group Plan
Sponsor

• Sponsors a TAM Group Plan.
• Receives or benefits from FTA funding (Chapter 53)
other than §5311 Formula Grants for Rural Areas funds.

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Voluntary Reporters
FTA encourages all providers of public transit service to report to the NTD, as this allows
for service data inclusion in future funding apportionments. Voluntary Reporters are
transit agencies, public or private, that are not obligated by Federal statute to report to
the NTD. These reporters voluntarily comply with all NTD reporting requirements under
the NTD rule (49 CFR Part 630) and the USOA. Agencies that report voluntarily to the
NTD are not subject to reporting requirements related to performance measure targets
and condition assessments for facilities (49 CFR Part 625).
Please note that FTA may deactivate any Voluntary Reporter that does not file a report
by the annual reporting deadline.

Transit Agency Profile Requirements
All transit agencies must report basic information through their agency profile. Profile data
includes Agency Information, Modes and Types of Service, Agency Users, and
Reportable Segments (not applicable for reduced reporters). These data are pre-filled
from the prior report year but must be reviewed and updated at the beginning of each
report year before the original submission of the annual report. Profile data are modified
throughout the report year if updates are required.

Basic Information (Form P-10)
National Transit Database Identification Number (NTD ID)
FTA assigns each reporter a unique five-digit NTD ID number, which is to be used in all
NTD reports and correspondence. The first digit of the NTD ID corresponds to the FTA
Region where the reporter is located (e.g., 9#### indicates Region IX). If you do not have
an NTD ID, please refer to the “Reporting Due Dates” section above.

Reporter Name
The agency name is the full legal name of the agency. If reporting is required under an
FTA grant program, this must reflect the legal name of the funding recipient.

Doing Business As
An agency is said to be "doing business as" when the name under which they operate
their business differs from its legal, registered name. For example, the legal name for an
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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
agency may be Anytown Transportation Authority, but the agency does business and is
known to the public as The Ride. The Doing Business As name may be used in selected
FTA publications.

Acronym
The agency’s acronym may be used for marketing the transit service. This acronym may
be used in selected FTA publications.

Address
The agency's mailing address. Agencies must either indicate a physical address on line
1, or a P.O. Box address in the P.O. Box field. Agencies may import data from SAM.gov
if FTA recognizes the Organization in that system using the Unique Entity Identifier
(UEID). Consistent with the guidance above, review all such data before submitting to the
NTD.

Unique Entity Identifier
The UEID is a number or other identifier used to identify a specific commercial,
nonprofit, or Government entity. This is now reported in place of a DUNS number for
each unique transit agency reporting to the NTD. See the U.S. General Services
Administration UEID web page for more information.

Federal Transit Administration Recipient Identification Number
The FTA Recipient ID number is the is the four-digit number assigned to your agency for
the FTA’s Transit Award Management System (TrAMS). If you have a question regarding
this number, please contact your agency's grant manager or CEO. Not all NTD reporting
agencies will have a Recipient ID number. Agencies that do not directly receive FTA funds
themselves but do receive them from another organization must report that organization’s
FTA Recipient ID. The FTA Recipient ID is not the same as your NTD ID.

Website URL
A Universal Resource Locator (URL) is the address of the agency's website. Please
include http:// or https://. Agencies without a website should leave this field blank. If it
exists, agencies must enter the URL for the transit website, not the city or county
government home page or the agency’s social media page.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Modes and Types of Service (Form P-20)
FTA requires agencies to report most data by Mode and Type of Service (TOS). Transit
agencies must begin reporting modal information as soon as they have a commitment to
build the mode (e.g., commitment date).
A variety of transit modes are operated in the United States. The NTD reporting system
groups transit modes into two broad categories: rail and non-rail:
Exhibit 13: Rail and Non-Rail Modes
Rail

Non-Rail

Alaska Railroad (AR)

Aerial Tramway (TR)

Cable Car (CC)

Commuter Bus (CB)

Commuter Rail (CR)

Bus (MB)

Heavy Rail (HR)

Bus Rapid Transit (RB)

Hybrid Rail (YR)

Demand Response (DR)

Inclined Plane (IP)

Ferryboat (FB)

Light Rail (LR)

Jitney (JT)

Monorail/Automated Guideway (MG)

Público (PB)

Streetcar Rail (SR)

Trolleybus (TB)
Vanpool (VP)

Please note that if an agency operates over fixed guideway, which includes all rail modes,
it must report to NTD as a Full Reporter.
The following table provides details on all NTD modes of transit operated by reduced
reporters.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
NTD Modes of Service for Reduced Reporters
Mode

Explanation

Aerial Tramway (TR)

Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: Yes
Aerial Tramway is a system of aerial cables with
suspended vehicles. The vehicles are propelled by
separate cables attached to the vehicle suspension
system and powered by engines or motors at a central
location not on board the vehicle.

Bus (MB)

Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: Possible
A transit mode using rubber-tired passenger vehicles
operating on fixed routes and schedules over roadways.
Vehicles are powered by a motor and fuel or electricity
stored on board the vehicle. Transit agencies must report
any route-deviated or point-deviated service as MB.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Mode

Explanation
Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: Yes
Bus Rapid Transit is a fixed-route bus system that

Bus Rapid Transit (RB)

Commuter Bus (CB)

• Operates over 50 percent of its route in a separated
right-of-way (ROW) dedicated for transit use during
peak periods;
• Has defined stations that are accessible for persons
with disabilities, offer shelter from the weather, and
provide information on schedules and routes;
• Uses active signal priority in separated guideway and
either queue-jump lanes or active signal priority in
non-separated guideway;
• Offers short headway,2 bidirectional service for at
least a 14-hour span on weekdays and a 10-hour
span on weekends; and
• Applies a separate and consistent brand identity to
stations and vehicles.
Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: Possible
Commuter Bus is local,3 fixed-route bus transportation
that primarily connects outlying areas with a central city
and operates predominantly in one direction during peak
periods. It has limited stops in outlying areas, limited stops
in the central city, and at least five miles of closed-door
service.

Short-headway service on weekdays consists of maximum headways that are either
1. 15 minutes or less throughout the day, or
2. 10 minutes or less during peak periods and 20 minutes or less at all other times.
Short-headway service on weekends consists of maximum headways that are 30 minutes or less for at
least 10 hours a day.
3
Local transportation means that 50 percent or more of the passengers boarding at each key bus stop or
rail station over the full route must make a same-day return trip; otherwise, the service is intercity service.
A key stop/station is at the end of a line or a major transfer point or otherwise accounts for a substantial
portion of the boardings.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Mode

Explanation
Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: No

Demand Response (DR)
Demand response is a transit mode operating on
roadways in response to requests from passengers or
their agents to the transit operator, who groups rides
together when possible and dispatches a vehicle to
provide the rides. Vehicles do not operate over a fixed
route or on a fixed schedule unless temporarily satisfying
a special transit need. Many transit systems operate DR
service to meet the requirements of the ADA.
Ferryboat (FB)
Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: Yes
This mode carries passengers over a body of water.

Jitney (JT)
Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: No
Jitney is a unique form of bus service on fixed routes
where multiple companies share the operation of the
service.

Público (PB)

Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: No
Públicos are comprised of passenger vans or small buses
operating with fixed routes but no fixed schedules in
Puerto Rico. PBs are a privately owned and operated
public transit service.

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2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Mode

Explanation

Trolleybus (TB)

Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: Yes
Trolleybus is a fixed-route service that uses manually
steered, rubber-tired passenger vehicles powered by
electric current from overhead wires using trolley poles.
Rubber-tired replica trolleys or historic trolleys powered
by an onboard motor are not included in this mode.
Rail: No
Fixed Guideway: No
Vanpool operates as a ride sharing arrangement,
providing transportation to a pre-arranged group of
individuals. To be considered public transportation,
Vanpool programs must

Vanpool (VP)

• Use vehicles with a minimum seating capacity of
seven people, including the driver;
• Use vehicles for which 80 percent of the yearly
mileage come from commuting;
• Be open to the public (any vans that are restricted by
rule to particular employers are not public
transportation);
• Be actively engaged in advertising the Vanpool
service to the public and in matching interested
members of the public to vans with available seats;
and
• Be publicly sponsored.4
Transit agencies adding Vanpool service to their NTD
report must complete and submit to FTA a questionnaire.
You can find the questionnaire in Appendix D.

Publicly sponsored service is
• Directly operated by a public entity;

Footnote continued on next page.

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Bus and Commuter Bus Services
Some transit agencies operate both MB and CB services. Data for these two modes
should be reported separately if the services meet the following two guidelines:
•

There is limited mixing of vehicles. When vehicles are shared, they are used
primarily to respond to vehicle breakdowns.

•

Driver work assignments (runs) are created separately for each bus mode.
There is no “mixing” of work assignments: a driver will not operate an MB service
part of a work day and a CB service during the remaining part of the day.

Types of Service
Agencies report four types of service to the NTD:
•
•
•
•

Directly Operated (DO)
Purchased Transportation – General (PT)
Purchased Transportation – Taxi (TX)
Purchased Transportation – Transportation Network Company (TN)

Directly Operated Services
Transit agencies report service as DO if they use their own employees to operate the
transit vehicles. Agencies that directly operate service typically employ drivers,
schedulers, dispatchers, and street supervisors.
Purchased Transportation Types of Service
FTA defines purchased transportation types of service as service that is provided to a
public transit agency or governmental unit by a public or private transportation provider
based on a written contract. Transit agencies report service as purchased transportation
when they do not directly operate the service. In these cases, the contractor operates the
transit vehicles and provides the transit service.

•
•
•

Operated by a public entity via a contract for purchased transportation service with a private
provider;
Operated by a private entity as a grant recipient or subrecipient from a public entity; or
Operated by an independent private entity with approval from a public entity that certifies that the
Vanpool program is helping meet the overall transportation needs of the local urbanized area.

Photo credit: Errant Knight [CC BY-SA 4.0 (from Wikimedia Commons)]

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The buyer is a transit agency that pays another entity to perform transit service. The seller
(provider) provides transit service on behalf of the agency and may be a public or private
entity. Either the buyer or seller of service may provide vehicles and/or maintenance
facilities. Sellers of purchased transportation service typically do not report to the NTD.
The buyer only reports the data for the services under its contract; it does not report data
for services the seller provides outside the contract.
The following criteria must be met for a relationship to meet the definition of purchased
transportation:
•

A written agreement exists that obligates the seller to provide the operations for a
specific monetary consideration.

•

A written agreement exists that specifies a contractual relationship for a certain
time period and service.

•

A written agreement exists that obligates the seller to provide to the buyer the
operating statistics required by the NTD Annual Report.

•

Authorized representatives of both the buyer and seller sign the written agreement;

•

The buyer pays the seller the full costs of operating the service. The seller does
not receive any public funding for operating the service except from the buyer. The
transit agency purchasing the service (the buyer) must report fully allocated costs
and service, assets, and resource data the NTD requires.

•

The purchased service is branded under the transit agency buying the service.
Users of the service must recognize that the buyer of the service is actively
managing and funding the service and that the seller (purchased transportation
provider) operates the service on behalf of the buyer.

Please see the “Basic Agency Information Requirements: Contractual Relationship Data
Requirements (Form B-30)” section of this manual for information regarding contract
criteria.
There are three types of purchased transportation services:
•

Purchased Transportation – TX

•

Purchased Transportation –TN

•

Purchased Transportation – PT

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Purchased Transportation – Taxi
Purchased Transportation – TX is a special TOS operated through taxicab providers with
a system in place to facilitate ride sharing. TX services do not use dedicated vehicles.
Voucher Programs are not considered public transportation.
In most cases, when transit agencies contract with taxi companies, the vehicles provide
transit trips interspersed with private taxi trips. This is the service model that agencies
report as TX TOS. However, occasionally transit agencies contract with taxi companies
to provide DR services using a service model in which the taxi vehicles only provide transit
trips during the time they are contracted to the transit agency. In this case, the transit
agency reports the service as Purchased Transportation – PT TOS.
Purchased Transportation – Transportation Network Company
Purchased Transportation – TN is a TOS provided by a transportation network company
on behalf of a public transportation agency using nondedicated vehicles. The service is
dispatched by the transportation network company using a mobile application. See
Appendix E for more details on reporting eligibility for this type of partnership.
Purchased Transportation– General
Purchased Transportation – PT is a purchased transportation service that is provided to
a public transit agency or governmental unit by a public or private transportation provider
and does not meet the definitions of either Purchased Transportation – TX or Purchased
Transportation – TN. PT services include all purchased transportation services using
dedicated vehicles including those operated by taxi providers. PT services also include
purchased transportation services operated by providers who are not taxi providers or
transportation network companies and use non-dedicated vehicles.
Full Cost of Service
To report purchased transportation types of service, the buyer must pay the costs to
provide transit service that the fares do not cover. The full cost includes all expenses
associated with providing the service, such as operations, maintenance, and
administrative expenses. If the buyer of the service pays for all costs required to run the
service, the service is reported as purchased transportation.
However, if the buyer only provides a portion of the costs and the seller receives public
funding for operating the service from another public transit entity besides the buyer, the
seller (operator) must report the service rather than the buyer. FTA defines this
contribution as a "subsidy" for reporting purposes. An example of a subsidy is a fixed
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annual contribution made by an Indian tribe to a local transit provider in order to extend
service into the Tribal Statistical Area.
Memorandums of Agreement and Memorandums of Understanding
Transit agencies may only report service established by Memorandums of Agreement or
Memorandums of Understanding as purchased transportation, as long as the agreement
meets FTA’s definition of a contractual relationship.

Committing, Starting, and Ending a Mode
Agencies must report the Commitment Date on which the transit agency began applying
funds. This indicates when the agency committed to the construction of and provision of
service. Agencies must report the Start Date for each mode they operate. The mode’s
start date is the first day the agency operates revenue service for the mode.
Agencies must report the End Date for each mode that has ceased operations during the
fiscal year. The End Date is the last day on which the mode operated in revenue service.

Reporter Users (Form P-30)
FTA requires each agency reporting to the NTD to identify a User Manager. A user
manager is a person designated to certify and manage accounts and roles for all users
with access to the NTD online reporting system. Agencies must keep User Manager
designations current, submitting a request to FTA on agency letterhead whenever there
is a change.
The User Manager designation template can be found on the NTD User Manager
Designation web page.
More User Management reporting guidance can be found in the FTA Access Control and
Entry System (FACES) User Guide on the FTA website.

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BASIC AGENCY INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS
Identification (Form B-10)
An overview of the various organization types that
report to the NTD and definitions of urbanized and
rural areas, as well as service area
Contractual Relationship Data Requirements (Form B-30)
Requirements that apply to transit agencies who
purchase service or provide service on behalf of
another agency

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Identification (Form B-10)
Organization Types
All transit agencies must provide their organization type. The following organization types
are the most commonly used in NTD reporting:
•

Independent public agency or authority for transit service

•

Unit or department of city, county, or local government

•

Unit or department of State government

•

Area agency on aging

•

Planning agency

•

Indian tribe

•

Subsidiary Unit of a Transit Agency, Reporting Separately

•

University

•

Area Agency on Aging

•

Other Publicly Owned or Publicly Chartered Corporation

•

Private For-Profit Corporation

•

Private Non-Profit Corporation

•

Private Provider Reporting on Behalf of a Public Entity

•

Other

Independent Public Agency or Authority for Transit Service
Independent public agencies are separate entities established by statute as independent
units of government. Generally, the laws creating these entities are passed by State
legislatures. These entities are statutorily distinct from local and State governments and
are granted the authority to impose taxes or tolls for transit use.

Unit or Department of City, County, or Local Government
Transit agencies should report as the city, county, or local government if they are legal
entities with the authority to operate transit service. These transit agencies should report
all public transit data on behalf of the city, county, or local government.

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Unit or Department of State Government
Transit agencies should report as a unit or department of State government if they are a
part of the State government and have one or more State employees.

Area Agency on Aging
Areas Agencies on Aging are organizations established under the Older Americans Act
in 1973 to respond to the needs of Americans 60 and over.

Planning Agency
Planning agencies primarily address short and long-range transportation needs through
a cooperative process among local jurisdictions.

Indian Tribe
The Bureau of Indian Affairs defines an Indian tribe as “an American Indian or Alaska
Native tribal entity that has a government-to-government relationship with the U.S. with
the responsibilities, powers, limitations, and obligations attached to that designation.”
Indian tribes are eligible for funding from the U.S. government, including FTA transit
programs.

Subsidiary Unit of a Transit Agency, Reporting Separately
This is a transit authority that has separate operating districts for different areas. Each
operating district has its own NTD ID. If there is only one subsidiary unit for transit, report
as an independent public agency or authority for transit service.

University
These are university and college systems of both private and public institutions providing
public transportation.

Other Publicly Owned or Publicly Chartered Corporation
These are quasi-public agencies that do not fit any of the above categories, such as a
business improvement district that also provides transit service.

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Private For-Profit Corporation
These reporters operate independently for profit.

Private Non-Profit Corporation
These reporters do not operate for profit.

Private Provider Reporting on Behalf of a Public Entity
In rare cases, FTA allows the private seller of service to report to the NTD, rather than
the public buyer.

Other
If none of the choices fits your agency, report Other. The online Reporting System will
display a box for you to describe your organization’s structure.

Demographic Data
Transit agencies’ demographic information describes the area and population where they
operate service. Transit agencies provide varying levels of detail about their service area
based on their reporting type.
The NTD reporting system uses two definitions of transit area:
•

Urbanized and rural areas

•

Service area

Urbanized and Rural Areas
The U.S. Census Bureau defines Urbanized Areas (UZAs) based on incorporated places
(e.g., cities, towns, villages) and their adjacent areas. The U.S. Census Bureau considers
a densely populated area of 50,000 people or more to be a UZA. In addition, at least
35,000 people must be permanent residents who do not live on a military installation.
UZAs do not conform to congressional districts, city or county lines, or any other political
boundaries. For detailed information on how the Census Bureau defines and identifies
UZAs, please consult its Geography Program website.
FTA bases UZA designations on the most current census. The NTD reporting system
assigns a unique number to each UZA in the United States. For urbanized areas in the

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50 States and the District of Columbia, FTA provides a numerical ranking by population
size. FTA also designates the U.S. Virgin Islands and certain areas in Puerto Rico as
urbanized areas. FTA treats the U.S. Virgin Islands as a UZA for purposes of transit
grants, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5307(l).
Exhibit 14 shows how FTA categorizes UZAs. A large UZA has a population of 200,000
or more. A small UZA has a population of fewer than 200,000.
The NTD refers to non-urbanized areas as rural areas or non-UZAs.
All reporters indicate where they provide
transit services by UZA and non-UZA.
Tribal reporters must report the American
Indian Areas or Alaska Native Areas
where they operate public transit, as
recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau.

UZA Designation

Population Size

Small UZA

< 200,000

Large UZA

≥ 200,000

Exhibit 14: Urbanized Areas

Service Area
Service area is a measure of transit service in terms of population served and area
coverage (square miles). Any area served by any mode reported by the agency is part of
the service area. Note that Rural Reporters do not report these data.
For bus modes subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complementary
service requirements, agencies use ADA definitions and requirements to determine
service area boundaries and population:
•

Bus service area is defined as three-fourths of a mile on each side of a fixed route.

Transit agencies should report service area and population using locally defined criteria
regarding ADA complementary service when those criteria exceed the service area
definitions just described.
For Demand Response, transit agencies report the entire area that the mode serves.
For modes not covered by ADA complementary service requirements, including Ferryboat
and Vanpool (VP), transit agencies determine service area and population using locally
defined criteria. Commuter Bus should report a service area that reflects the catchment
area of the service.
Transit agencies use the most current figures or official estimates of population. An area's
Metropolitan Planning Organization typically estimates population every five to seven

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years. Population and area (in square miles) statistics for an urbanized area almost
always differ from a transit agency’s service area.

Contractual Relationship Data Requirements (Form B-30)
Agencies often purchase service from another entity or provide service on behalf of
another agency. If a contract exists to provide transit service, transit agencies must report
additional data about the contract. This form is not required for Rural General Public
Transit subrecipient types.
These agencies must report data, including:
•

Contractor and relationship type
o

•

Who is the buyer, who is the seller, and who is reporting the financial and
service data, etc.

Monetary nature of the contract
o

Competitively bid contract (at the time of the original agreement) or fixed-rate
cost.

Who provides vehicles or facilities.
▪

•

Contract service data
o

•

If the buyer performs all vehicle maintenance, the reporter should not
check that “Buyer Provides Maintenance Facility to Seller.”

Vehicles Operated in Maximum Service (VOMS) per the contract and the
number of months the provider operates service during the report year.

Financial terms of the contract
o

Terms for non-Vanpool modes, typically includes: Purchased Transportation
Fare Revenue, Capital Leasing Expenses, Direct Payment, Contract Cost,
and Other Costs Incurred by the Buyer (as they relate to Operating Expenses
[OE] and Reconciling Items).

Terms for Vanpool modes, typically includes: Passenger Fees, Passenger
Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Agency Subsidy, Capital Leasing Expenses, and
Other Costs Incurred by the Buyer (as they relate to OE and reconciling
items).

The key financial terms of the contract are described in the following paragraphs.

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Competitively Bid vs. Negotiated Agreements
Transit agencies must indicate if a service is either competitively bid or negotiated.
Competitive contracts include:
•

Sealed bids

•

Requests for Proposals

•

Two-step procurement

Agencies must report a contract as competitively bid if the contract was competitively
procured and later negotiated during subsequent option years.
Negotiated agreements do not meet the FTA definition of full and open competition.
Agencies must carefully describe the nature of the contract.
Typically, agencies that contract with other public agencies enter into negotiated
agreements, whereas agencies that contract with private companies enter into a
competitively bid contracts.
For more information on Federal requirements for procurements, please see FTA Circular
4220.1F, Third Party Contracting Guidance, Chapter VI, Part 3, “Methods of
Procurement.”

Purchased Transportation Fare Revenues
For each contractual relationship, report the total fare revenues associated with the
contract being reported.
If the service provider retains all fare revenues as part of the contractual payment, report
Fares Retained by Seller. If the seller delivers all fare revenues to the buyer, report Fares
Retained by Buyer. If the seller retains some fares and the buyer retains the rest, report
Fares Retained by Buyer, and report Direct Payment as the sum of:
1. the actual payment to the seller by the buyer, and
2. the fares retrained by the seller.

Reporting Contract Data for Vanpools
For contracts involving VP, the reporter reports Passenger Fees and Passenger Out-ofPocket Expenses instead of Purchased Transportation Fare Revenues.

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Passenger Fees
Passenger Fees include the payments from all passengers, including the drivers, to the
VP provider. This also includes any fees collected from the passengers’ employers to
provide the VP service.

Passenger Out-of-Pocket Expenses
These expenses include all costs paid for by the passengers directly, such as fuel, tolls,
and maintenance.

Agency Subsidy
Agency subsidy is the payment by the transit agency to the van leasing agency. This often
takes the form of a per-van per-month subsidy.

Capital Leasing Expenses
Capital leasing expenses are the expenses that the seller charges the buyer for the use
of its capital assets, whether they are owned or leased by the seller.
For example, if the seller uses its vehicles to provide service, it typically charges the buyer
to cover depreciation. The buyer reports this as a capital leasing cost. Agencies that incur
capital leasing costs must report this data, even if these costs are not itemized on
invoices.
For VP programs, the VP fare includes the capital leasing costs.
For more information on VP requirements, please see the “Reporting Contract Data for
Vanpools” section of this chapter.

Direct Payment
Direct payment is the amount the buyer pays directly to the seller during the reporting
period. If the seller retains some or all fare revenues, report as described in “Financial
Data Requirements: Funding Sources (Form RR-20)” section of this manual.

Contract Cost
Contract cost is the sum of the revenues received by the seller. The contract specifies the
terms of payment which may include: (1) payments made by the buyer directly to the
seller; and (2) fare revenues retained by seller if the seller retained these revenues. The
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contract cost is the inflow of revenues received by the seller in exchange for the transit
services provided.

Other Costs Incurred by the Buyer
The buyer also incurs costs that vary depending on the terms of the contract. All contracts
require some oversight by the buyer to ensure that the terms of the contract are being
met and to support payments to the seller. Examples of these costs incurred by the buyer
include labor and office space costs for employees providing contractual oversight. See
the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA) 6.5, “Other Costs Incurred by the Buyer,” for
additional information.
Some of the costs incurred by the agency may be joint costs and not attributable to any
mode and type of service, such as planning, scheduling, and marketing. The buyer,
therefore, must allocate these costs across relevant modes and type of service. For more
guidance on allocating such costs, please see USOA Appendix A, “Cost Allocation
Handbook.”
When reporting to the NTD, transit agencies will divide Other Costs Incurred by the Buyer
into two categories: Other Operating Expenses Incurred by the Buyer, and Other
Reconciling Item Expenses Incurred by the Buyer.

Other Operating Expenses Incurred by the Buyer
Most of the Other Costs Incurred by the Buyer will fall into this category. This includes
expenses such as salaries and utility costs that agencies will report as Operating
Expenses.

Other Reconciling Item Expenses Incurred by the Buyer
Agencies must report costs that are classified as Reconciling Items (e.g., leasing costs or
interest costs) in this category. Typically, these costs reflect leasing or depreciation
expenses for the buyer’s capital. The costs also may include interest expenses.

Subsidy Contract Type
Indian Tribes reporting to the NTD may contribute a fixed annual contribution to a local
transit provider in order to extend service into the Tribal Statistical Area. As this type of
agreement does not meet the reporting requirements for Purchased Transportation, the
NTD defines this contribution as a "subsidy" contract type for reporting purposes on the
B-30 form. FTA uses these data in the §5311 Tribal Transit Program funding formula.
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Key Relationships Between Forms
The following exhibit summarizes how data on the B-30 form relates to data on the RR20 form.
Exhibit 15: Relationship of B-30 Data to Other Forms
Data

B-30

RR-20

When there is one B-30
form for a mode/type of
service, these data must
be equal:

Vehicles Operated in Annual
Maximum Service Under
Contract for one mode

VOMS for same mode

These data must be
equal:

Sum of Purchased
Transportation Fare Revenue
(5111) across all B-30 forms
for one mode

Sum of Total
Passenger Fares
(4110) for same mode

These data must be
equal:

Sum of Contractor Operating
Expenses across all B-30
forms for one mode

Purchased
Transportation Funds
Expended on
Operations for Same
Mode

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FINANCIAL DATA REQUIREMENTS
What to Report
An overview of revenues, expenses, and the true cost
of operations
How to Record and Report Financial Accounts
A summary of financial requirements, including the
Uniform Systems of Accounts (USOA)
Funding Sources (Form RR-20)
An explanation of different funding sources, including
directly generated, local, State, and Federal funds

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What to Report
Transit agencies must report
financial information on an
annual basis using accrual
accounting and the NTD
Uniform System of Accounts
(USOA).
FTA defines revenues as the
total amount of money earned
during a transit agency’s fiscal
year. Full Reporters must report
data for total revenues earned
during the fiscal year. Reduced
and Rural Reporting transit
Exhibit 16: Expense Types
agencies only report operating
and capital expenditures incurred in the fiscal year, by source of revenue.
There are two major expense categories: operating and capital. Operating expenses are
expenses that a transit agency incurs during day-to-day operations. Capital expenses are
the expenses that are related to purchasing a capital asset or making an improvement to
a capital asset that materially increases its value or useful life. Capital expenses include
the acquisition cost of a capital asset, including the cost of delivery, installation, and any
modifications to the asset(s). FTA defines capital as an asset having a useful life of more
than one year. See USOA 3.0, “Capital Expenses,” for additional information on capital
expenses.
Federal grant requirements allow a transit agency to determine its capitalization threshold
provided the per unit cost is $5,000 or less. For example, if a transit agency sets its
capitalization level at $2,000, it must report a computer equipment purchase of $1,500 as
an operating expense on the NTD Annual Report. For more information, please see the
Office of Management and Budget Uniform Grant Guidance web page.
Typically, transit agencies receive Federal, State, and local funding. When agencies apply
for these funds, the applicable government entity approves the application and makes a
funding commitment for a total amount of funding. There can be a difference between the
amount of funds that the Federal, State, or local government commits, and the amount of
funding that a transit agency uses to fund operating and capital expenses during the fiscal
year. Transit agencies must report the amount of funds used to cover operating and
capital expenses during the year as revenues earned.

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This revenue reporting principle applies to the typical case in which a transit agency
“earns” its funding from another government entity based on costs incurred. If the transit
agency receives funding with no requirement to make specific expenditures, then the
transit agency must report the total funding provided as revenues earned.
Exhibit 17: How to Report Grant Funds
Example: A State awards a transit agency a grant of $1,000,000. The transit agency
must incur eligible expenses as defined in the grant to receive the funding. The transit
agency uses $200,000 of the grant money to fund eligible expenses during the fiscal
year. What does the agency report to the NTD?
Solution: The transit agency reports the $200,000 it used during the fiscal year.

Fully Allocated Costs
Transit agencies must report the full costs associated with transit service. In some cases,
this is straightforward: an agency that paid for the full cost itself and did not perform any
non-transit-related activities simply reports all the costs that it incurred during the fiscal
year.
However, many agencies are part of larger entities that perform many non-transit
functions. For example, many transit agencies are departments of city or county
governments. In such a case, it is important to determine what the reporting entity is.
Usually for departments of local government, the reporting entity is the local government
itself. For example, if a city government has a transit department and the reporting entity
is the city government, all the costs incurred by the city to support transit service must be
reported.
This principle means that some costs incurred by the city government-but not specifically
by the transit department-will appear in the NTD report. This is because other
departments of the city government support the transit department. For example, the city
human resources department may spend part of its time handling personnel matters for
the transit department. In this case, the department’s cost of operation includes the
indirect cost of providing this service for the transit department and the city government
will have to include it in its NTD report.
Costs incurred by the city government in the normal course of business not specific to the
transit department are not reported to the NTD. For example, the transit department in
our previous example may benefit from the presence of the local police force. But unless
the city government specifically assigns members of the police force to specific transit
duties, the reporter does not report this cost.

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How to Record and Report Financial Accounts
Transit agencies must report financial data in a uniform manner in conformance with
accrual accounting and the USOA.
Under accrual accounting:
•

Agencies record revenues when they earn them regardless of whether they
actually receive the revenue in the same fiscal year; and

•

Agencies record expenses as soon as they owe an entity regardless of if they
actually pay the funds for the expense in the same fiscal year.

Allocating Costs
The purpose of cost allocation is to determine the total costs incurred to produce a specific
product or deliver a specific service. In the NTD, transit agencies report the total cost
incurred to operate each mode of transit service. This information helps facilitate
comparisons of the operating characteristics of modes at different agencies and of a
single mode over time. Sound cost allocation procedures will also improve the accuracy
of financial data reported to transit agency governing boards and the public. This is also
consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
To fully report operating expenses, agencies should
•

Determine which expenses are direct costs that are attributable to a particular
mode and type of service and which expenses are shared costs; and

•

Trace or allocate shared costs to each mode, type of service, and function.

Direct vs. Shared Costs
In order to report the total cost of delivering each mode of transit service, transit agencies
must calculate both the direct and shared costs of providing service.
Direct costs are costs that are directly identifiable to one or more mode, type of service,
and function of transit service.
•

Direct costs that are directly identifiable to one mode, type of service, and function
include operator salaries and wages (and associated fringe benefits for operators
that directly support one mode), other salaries and wages (for staff that directly
support one mode), materials and supplies (that are unique to a specific mode),
and propulsion power (that is associated with a specific mode).

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•

Direct costs that are directly identifiable to one or more modes must be attributed
and charged to the specific mode within a transit agency’s accounting system at
the time work was performed. For instance, a transit agency may employ vehicle
maintenance staff to repair Demand Response (DR) and Bus (MB). The agency
has an accounting system that allows its employees to assign their hours directly
to a specific mode (e.g., DR, MB). The accounting system enables the
maintenance staff employees to directly attribute and charge to each mode;
therefore, the salary and wages for the maintenance staff are direct costs that are
identifiable to the two modes.

Shared costs are costs that are commonly or jointly used to provide two or more modes
of transit service. Transit agencies perform cost assignment using the following methods,
to improve the accuracy of cost allocation.
1. Tracing shared costs wherever feasible and economically practicable
(preferred method). Cost tracing relies on the observation, counting, and/or
recording of the consumption of resource units, such as staff hours or days that
are spent on a project or assignment. Tracing also applies to specific resources
that are dedicated to particular outputs. Cost tracing minimizes distortion and helps
promote accuracy in cost assignments. However, cost tracing can be a relatively
costly process; it should be applied to items that account for a substantial portion
of the cost of an output and when it is economically feasible. For example, it is
usually unnecessary to trace the cost of office supplies (e.g., pens, papers,
computer peripherals) to various activities or outputs.
2. Allocating shared costs on a reasonable and consistent basis. Sometimes, it
is not economically feasible to trace costs. For example, general management and
administration support costs, utilities, and other costs that benefit multiple modes
and cannot be traced to specific modes. In these situations, transit agencies
allocate shared costs to the functions, modes, and Type of Service by using
allocation variables.
Common allocation variables include, but are not limited to:
•

Vehicle hours and miles

•

Vehicles operated in annual maximum service

•

Number of employees

•

Direct expenses

•

Ridership (Unlinked Passenger Trips)

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Agencies must use knowledge of their own organization structure to select allocation
variables that make the most sense for their agency and apply them consistently.
Agencies should consider the following factors to determine the appropriate cost
assignment strategy:
•

Nature of the transit agency’s operations

•

Precision desired and needed in cost information

•

Practicality of data collection and processing

•

Availability of computing hardware and software

•

Cost of installing, operating, and maintaining the cost accounting processes

•

Specific information needs of management

Reporters must take special care to ensure that they allocate shared costs to both
purchased transportation and directly operated services. Transit agencies with purchased
transportation services incur administrative costs even if the contractor owns the vehicles
and the maintenance and storage facilities. Such administrative costs include:
•

Salaries and fringe benefits of employees who oversee a purchased
transportation contract

•

Administrative building expenses, such as:
o

Custodial services

Electric bills

Phone bills

Fire insurance

Office supplies

Once agencies determine the shared costs, they must group the shared costs into cost
pools based on how costs are consumed. Cost pools are groups of costs that are
consumed in a similar manner. After grouping the costs into cost pools, agencies use the
allocation variables that best represent the driver of costs in each pool to allocate the
costs to the modes.
FTA acknowledges that each transit agency is unique and therefore chooses a cost
allocation model that reflects its cost structure, provided the method is reasonable,
consistent, and defensible. Once an agency chooses a cost allocation model, the agency
should review it annually to confirm that the model is still valid. It should check for reasons
to change the model, such as the following:

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•

Addition/reduction of modes of service

•

Merger with another agency

•

Adoption of a new chart of accounts

•

Restructure of the agency’s organization

•

Change in the nature of the transit agency’s operations

•

Major initiatives that would affect mode or function’s usage of costs

•

Transition from directly operated to purchased transportation or vice versa

Unless an agency experiences one of the major changes listed above, it should apply its
cost allocation model consistently each year. FTA recommends that each reporting
agency document its cost allocation model to facilitate consistent application. See USOA
Appendix A, “Cost Allocation Handbook,” for additional guidance and examples of cost
allocation.

Funding Sources (Form RR-20)
Transit agencies must report operating and capital expenses based on the source of
funds. The NTD identifies the following funding source categories:
•

Passenger Fares

•

Directly Generated Funds

•

Non-Federal Funds

•

Federal Government Sources of Funds

Directly Generated Funds
Directly generated funds are funds that a transit agency earns from non-governmental
sources. Transit agencies may earn these funds from:
•
•
•
•

Passenger Fares
Funds related to transit
Funds unrelated to transit
Dedicated funds (applicable to transit agencies that are independent political
entities and have the ability to impose taxes)

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Passenger Fares
Passenger Fares include revenues earned from carrying passengers. This applies
equally to Directly Operated service, Purchased Transportation – General (PT),
Purchased Transportation – Taxi (TX), and Purchased Transportation – Transportation
Network Company (TN) services. Generally, fares are the amounts paid by the rider to
use transit services and include the base fare, zone premiums, express service
premiums, extra cost transfers, and quantity purchase discounts applicable to the
passenger’s ride.
Agencies report the full amount of PT, TX, and TN fare revenues regardless of whether
the buyer or seller retains the revenue.
Agencies may collect passenger fares in any of the following ways:
•

Before service is provided (e.g., through the sale of media such as passes, tickets,
and tokens sold to passengers)

•

Directly at the point of service (e.g., fare box, turnstile)

•

After the service is provided (e.g., through weekly or monthly billing)

In some circumstances, several agencies share a fare card program and will periodically
divide funds among themselves so that each agency within the program receives the
appropriate amount of fare revenue. In such cases, each agency reports its share of the
revenues.
Passenger fares include Passenger-Paid Fares (4111) and Organization-Paid Fares
(4112).
Passenger-Paid Fares
Passenger-paid fares reflect the amount of the fare that the passengers pay on their own
behalf. Passenger-paid fares may include:
•

Full adult fares

•

Senior citizen fares

•

Student fares

•

Child fares

•

Fares for individuals with disabilities

•

Ferryboat services

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•

Vanpool services

•

Special ride fares

•

Handling fees

•

No-show fines

Organization-Paid Fares
Organization-paid fares are paid for by an organization rather than by the passenger.
Organization-paid fares also include funds for rides given along special routes for which
a beneficiary of the service may guarantee funds. Organization-paid fares may result from
agreements between the reporter and an agency or organization that pays a set amount
in return for unlimited and/or reduced fare transit service for the persons covered by the
agreement. Examples of organization-paid fares are discussed in the USOA.
Transit agencies must report fares paid in part or in whole by an organization for an
affiliated, specific group of individuals as passenger fares. For example, a university may
pay a transit agency so that students can ride fare-free. The transit agency must report
such a payment from a university as organization-paid passenger fares. However, when
a university operates its own transit service, they report funds from student fees as Other
Agency Revenues for Full Reporters or Other Directly Generated Funds for Reduced
Reporters.
Agencies report Medicaid funding of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation as an
Organization-Paid Fare.
Fare Reporting Rules
Donations that are made on a revenue vehicle or at a farebox should be reported as
passenger fares.
Passenger fares do not include subsidies (e.g., subsidies from private organizations or
other sectors of operations), which are provided to support the general provision of transit
service. Passenger fares also do not include fare assistance from other entities, such as
governments, to provide a reduced fare or free fare for a general class of users (e.g.,
senior citizens, students). The agency reports subsidies and fare assistance in the
appropriate private, State, local, or Federal government sources of funds.
In all cases, transit agencies must ensure that they report contributions by the original
source of funds.
Certain rules discussed below apply only to specific modes of transportation.
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Ferryboat
Ferryboat fares include revenues earned from walk-on pedestrians, bicyclists, and public
transportation vehicles passenger fares. For vehicles, report passenger fares for each
occupant of the vehicle, including the driver. Note, however, that vehicle and bicycle
ferriage fees are not included in Passenger-Paid Fares but are reported in Other Directly
Generated Funds.
Vanpool
For publicly sponsored Vanpool services, passenger fares have unique provisions.
Passenger fares include Passenger Fees and Out-of-Pocket Expenses as described in
the “Basic Agency Information Requirements: Contractual Relationship Data
Requirements (Form B-30)” section of this manual. These costs often include fuel costs,
maintenance expenses, lease payments, tolls, and other out-of-pocket costs.
Allocating Fare Revenues
Typically, fares are directly related to one mode or type of service. However, agencies
may need to allocate fares among modes and types of service if
•

There is a fixed fare for the initial segment of a multi-mode trip and the transfer
charge is not equal to the fare charged for a single-ride trip on the next mode; or

•

A large portion of passengers use passes that are accepted on several modes.

In such cases, transit agencies must allocate fare revenues to each mode and type of
service based on a reasonable allocation method. For example, a transit agency may
allocate by:
•

Unlinked passenger trips

•

Passenger miles traveled

•

Operating expenses

Other Directly Generated Funds
Agencies may earn funds from other transit-related services. The following describes the
common sources of Other Directly Generated Funds:
•

Concessions (station concessions and vehicle concessions), advertising
revenues, or fare-evasion fines;

•

Contract revenues (reimbursement by any organization, government, agency, or
company, based on a formal contractual agreement with the transit service

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operator for trips provided to a specific passenger or group of passengers where
the original revenue source is not known);
•

Donations (typically awarded in lump sum amounts and may come from local
charity foundations, fundraising events, or individual donors; if there is a donationbased passenger fare system, and passengers make these donations on board a
vehicle or at the farebox, the agency reports these funds under passenger fares
rather than donations);

•

Investment earnings, interest income, rentals of revenue vehicles to other
operators, sale of fuel;

•

Sale of assets in excess of the asset’s book value;

•

Sale of carbon credits; and

•

Extraordinary and Special Items (events or transactions that are distinguished by
their unusual nature and by the infrequency of their occurrence)

Agencies may sell vehicles, buildings, and scrap throughout the fiscal year. In these
cases, agencies record gains from sales as Other Directly Generated revenue. Transit
agencies should not report an accounting loss from a sale because no money was
received.
Sales and Disposals of Assets include, but are not limited to: sales of equipment,
buildings, real estate and other property. If an asset is sold for an amount higher than its
book value (cost less accumulated depreciation), the agency records the difference
between the sale price and book value as a gain. See USOA 2.6.3, “Sales and Disposals
of Assets,” for additional information.
When a university operates its own transit service, they report funds from student fees as
Other Agency Revenues. In other cases, refer to Organization-Paid Fares.

Revenues Accrued through a Purchased Transportation Agreement
Sellers of PT, TX, and TN service must report the funds they spend from revenues
accrued through purchased transportation. It will not include passenger fares for
purchased transportation services from service provided under the agreement.

Non-Federal Funding Sources
Transit agencies must report expenses based on the source of funds. Therefore,
agencies must identify what type of local and State funding they receive.

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Local and State Funds
Transit agencies usually receive and spend funds from local and State government. State
government funds and local government funds pay a portion of the costs to provide transit
service, including
•

•

Operating assistance, such as:
o

General operating assistance to support service for all classes of passengers

Fare assistance to meet the difference between full adult fares and special
reduced fares for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, students, and other
special reduced fare riders

Reimbursements of payments for taxes, interest, snow removal,
maintenance, and security costs

Special demonstration project assistance

Capital assistance

Local sources may provide funding from:
•

General revenues of the local government

•

Local Funds dedicated to transit at their source

•

Other local funds

•

Extraordinary and special items

State sources may provide funding from:
•

General revenues of the State government

•

State transportation fund

•

Extraordinary and special items

General Revenues of the Local/State Government
State and local government may provide transit agencies with funds from their annual
budgets that are not dedicated to transit. Transit agencies typically have to compete for
this funding with other organizations such as police, fire, and educational institutions.

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Local Funds Dedicated to Transit at Their Source
These are funds from local taxes, tolls, and fees that the government entity institutes to
support transit programs and projects. These funds may also include bridge, tunnel, and
highway tolls.
Other Local Funds
Local government entities may provide funds that are not dedicated or from the annual
budget. This may include
•

Vehicle licensing and registration fees

•

Communications access fees, surcharges, and taxes

State Transportation Fund
Many States set up a State Transportation Fund (4420) that is separate from the General
Fund. It usually has several dedicated sources of funding, often including funding sources
such as fuel taxes, vehicle registration fees, or bonds backed by such sources. The
Transportation Fund typically funds both transit agencies and other transportation needs,
such as the highway department. Agencies are not required to report the individual
sources of funding that support the State Transportation Fund.
Extraordinary and Special Items
Please see the definition of Extraordinary and Special Items in the “Funding Sources:
Directly Generated Funds” section of this chapter.

Federal Government Sources
Transit agencies typically receive Federal funds on a cost-reimbursement basis.
Transit agencies must report funds by grant source. The following section explains
common grants for transit assistance. Agencies may receive other FTA funds not defined
below. Additionally, agencies may receive funding from other Federal sources. Transit
agencies must report those funds as Other USDOT Grants or Other Federal Funds, as
appropriate in the Annual Report. Transit agencies must take special care to report funds
by their original source.
In some cases, capital assistance may be spent on activities that are normally considered
operating, such as preventive maintenance and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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service. This typically requires 20 percent local match. Although these funds are capital
grants, the agency reports it as capital assistance spent on operations.

Reporting Costs with Interim Financing Mechanism
Sometimes transit agencies incur costs with the intention to use a Federal grant to pay
for the cost. However, if the grant funds have not yet been committed at the time the cost
is incurred, the agency finances the cost using other sources of funds and expects to be
reimbursed with Federal funds. The NTD requires agencies to report the final source used
to pay for the cost, not the interim financing mechanism.
For example, an agency may record expenses against an FTA grant, even though it has
not been reimbursed, when the agency has pre-award authority. An agency may also
employ this practice if it incurs costs that are covered by a full funding grant agreement
with FTA. In both cases, the agency records the final source of funding on the NTD report,
as it has high expectations of reimbursement from the program.

FTA Funds
Agencies receive FTA funds from many grants, including, but not limited to the following:
Current Programs
•

FTA Urbanized Area Formula Program (§5307)

•

FTA Formula Grants for Rural Areas (§5311)

•

FTA Capital Program (§5309)

•

FTA State of Good Repair (§5337)

•

FTA Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Program (§5339)

•

FTA Metropolitan Planning (§5303)

•

FTA Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (§5310))

New Programs – Report as Other FTA Funds (2022)
•

FTA Rail Vehicle Replacement Program

•

FTA All Stations Accessibility Program

•

FTA Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program

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Coronavirus Response and Relief Funds – Report According to Current Program
(e.g., CARES Act Urbanized Area Program Funds)
•

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, (P.L. 116-136)

•

Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA)
(P.L. 116-260)

•

American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2)

Expired Programs
•

FTA Clean Fuels Program (§5308)

•

FTA Job Access and Reverse Commute Formula Program (§5316)

•

FTA New Freedom Program (§5317)

•

FTA Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands (§5320)

FTA Urbanized Area Formula Program (§5307))
Transit agencies may use §5307 funding for
•

Capital projects

•

Planning

•

Operating assistance in Urbanized Areas (UZAs) with populations less than
200,000

•

Preventative maintenance (capital funds spent on operations)

•

Complementary paratransit services operated to meet ADA requirements.

Section 5307 funds include flexible funding programs. For example, the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation transfers funds to §5307
under the flexible funding provision from various programs, including
•

Surface Transportation Program

•

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ)

•

National Highway System

•

Construction of Ferry Boats and Ferry Terminal Facilities

•

Federal Lands Highways Program

•

Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Program

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•

Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program

•

Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program

Transit agencies must report funds from flexible funding programs under the appropriate
FTA program. For example, if a transit agency receives FHWA CMAQ funding through
the §5307 program, the agency must report this under §5307 funds. For more information,
visit the FTA website.
FTA Formula Grants for Rural Areas (§5311))
Section 5311 is a formula program that provides assistance to transit agencies in rural
areas for:
•

Capital projects

•

Planning

•

Operating assistance

For questions regarding urbanized and rural areas, please see the “Basic Agency
Information Requirements: Identification (Form B-10)” section of this manual.
Federal operating and capital assistance under §5311 includes any §5310, §5307, §5316,
or §5317 funds that States transfer to the program. This program also includes any flexible
highway funds the State administers through the §5311 program.
Transit agencies that report to the urban module and receive §5311 funds also have
responsibilities to provide data to the State for the State DOT NTD Annual Report.
FTA Tribal Transit Program (§5311(j))
FTA dedicates a portion of the §5311 program funds to the Tribal Transit Program (TTP).
Federally recognized Tribes may use TTP funds to assist with operating, planning, and
capital needs. FTA apportions these funds based on three tiers.
FTA Intercity Bus Program (§5311(f))
FTA requires States to set aside 15 percent of the §5311 program for intercity bus
projects, unless a State Governor certifies these needs are already met. Private for-profit
companies may receive §5311(f) funding from the State. These companies report limited
data to the State as a §5311(f) subrecipient.

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If a transit agency provides other public transit services and receives this funding, the
agency must report the service according to NTD modal definitions and report the funding
under the §5311 program.
FTA Capital Program (§5309)
Section 5309 is a discretionary program that provides capital assistance for new fixed
guideway or other major investment systems.
FTA State of Good Repair Program (§5337)
This grant provides capital assistance to maintain Fixed Guideway and High Intensity Bus
systems in a state of good repair.
FTA Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (§5310)
Section 5310 is a formula program that provides capital assistance to State and local
governments and private nonprofit groups to meet the transportation needs of elderly
individuals and individuals with disabilities.
The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) consolidated §5310
funds into the §5311 and §5307.
FTA Bus and Bus Facilities Program (§5339)
Section 5339 is a formula program that finances capital projects to replace, rehabilitate,
and purchase buses and related equipment, and to construct bus-related facilities.
FTA Metropolitan Planning (§5303)
Section 5303 supports cooperative, continuous, and comprehensive planning programs
for making transportation investment decisions in UZAs. These funds are allocated to
MPOs. Local elected officials designate these funds to carry out urban transportation and
planning processes.
FTA Clean Fuels Program (§5308)
Congress discontinued this program in the MAP-21 legislation.
Section 5308 was a formula program that supported the use of alternative fuels. Projects
were eligible in air quality maintenance or nonattainment areas for ozone or carbon
monoxide for both urbanized and rural areas.

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The program helped transit agencies purchase low-emission buses and related
equipment, build alternative fueling facilities, modify existing garage facilities to
accommodate clean fuel vehicles, and assisting in the utilization of biodiesel.
FTA Job Access and Reverse Commute Formula Program (§5316)
Congress discontinued this grant in the MAP-21 legislation.
Section 5316 was a formula program for states and designated recipients. Section 5316
supported the development and maintenance of job access projects that transported
welfare and eligible low-income individuals to jobs and activities related to their
employment. Additionally, §5316 provided assistance to reverse commute projects that
transported residents of urbanized and rural areas to suburban employment
opportunities.
Congress discontinued this grant program in the MAP-21 legislation. Under changes
made in MAP-21, these activities now are eligible for funding under the §5311 and §5307
programs.
FTA New Freedom Program (§5317)
Section 5317 was a formula program for new public transportation services and public
transportation alternatives beyond those required by the ADA. These transportation
programs assisted individuals with disabilities and provided transportation to and from
jobs and employment support services. These programs had to be part of a locally
developed human service transportation coordinated plan.
Transit agencies used §5317 funds for
•

Capital projects

•

Operating assistance

•

Planning

Congress discontinued this grant program in the MAP-21 legislation. Under changes
made in MAP-21, these activities now are eligible for funding under the §5311 and §5307
programs.

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FTA Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands Program (§5320)
Congress discontinued this grant in the MAP-21 legislation.
Section 5320 was a program for preserving parklands and enhancing visitor enjoyment.
FTA, the U.S. Department of Interior, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest
Service administered this grant jointly.
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
The CARES Act provides emergency assistance and health care response for individuals,
families and businesses affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Some
CARES Act funding should be reported as Extraordinary and Special Items instead of
CARES Act funds, as described separately in FTA’s COVID-19 Reporting Guide. Funds
that are provided by the CARES Act but are not Extraordinary and Special Items should
be reported as CARES Act funds.
Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act
On December 27, 2020, the CRRSAA, which includes $900 billion in supplemental
appropriations for COVID-19 relief, $14 billion of which will be allocated to support the
transit industry during the COVID-19 public health emergency, was signed into law. Some
CRRSAA funding should be reported as Extraordinary and Special Items instead of
CRRSAA funds, as described separately in FTA’s COVID-19 Reporting Guide. Funds that
are provided by the CRRSAA but are not Extraordinary and Special Items should be
reported as CRRSAA funds.
American Rescue Plan
The ARP Act, which was signed on March 11, 2021, includes $30.5 billion in federal
funding to support the nation’s public transportation systems as they continue to respond
to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Some ARP Act funding should be reported as
Extraordinary and Special Items instead of ARP Act funds, as described separately in
FTA’s COVID-19 and NTD Reporting Guide. Funds that are provided by the ARP Act but
are not Extraordinary and Special Items should be reported as ARP Act funds.

Non-Added Revenues
Non-added revenues are funds received by the transit agency that are not included in the
total funds earned during the operating period.

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Pass-through Funds
Pass-through funds are funds that a transit agency (often known as a designated
recipient) receives from a government entity (e.g., FTA) and gives to another transit
agency. These funds are not used to fund the designated recipient’s transit service. These
funds are used to fund the services provided by the agency ultimately receiving the funds.
Transit agencies do not report pass-through funds that they provide to other agencies on
their Annual Report. The agency that ultimately receives the pass-through funds and
benefits from the government assistance reports the funding. Agencies that are
designated recipients only report funds that relate to their transit services.

Transportation Development Credits
In some States, funds spent on transportation at the State level can be used as a nonFederal match for Federal grants to transit agencies. These are known as Transportation
Development Credits or toll credits. Since these credits are not actually used to cover
expenses, the NTD does not include these credits in the total funds earned. See USOA
2.6.4, “Transportation Development Credits,” for additional information.

Contributed Services
Contributed Services are in-kind services received by the reporting agency from another
entity or person where there is no payment for the services. In the past, Contributed
Services was reported as a directly generated fund. However, since there is no actual
cost for the contributed service, change has been made to include the value of the service
as non-added revenue instead. An example of a contributed service is when a retired
lawyer provides pro-bono legal services to the local transit agency.
When the transit agency is a part of a larger entity (like a department of city government)
and the larger entity pays for the service, the larger entity is considered the reported and
therefore the costs must be reported outside of Contributed Services. See USOA 2.6.1,
“Contributed Services,” for additional information.

Voluntary Non-Exchange Transactions
This object class is for the receiver to record the non-exchange value when all applicable
eligibility requirements have been met. In a voluntary non-exchange transaction, an
agency gives or receives value (e.g., revenue vehicle) without directly receiving or giving
equal value (e.g., cash) in return. This is different from an exchange transaction, in which
each party receives and gives up essentially equal values. An example of a voluntary

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non-exchange transaction is when one government agency builds capital assets and
transfers the assets to another transit agency that operates them
The recipient of a non-exchange transaction recognizes non-exchange receivables or
funds when all applicable eligibility requirements have been met. Examples of eligibility
requirements might include situations where the receiving agency is required to wait for
a period of time before it has access to the transferred asset, or where the provider’s
transfer of asset is contingent upon an agreed upon action taken by the recipient.
Providing agencies can find guidance for reporting the non-exchange transaction under
the Reconciling Items: Voluntary Non-Exchange Transaction. See USOA 2.6.2,
“Voluntary Non-Exchange Transactions,” for additional information.

Sales and Disposals of Assets
Sales and Disposals of Assets include, but are not limited to, sales of equipment,
buildings, real estate, and other property. Funds from sales and disposals of capital
assets are not considered revenues earned because these transactions involve the
conversion of existing assets into cash and not an increase in asset value. Consequently,
the NTD does not include this amount in the total funds earned during the reporting period.
If an asset is sold for an amount higher than its book value (cost less accumulated
depreciation), the agency records the difference between the sale price and book value
as a gain in Other Directly Generated Funds. See USOA 2.6.3, “Sales and Disposals of
Assets,” for additional information.

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SERVICE DATA REQUIREMENTS (FORM RR-20)
Revenue Service
An overview of the data associated with service that
transit agencies schedule and operate
Service Data for Intercity Bus Subrecipients
A summary of data points required by State
Departments of Transportation for Intercity Bus
Subrecipients
Non-Reportable Service
A description of transit activities that are not
reportable to NTD by Reduced Reporters

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Revenue Service
A transit vehicle is in revenue service when it is providing public transportation and is
available to carry passengers. Non-public transportation activities, such as exclusive
school bus service and charter service are not considered revenue service. Revenue
service includes both fare and fare-free services.
Agencies that provide transit service report revenue service data, including
•

Vehicle Revenue Hours (VRH)

•

Vehicle Revenue Miles (VRM)

For agencies that operate Vanpools, there may be times when passengers fail to
report data for VRM and VRH for certain trips. In these cases, please contact your
NTD analyst.

Incidental Transit Service
Transit agencies provide incidental transit service, such as taxicabs or other vehicles,
during times when existing transit services cannot meet passenger demand. These
occurrences are infrequent; thus, the NTD refers to the alternate transit service as
“incidental” to the regular mode.
Transit agencies may provide incidental transit service for
•

Service interruptions (e.g., vehicle breakdown) when a replacement vehicle is not
available. A taxicab or an agency van might be used for this incidental service; or

•

Demand Response overflow service using taxis.

Transit agencies must report data associated with incidental transit service on the NTD
Annual Report. Agencies must collect this data using the same reporting requirements as
regular public transit services.

Vehicle Revenue Miles and Vehicle Revenue Hours
VRM and VRH are the miles and hours a vehicle travels while in revenue service.
Revenue hours for conventional scheduled services include
•

Running time

•

Layover/recovery time

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Running time is the time it takes a transit vehicle to travel from the beginning to the end
of a transit route. A transit agency’s passenger timetable typically shows the running times
for trips it operates. Revenue miles include the distances traveled during running time.
Usually, agencies schedule layover/recovery time at the end of each trip. Layover time
typically ranges from 10 to 20 percent of the running time. Transit agencies use this time
to provide the operator a break or to give the operator an opportunity to get service back
on schedule if it was running late. Layover includes the time to turn a train around at the
end of a line, and the delay time needed to depart at a desired departure time.
VRM and VRH exclude the miles and hours related to
•

Deadhead time

•

Operator training

•

Maintenance testing

•

Other non-revenue uses of the vehicles

The exhibits below provide common examples to show what activities agencies should
include under revenue miles and hours.
Exhibit 18: Miles and Hours for Bus (MB, CB, RB) Modes
Activity

Actual
Vehicle
Hours

Actual
Vehicle
Miles

Vehicle
Revenue
Hours

Vehicle
Revenue
Miles

Bus travels (deadheads) from dispatching
point to start of a route.

Yes

Bus travels its route in scheduled revenue
operation. Passengers board the vehicle.

Yes

Bus travels its route in scheduled revenue
operation. No passengers board the vehicle.

Yes

Bus arrives at the end of a route, incurs
layover. Passengers can board during
layover.

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

Bus arrives at the end of a route, incurs
layover. Passengers cannot board during
layover.

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

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Activity

Actual
Vehicle
Hours

Actual
Vehicle
Miles

Vehicle
Revenue
Hours

Vehicle
Revenue
Miles

Bus arrives at the end of the route, parks,
and goes out of service. Resumes service in
PM peak.

Bus arrives at the end of the route, travels
(deadheads) to a storage lot, and parks.

Yes

Bus arrives at the end of the route, travels
(deadheads) to another route to operate a
scheduled trip. Passengers cannot board
during deadhead.

Yes

Bus arrives at the end of the route, travels
(deadheads) to the dispatching point.

Yes

Bus travels from the garage to another
maintenance facility to perform routine
maintenance.

Trip is terminated due to a collision with
another vehicle, and the bus travels to a
maintenance facility.

Yes

Bus travels from start to end of a route for
training. Vehicle is not in service and does
not board passengers.

Driver fuels the vehicle at a gas station.

N/A

For Demand Response (DR) service, FTA uses a different definition of revenue service.
For these modes, revenue time includes all travel time from the point of the first
passenger pick-up to the last passenger drop-off, as long as the vehicle does not return
to the dispatching point or have interruptions in service such as lunch breaks or vehicle
fueling and servicing.
For DR modes operating with Taxi (TX) Type of Service (TOS), generally transit service
is only provided when a transit passenger is onboard and at other times is private taxi
service. Therefore, agencies must report only the miles and hours when a transit

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passenger is onboard as revenue service. When a transit passenger is not onboard, the
service is not reportable to the NTD.
Exhibit 19: Miles and Hours for Demand Response Modes
Activity

Actual
Vehicle
Hours

Actual
Vehicle
Miles

Vehicle
Revenue
Hours

Vehicle
Revenue
Miles

Vehicle idles at the dispatching point.

N/A

Vehicle departs dispatching point to pick up
a passenger.

Yes

Vehicle waits for a passenger at the pick-up
point.

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

After a passenger drop-off, the vehicle
departs to pick up another passenger with no
passengers onboard.

Yes

Driver travels to a restaurant for lunch after
the last passenger drop-off.

Driver eats lunch at a restaurant.

N/A

Vehicle transports passengers from a
community center to a shopping mall.

Yes

Vehicle returns to the dispatching point with
no passengers onboard.

Yes

Vehicle waits at the shopping mall until it is
time to bring passengers back to the
community center.

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

Driver fuels the vehicle at a gas station.

N/A

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Unlinked Passenger Trips
Unlinked Passenger Trips (UPT) is the number of boardings on public transportation
vehicles during the fiscal year. Transit agencies must count passengers each time they
board vehicles, no matter how many vehicles they use to travel from their origin to their
destination. If a transit vehicle changes routes while passengers are onboard (interlining),
transit agencies should not recount the passengers. Employees or contractors on transit
agency business are not passengers.
For DR modes, transit agencies must include personal care attendants and companions
in UPT counts as long as they are not employees of the transit agency. This includes
attendants and companions that ride fare free.
For VP service, agencies generally must report the driver as a passenger and include the
driver in UPT counts. In almost all cases, the vanpool driver is unpaid and is traveling for
personal reasons (e.g., work commuting, shopping). In the rare case when the driver is
being employed as a driver and not traveling for personal reasons, then the driver should
not be counted as a passenger.
For ferryboat modes (FB), FTA has specific reporting rules when other transportation
modes utilize the FB service. These other transportation modes may be public transit
modes such as VP, or they may be private vehicles, such as automobiles. Transit
agencies must report UPT for each vehicle occupant of these other transportation modes
(including the driver), whether the other transportation mode is public or private.

Sponsored Service
Sponsored service is paid in whole or in part by a third party who, in many cases, handles
trip arrangements. Common sponsored services include
•

Medicaid

•

Meals-On-Wheels

•

Head Start

•

The Arc of the United States

•

Shelter workshops

•

Independent living centers

FTA considers these services as public transportation if they are part of a coordinated
human services transportation plan and there is an attempt to group rides. Local areas
develop coordinated plans to identify transportation needs and assist individuals with
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disabilities, older adults, and people with low incomes. Transit agencies must include
sponsored UPT in their total UPT.

Collecting Unlinked Passenger Trips
For special service consumed data collection considerations during the COVID-19
public health emergency, please consult the Guide: NTD Reporting and COVID-19.
Transit agencies must report actual data on the Annual Report for all service data except
UPT and PMT. Only Full Reporters report PMT data to the NTD. For these two data
points, agencies may provide an estimate but only if the actual 100 percent data are not
reliably collected and routinely processed. If an agency collects and routinely processes
true UPT or data, it must report the actual data on the Annual Report.
Transit agencies may collect data during the year by using drivers’ logs, mobile data
terminals, automatic passenger counters (APCs), manual passenger counters, and
fareboxes. If a transit agency estimates UPT data, it must adhere to FTA requirements of
estimation procedures, as described in the following sections.
100 Percent Counts of Unlinked Passenger Trips
Transit agencies must perform and routinely process reliable 100 percent counts of UPT
to report these data. Transit agencies are not required to report these data if either the
transit agency does not routinely process these data, or it does not believe that the data
are reliable.
Sometimes transit agencies performing 100 percent counts will miss passenger counts
on some vehicle trips because of personnel problems or equipment failures. If these
vehicle trips are 2 percent or less of the total, transit agencies may factor the data to
account for the missing trips. However, if the vehicle trips with missing data exceed 2
percent of total trips, agencies must have a qualified statistician approve the factoring
method.
Automatic Passenger Counters
Some transit agencies use APCs for collecting UPT and PMT data through sampling or
a 100 percent count. The use of APCs for NTD reporting requires FTA approval. If a
transit agency fails to obtain FTA approval, FTA may not accept the reported APC-derived
data.

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FTA must approve the following for agencies to report APC data:
•
•

APC benchmarking plan for the first year
APC benchmarking plan every three years. The next benchmarking year is RY
2025.

Agencies are required to complete APC certifications on the same triennial cycle
regardless of when in the cycle the APC was certified. For example, an APC that is first
certified in 2021 must be recertified in 2022.
The APC benchmarking plan and maintenance plans must include:
1. Validation of the APC data for UPT and PMT data against a manual sample:
a. Agencies operating 30 or fewer active vehicles must sample at least 15 trips.
b. Agencies with greater than 30 active vehicles should sample, at least, the
larger of 15 trips or half of the number of APC equipped vehicles, up to 50
trips. These numbers represent the smallest acceptable sample. Agencies
may perform larger samples at their discretion.
c. The trips sampled for the manual sample do not need to be randomly
selected and can be spread out over any period of time within the same year.
The sample should include heavy ridership trips and at least one trip per
vehicle type and APC model. For rail systems, a trip is a one-way train trip.
These systems are only required to manually sample one car per train, and
should compare the manual and APC counts on that car. Rail systems may
station ride checkers on multiple cars per train at their discretion, but the
sample will still count as just one train trip.
2. A description of the agency’s APC system
3. A description of agency’s sampling procedures
4. A list of trips that were flagged and rejected from the sample with explanations
for each. The explanation cannot be that the trip was rejected because it was
different from the manual data.
5. The percentage of trips that do not have valid APC data over the course of a
typical year, either because the APC malfunctioned, the data were corrupted, the
data failed a validation check, or for any other reason.
6. Descriptions of the differences (if any) in the set of distances between stops
(e.g., interstop distances) the agency used to calculate PMT using manual and
APC data. Ideally, the agency will use the same set of distances for both
calculations.
7. The following metrics, both of which must be less than 5 percent:

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a. Percent Difference of manual vs. APC UPT
b. Percent Difference of manual vs. APC PMT
Manual counts can be made using data collection staff or on-board cameras. To ensure
accurate counts FTA recommends using a data collector at each door on heavily loaded
trips. APC data should be processed to correct for anomalies as it would be in the
reporter’s normal data collection process. The objective is to compare manually collected
data with processed APC data and demonstrate that they are equivalent or that any
differences are justifiable.
Transit agencies applying to use APC data must submit the benchmarking plan (and its
results after implementation) to FTA for approval. If FTA rejects an agency’s APC system,
the agency should reexamine its APC data collection procedures, make any needed
adjustments, perform any needed maintenance on the system, and retest. FTA expects
the sampling process to take less than a month; this should allow agencies to retest
before the end of the year, thus ensuring that an agency that encounters problems in its
APC testing can nonetheless provide an uninterrupted set of data to NTD. Agencies must
also submit the results of the triennial maintenance plans to FTA for approval.
Each mode and type of service must certify its APCs individually unless they share fleets.
If, at any time, an agency installs new and substantially different APC equipment, the
APCs must be recertified.
Estimation Methods for Unlinked Passenger Trips
If 100 percent counts of UPT are not available and reliable, agencies must estimate and
report UPT, or PMT based on statistical sampling. FTA requirements for sampling UPT
for all modes and types of service are:
•
•

Minimum confidence of 95 percent
Minimum precision level of ±10 percent

The required precision level (±10 percent) applies to the annual total data that an agency
reports. Transit agencies may use any data sampling technique that meets the 95 percent
confidence and ±10 percent precision levels. Transit agencies may use different sampling
techniques for each mode and Type of Service (TOS). If a transit agency samples, it must
follow the sampling technique exactly. Agencies may oversample, as long as the
oversampling is selected randomly. However, agencies must not collect a smaller sample
than the chosen sampling plan prescribes. Additionally, agencies must not change the
number of trips in the sample, except to randomly oversample, or the approaches for
selecting trips that comprise the sample.
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A transit agency may use one or more of the following sampling plans, each discussed
below:
•
•

FTA-approved sampling methods, and/or
Alternative sampling techniques

Transit agencies must retain sampling documentation in their records for at least three
years. In many cases, agencies need this information during their Triennial Review.
FTA-Approved Sampling Methods
To assist transit agencies with sampling, FTA has developed acceptable UPT sampling
procedures for all modes. The NTD Sampling Manual includes definitions, sampling
procedures, data recording procedures, annual report compilation, and sample selection
information.
FTA issued the NTD Sampling Manual in 2009 to help transit agencies prepare sampling
plans that are tailored to their operating environment. The manual covers the
development of sampling plans for all modes. If data are not available for a particular
mode, the manual provides default sampling templates. If data are available, then
agencies may use customized sampling plans.
Alternative Sampling Methods
Transit agencies may use any other procedure to sample UPT or PMT data, as long as
the procedure meets FTA confidence intervals and is approved by a qualified statistician.
In the NTD, sampling plans created by agencies or statisticians are referred to as
alternative sampling methods.
A qualified statistician can ensure that a sampling plan meets FTA statistical sampling
requirements. FTA does not prescribe specific statistician qualifications. Instead, transit
agencies must ensure that statisticians are qualified. The statistician may be an in-house
staff person with a working knowledge of, and an education or background in, statistics.
The statistician also may be a hired consultant with appropriate qualifications.
FTA does not review or approve alternative sampling techniques. A qualified statistician
must design the sampling technique to meet FTA confidence and precision levels.
Transit agencies must use this method to retain sampling documentation in their files.
The documentation should include
•

A description of the method that specifies the parameters used to estimate UPT
(e.g., UPT per vehicle trip x number of vehicle trips operated) if a 100 percent count
of UPT is not available or reliable, and PMT (e.g., PMT per vehicle trip x number

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•
•

of vehicle trips operated), and the rationale used to estimate the coefficient(s) of
variation,
A signed review of the technique by a qualified statistician, including a statement
that the technique meets FTA confidence and precision levels, and
A summary of the statistician’s education and experience that indicates that the
statistician is qualified

Sampling for Purchased Transportation Types of Service
FTA has developed additional reporting requirements for sampling purchased
transportation types of services:
•

A transit agency may apply one sample method to cover all purchased
transportation services for a specific mode, or each purchased transportation
contractor (seller of service) may use a separate sampling method.

Sampling Cycles
FTA has set minimum one-year or three-year sampling cycles for transit agencies. The
requirements are based on the TOS. For directly operated services, the requirements are
further stratified by the size of the primary Urbanized Area (UZA) and the number of
Vehicles Operated in Maximum Service (VOMS) directly operated across all modes.
Transit agencies must sample every year (one-year sampling cycle) if their services meet
the following requirements:
•
•
•

The agency directly operates the service;
The agency serves a primary UZA with population of 500,000 more; and
The agency has VOMS of 100 or more across all directly operated modes.

Agencies must sample annually if they do not have a 100 percent count of UPT.
Exhibit 20: Sampling Cycle Requirements
TOS

Primary UZA
Population

Total
VOMS for
Modes

100% Count of UPT
Conducted?

Mandatory Year

≥ 500,000

≥ 100

Yes/No

Annually

≥ 500,000

< 100

Yes

Triennially

≥ 500,000

<100

Annually

50,000 – 499,999

Yes

Triennially

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TOS

Primary UZA
Population

Total
VOMS for
Modes

100% Count of UPT
Conducted?

Mandatory Year

50,000 – 499,999

Annually

PT, TN,
and TX

≥ 50,000

Yes

Triennially

PT, TN,
and TX

≥ 50,000

Annually

Transit agencies are permitted to sample every three years (three-year sampling cycle)
for a mode and TOS if
•

The agency collects 100 percent counts of UPT every year for the mode and
TOS; and

•

One of the following conditions is met:
o

The agency directly operates all modes, and the total VOMS is less than 100;

The agency serves a primary UZA with population of less than 500,000; or

The TOS is purchased transportation.

If a transit agency wishes to sample every three years, it must collect sample data in FTAdefined mandatory years. The next mandatory sampling year is Fiscal Year 2023.
If a transit agency is a new Full Reporter, or if a transit agency starts a new mode or TOS,
the agency must sample during the first report year, even if it is not a mandatory year.

Vehicles Operated in Annual Maximum Service
VOMS are the number of revenue vehicles an agency operates to meet the annual
maximum service requirement. Agencies count their annual VOMS during the peak
season of the year on the busiest day that they provide service. In most cases, this is the
number of scheduled vehicles because most transit agencies have enough vehicles to
operate the scheduled service. VOMS excludes atypical days or one-time special events
for non-demand response modes.
Agencies should not report VOMS as the number of vehicles available to provide service
or the total number of vehicles in the agency’s inventory, unless the agency utilizes all of
these vehicles simultaneously and does not retain spares during peak service. Please
note that rural subrecipients must include volunteer vehicles in their VOMS count.

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Exhibit 21: VOMS
Non-Rail
Modes

Demand Response and
Vanpool

All other modes

VOMS

The largest number of vehicles
in revenue service at any one
time during the reporting year
(includes atypical service).

The largest number of operated
(usually scheduled) revenue
vehicles in service at any one
time during the reporting year
(excludes atypical service).

Deviated Services
Agencies may provide deviated or point deviated fixed route services (see “Deviated
Fixed Route Service” and “Point Deviation” below). Typically, agencies use deviated
services to comply with the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) requirements and provide
complementary paratransit service.
Agencies must report all deviated fixed route services as Bus (MB).

Deviated Fixed Route
Deviated fixed route services operate buses along a fixed route, but the buses may depart
from the route to go to a specific location. This may include traveling to residences,
employment locations, schools, and shopping areas. The bus then returns to the route
and continues to provide regular service. Buses usually travel up to three-quarters of a
mile away from the route to comply with the ADA requirements.

Point Deviation
Point deviation services do not follow a specific route. Instead, the drivers stop at bus
stops at scheduled times. The buses then travel to the necessary destinations until the
next scheduled bus stop. Agencies also use this type of service to meet the ADA
requirements.

Volunteer Resources
This section applies only to Rural Reporters.
Transit agencies should provide data for services using volunteer resources if they meet
the following criteria:

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•

The volunteer driver is a part of the transit agency’s regular service (e.g., the
agency schedules the service operated by the volunteer);

•

There is an attempt to share a ride; and

•

The transit agency keeps records for all public transit service and reviews
periodically to meet NTD reporting requirements.

NTD analysts may request samples of data logs to determine if the volunteer service is
eligible for NTD reporting.
If an agency uses volunteer resources, they will report volunteer drivers and the number
of personal vehicles used in service.
•

Volunteer drivers—the number of volunteer drivers the agency has available.

•

Personal vehicles in service—the number of personal vehicles routinely used by
the agency. Personal Vehicles used for service are not included in any asset forms.

Service Data for Intercity Bus Subrecipients
Subrecipients of §5311(f) funding only report VRM and UPT in their service data counts.
These data points should be specific to the State under which they file an NTD report.
If an Intercity Bus subrecipient expends §5311(f) funds for planning activities or capital
projects (intercity bus shelters, revenue vehicles, joint-use stops and depots), and are not
expended for operations (operating grants through purchase-of-service agreements,
user-side subsidies, and demonstration projects), the subrecipient would not include any
Vehicle Revenue Mile or Unlinked Passenger Trip data in its NTD report.

§5311 Intercity Bus Vehicle Revenue Miles
Section 5311 VRM for Intercity Bus service includes the total miles for the reporting period
that all vehicles travel in §5311 revenue service. If a route is only partially subsidized by
the §5311 funds, report all the VRM for that route—it is not necessary to track or allocate
service for a partial subsidy of the route.

§5311 Intercity Bus Unlinked Passenger Trips
Section 5311 annual UPT includes the total ridership for the reporting period that all
vehicles travel in §5311 service. If a route is only partially subsidized by the §5311 funds,
report all the UPT for that route—it is not necessary to track or allocate service for a partial
subsidy of the route.
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Non-Reportable Service
Agencies must exclude service data associated with non-reportable transit activity.

Deadhead
When transit vehicles are deadheading, they operate closed-door and do not carry
passengers. Deadhead includes:
•

Leaving or returning to the garage or yard facility to or from the starting or ending
point of revenue service

•

Changing routes

•

When the driver does not have the duty to carry passengers

For fixed route services, deadhead includes the miles and hours when a vehicle is not
available to the public and is traveling to its first publicly advertised stop.
For non-fixed route services, deadheading can involve travel from:
•

The garage to the dispatching point

•

The last passenger drop-off to the dispatching point

•

The last passenger drop-off to the garage

•

The dispatching point to the garage

FTA defines the dispatching point as the location where a driver receives the schedule to
provide revenue service.
Deadhead does not include fueling or lunch breaks. Some transit agencies do not have
fueling facilities at their maintenance facilities or parking lots. In these cases, drivers may
fuel vehicles on the way back to the garage. Some operators travel to lunch between a
drop off and the next pick up. Transit agencies should not report the time or miles drivers
spend fueling vehicles or traveling to and from lunch.
FTA may review certain services to determine whether they should be reported as
revenue or deadhead.

Charter Service
Transit agencies may provide charter service to private clients. The client defines this
service; the vehicle does not operate over a transit route on a regular schedule and it is
not available to the public.
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Charter service does not meet the definition of public transportation. Therefore, transit
agencies must exclude charter service from their revenue service data.

School Bus Service
School bus service is not open to the public. Instead, the service serves students
exclusively. Transit agencies may not report school bus service data to the NTD.
School bus service does not include additional trips, called school trippers, that a transit
agency may operate on an existing route to meet the daily or seasonal demands of
traveling students and that are open to the general public. Agencies should report school
trippers as part of revenue service.

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SAFETY DATA REQUIREMENTS
Agencies must report Safety and Security data as part of the NTD report. Full Reporters
must submit monthly Safety and Security data to the NTD through a separate report
package. For more information on full safety and security reporting, please refer to the
2022 NTD Safety & Security Policy Manual available on the NTD manuals web page.

Reportable Events
Transit agencies reporting as Rural Reporters and Reduced Reporters must report total
annual Reportable Events, as well as the total number of Fatalities and Injuries. FTA
defines a reportable event as an event occurring on transit right-of-way, in a transit
revenue facility, in a transit maintenance facility, or involving a transit revenue vehicle that
meets the following NTD reporting thresholds for non-rail modes:
•

A fatality (including suicide) confirmed within 30 days of the event

•

An injury requiring immediate medical attention away from the scene for one or
more persons

•

Property damage equal to or exceeding $25,000

•

Collisions involving transit revenue vehicles that require towing away from the
scene for a transit roadway vehicle or other non-transit roadway vehicle

•

An evacuation of a transit facility or vehicle for life safety reasons.

Reportable Events include either planned or unplanned events. A reportable event does
not include occupational safety events occurring in administrative buildings. Agencies
may not report illnesses that require transport away from the scene for medical attention
if the illness is unrelated to a Safety Event.

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Exhibit 22: Reportable Events
Scenario

Solution

Example 1: A transit vehicle overturns in
inclement weather. Two people are
transported away from the scene in an
ambulance to seek medical attention.

The agency would report 1
Reportable Event with 2 Injuries.

Example 2: A transit bus strikes a motor
vehicle from behind. One passenger visits the
doctor the following day and must be treated
for injuries sustained during the collision. Total
resulting property damage is $18,000 and no
vehicles are towed.

The passenger did not have to be
transported from the scene of the
collision, and the damage threshold
did not exceed $25,000. This does
not qualify as a Reportable Event to
the NTD.

Example 3: A passenger suffers a fatal stroke
while riding a transit vehicle.

The fatality did not result from a
transit event. This does not qualify
as a Reportable Event to the NTD.

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ASSET INVENTORY DATA REQUIREMENTS
Transit Asset Management Performance Measure Targets (Form A-90)
Requirements for reporting performance targets and
explanation of performance measure calculations for
Transit Asset Inventory (TAM) plans
Transit Agency Facilities (Forms A-10 and A-15)
Requirements for reporting information on buildings
and structures, including condition assessment
Vehicles (Forms A-30 and A-35)
An overview of the data the NTD collects on revenue
and service vehicle inventory, including condition
assessment

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Transit Asset Management Performance Measure Targets (Form
A-90)
Transit agencies must report the next fiscal year performance targets to the NTD for
assets for which they have capital replacement responsibility. Agencies report on their
progress towards achieving a state of good repair for capital assets by submitting
condition assessment and performance data. To support TAM planning, the NTD
presents this data side-by-side with targets set in the prior year.
The TAM Final Rule defines a performance target as a quantifiable level of performance
or condition, expressed as a value for the measure, to be achieved within a time period
required by FTA (in this case, in the next fiscal year). NTD reporters should contact
appropriate personnel within their agencies involved in TAM planning to make sure the
targets they report are accurate.
An agency is required to report an asset to the NTD in the fiscal year that the agency
begins using the asset for public transportation service. Agencies should not report assets
that are being assembled, assets under construction, or assets that are in testing at the
end of the fiscal year.
Transit agencies must report performance targets for the following categories:
Exhibit 23: Transit Asset Management Performance Targets: Calculation
Category

What to Report

Rolling Stock

Percentage of revenue vehicles within a particular asset class
that are expected5 to meet or exceed their Useful Life
Benchmark (ULB)
Report one target for each vehicle type

Equipment

Percentage of service vehicles that are expected to meet or
exceed their ULB
Report one target for each vehicle type

According to FTA’s Performance Management web page, targets “connect a provider’s strategic goals to the
actions that the provider will take to reach those goals.”

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Category

What to Report

Facilities

Percentage of facilities with a condition rating expected to rate
below 3.0 on the FTA Transit Economic Requirements Model
(TERM) scale (1=Poor to 5=Excellent)
Report one target for each facility type
(Maintenance/Administration, Passenger/Parking)

Capital Responsibility
An agency has direct capital responsibility for an asset if any of the following are true:
•
•
•

The agency owns the asset,
The agency jointly owns the asset with another entity, or
The agency is responsible for replacing, overhauling, refurbishing, or conducting
major repairs on an asset, or the cost of those activities is itemized as a capital line
item in the agency’s budget.

Performing minimal preventive maintenance work on an asset, like cleaning, does not in
itself indicate direct capital responsibility for the asset. An agency must have direct capital
responsibility or management or oversight responsibilities for the line item project.

Performance Target Categories
Rolling Stock
Rolling Stock performance targets should be set based on the percent of revenue vehicles
that are expected to have met or exceeded their ULB. For each vehicle type reported
across all modes, transit agencies must set an individual target.

Equipment
Equipment performance targets should be set based on the percent of service vehicles
that are expected to have met or exceeded their ULB. Transit agencies must set a target
for each applicable vehicle type:
•
•
•

Automobiles,
Trucks and Other Rubber Tire Vehicles, and
Steel Wheel Vehicles

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Please note, the Equipment category for performance targets does not include equipment
that agencies own or use outside of service vehicles.

Facility
Facility performance targets should be set based on the percent of facilities that are
expected to rate below 3 on the condition scale as defined later in this manual.

Performance Measure Calculations
Progress towards these targets will be calculated based on the reporting of the asset
categories outlined above. The asset inventory included in each category is further
defined later in Exhibit 24. Exhibit 25 outlines the calculation used to generate the actual
performance of each asset type.
Exhibit 24: Transit Asset Management Performance Target Inputs
Asset Category

Asset Inventory

Assets for Performance
Target (Based on
Condition Benchmark)

Passenger Station
Facility

All passenger stations and
facilities including Stations
on right-of-way (ROW),
bus terminals, and transfer
stations

All passenger
stations/facilities for which
the agency has capital
responsibility (Condition on
1 to 5 scale)

Bus stops should NOT be
inventoried
Maintenance or
Administrative Facility

Count of all maintenance
facilities used to support
revenue service
Detailed inventory of all
facilities for which the
agency has capital
responsibility

All maintenance facilities
for which the agency has
capital responsibility
(Condition on 1 to 5 scale)

Revenue Vehicles

All vehicles used in
revenue service

All revenue vehicles for
which the agency has
capital responsibility (ULB)

Service Vehicles

All service vehicles for
which the agency has
capital responsibility

All revenue vehicles for
which the agency has
capital responsibility (ULB)

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Exhibit 25: Performance Measure Calculations
Performance
Measure

Numerator

Denominator

Rolling Stock

Total dedicated, active
vehicles that have met or
exceeded the reported ULB
with capital responsibility

Total dedicated, active
vehicles with capital
responsibility and ULB
reported

Equipment

Total vehicles that have met
or exceeded the reported
ULB with capital
responsibility

Total vehicles with capital
responsibility and ULB
reported

Total facilities with a rating of
a 1 or 2 on the TERM scale,
with capital responsibility

Total facilities with a condition
assessment reported and with
capital responsibility. This
does not include facilities with
“N/A” reported for their
condition assessment

Facilities

Agency Tiers
Transit agencies are broken down into two tiers that determine the reporting of
performance targets — Tier I and Tier II.

Tier I Agencies
Tier I agencies are transit agencies that meet one of the following requirements:
•

Own, operate, or manage 101 vehicles or more in maximum service across all nonrail, fixed route modes or in any one non-fixed route mode.

•

Own, operate, or manage rail modes.

Tier I agencies are required to develop their own TAM plan and report their own
performance targets directly to the NTD.

Tier II Agencies
Tier II agencies are transit agencies that:

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•

Own, operate, or manage less than 101 vehicles in maximum service across all
non-rail fixed route modes or in any one non-fixed route mode and do not own,
operate, or manage rail modes.

•

Any subrecipients under the §5311 Formula Grants for Rural Areas, or any
American Indian Tribe.

Tier II agencies may participate in a group plan sponsor’s TAM plan, in which the group
plan sponsor will report the performance targets for all participants in the group. Tier II
agencies may only participate in one group plan sponsor’s TAM plan. Any Tier II agency
that chooses to opt out of a group plan sponsor’s plan, must develop their own TAM plan,
or participate in another group TAM plan.

Narrative Report
Beginning in Report Year 2019, agencies are required to upload a narrative report to the
NTD that outlines performance targets and their progress towards their targets. This
narrative may include any changes in transit system conditions that may affect progress
towards targets.

Group Plan Sponsors
Tier II agencies may participate in a Group TAM plan that is coordinated by a group plan
sponsor. In many cases, State Departments of Transportation will serve as group plan
sponsors for their subrecipients. Metropolitan Planning Organizations may also be
considered group plan sponsors.
Tier II agencies must have a direct or indirect funding relationship with their chosen group
plan sponsor. American Indian tribes have the option to select a sponsor that they do not
receive funds from.
Existing NTD reporters must designate their group plan sponsor, if they are reporting as
a Tier II agency. The agency will be prompted to declare and confirm their group plan
sponsor every four years, following the TAM reporting cycle. Any new reporters that are
required to report to the NTD per TAM legislation, must be added by their designated
group plan sponsor.

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Transit Agency Facilities (Forms A-10 and A-15)
Station Criteria
Passenger stations are defined according to the mode(s) serving the station.
The following are passenger stations:
•
•

•
•

•

All Commuter Rail (CR), Heavy Rail (HR), Hybrid Rail, Monorail/Automated
Guideway, and Alaska Railroad rail passenger facilities
All Light Rail (LR), Cable Car (CC), and Streetcar Rail (SR) passenger facilities
that have platforms and/or serve track that is in a separate ROW (not in mixedstreet traffic)
All Ferryboat (FB) stops
All transportation, transit or transfer centers, park-and-ride facilities, and transit
malls if they have a structure for passengers for ticketing, information, restrooms,
concessions, telephones, etc.
All Bus (MB), Bus Rapid Transit (RB), Commuter Bus (CB), and Trolleybus (TB)
passenger facilities in a separate ROW that have a platform and/or structure
All MB, RB, CB, and TB operated in mixed traffic that have a separate structure
(simple shelters, lighting, signage, or ramps for accessibility alone are not enough
to establish a passenger station)
For any station that operates in mixed traffic, a significant structure must be
present. This does not include bus shelters. Significant structures are those that
are enclosed, or if partially enclosed, should have a minimum roof square footage
of 150ft. Examples may include larger canopies or coverings to serve passengers.

Stations and Maintenance Facilities (Form A-10)
Transit agencies report data on
•

The number of passenger stations, both accessible and non-accessible, in
accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

•

The number of elevators and escalators within passenger stations

•

The number of maintenance facilities by size and ownership categories

Transit agencies reporting this information must separate data by mode and type of
service (Directly Operated and Purchased Transportation). Transit agencies are not
required to report this data for Purchased Transportation – Taxi (TN) and Purchased
Transportation – Taxi (TX) types of service.
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Passenger Stations – Urban Reporters
This section does not apply to Rural General Public Transit Reporters.
Transit agencies report passenger station information for fixed route, fixed schedule
services (rail modes, bus modes, TB, FB, and Aerial Tramway). Each agency must report
data for all passenger stations that the agency uses, even if the agency does not own the
stations.
Exhibit 26: Reporting Passenger Stations
Example: Coaster Transit Agency provides MB service to an FB passenger station
that Surf Transportation Authority owns. How should Coaster report the passenger
station?
Solution: Coaster Transit Agency should report 1 passenger station while Surf
Transportation Authority also reports 1 passenger station. Stations are reported by
use, not ownership.
For non-rail modes, report the station in each mode and type of service that it is used.
This may result in the “double counting” of some stations, because two types of MB
service (e.g., MB/DO and MB/PT) serve them, or because a combination of MB, CB, and
RB services serve them.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) Accessible Stations
Non-accessible stations do not provide easy access (i.e., do not meet accessibility
requirements for physical barriers, signage, and other aids) that enables individuals with
disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, to use public transit.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) Non-ADA Accessible Stations
Non-accessible stations do not provide easy access (i.e., do not meet accessibility
requirements for physical barriers, signage, and other aids) that enables individuals with
disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, to use public transit.
Escalators and Elevators
Transit agencies must report the number of escalators and elevators within the passenger
stations. Passengers use these to transfer between levels in a station. Elevators and
escalators exclude moving sidewalks.
Agencies should not report escalators and elevators that are used only for freight, transit
staff, or as back-up if passenger escalators and elevators break down.
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Maintenance Facilities
Transit agencies report maintenance facilities by
•
•
•

Type — general purpose or heavy maintenance
Ownership — owned or leased
Size — the number of revenue vehicles that can be serviced

Agencies should not report maintenance facilities where third-party vendors perform
services, such as a local gasoline service station or body shop.
On the A-10 form, a single facility consists of a property on which vehicle maintenance is
performed. The facility may contain several structures. This is different from the A-15
form, which has its own rules about how to count facilities.
Type
A general-purpose maintenance facility is a garage or building where mechanics perform
routine maintenance and repairs. General-purpose maintenance facilities typically serve
as operating garages where agencies store and dispatch vehicles for revenue service.
Larger transit agencies may perform engine and other major unit rebuilds. FTA identifies
facilities devoted exclusively to major rebuilds as heavy maintenance facilities.
Some transit agencies use the same facility for both general purpose and heavy
maintenance. In these cases, agencies should report facilities they use for both purposes
as general-purpose maintenance facilities.
Transit agencies must report general-purpose maintenance facilities by
•
•

Ownership — owned or leased
Size — the number of revenue vehicles that can be serviced

Transit agencies must report heavy maintenance facilities by ownership category.
Agencies do not provide data on facility size for heavy maintenance facilities.
Ownership
Transit agencies must identify maintenance facility ownership based on the type of
service (DO or PT).
For DO service, transit agencies must report if the facility is publicly owned or privately
owned. Transit agencies identify if they own the facility, lease it from another public
agency (such as a city highway department), or lease it from a private entity.
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For PT service, agencies indicate if there is public or private involvement in the
maintenance facility. Agencies must report data if the facility is owned by the service
provider (PT contractor), owned by the public agency for the service provider, leased by
the public agency for the service provider, or leased by the service provider.
Size
Agencies should report the size of the facility based on the maximum number of revenue
vehicles that can be serviced and stored at one time. Size is a measure of the design
capacity of the facility, not the number of revenue vehicles currently operated from the
facility.
FTA divides size into three categories based on the number of revenue vehicles that can
be serviced:
•
•
•

Under 200 vehicles
200–300 vehicles
More than 300 vehicles
Exhibit 27: Facility Size

Example: Coaster Transit Agency (CTA) operates 175 vehicles and owns a
maintenance facility that can store 225 vehicles. What size of general-purpose
maintenance facility should it report?
Solution: CTA should report a general-purpose maintenance facility that serves 200–
300 vehicles.
Shared Facilities
Some transit agencies share facilities between multiple modes or types of service. The
most common arrangement is the operation of MB and DR vehicles in a single facility.
For reporting purposes, these shared facilities must be allocated among the various
modes or types of service using the facility.
Exhibit 28:Shared General-Purpose Maintenance Facilities
Example: CTA uses one of its general-purpose maintenance facilities for both
MB and DR/DO services and the DR/PT service. How should the CTA report
maintenance facilities?

Solution: CTA allocates the facility based on vehicles assigned.

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Vehicles Serviced

Percent of Total

Number of Facilities
Reported:

MB/DO

240

82.8%

0.8

DR/DO

10.3%

0.1

DR/PT

6.9%

0.1

290

100%

1.0

Mode

Total

Transit Asset Management Facilities Inventory (Form A-15)
Transit agencies are required to report all passenger facilities used in revenue service,
including passenger stations and parking facilities, regardless of capital responsibility.
Administrative and maintenance facilities are only reportable if the agency has capital
responsibility for the facility and the transit use is greater than incidental. Use is incidental
when 50 percent or less of the facility's physical space is dedicated to the provision of
public transportation service. For maintenance facilities, agencies may use the number
of transit vehicles serviced in the facility compared to all vehicles serviced in the facility
to estimate this percentage. Facilities must have a structure; empty lots used for storage
are not reportable.
Agencies must provide condition assessments for passenger, administrative or
maintenance facilities for which they have capital responsibility.
All reportable facilities must provide the following data points:
•

Facility Type

•

Year Built or Reconstructed as New

•

If a facility is constructed over the span of multiple years, this should reflect
the end date of construction.

Reconstructed as New: occurs when an old facility has been renovated to the
degree that its expected useful life is equivalent to the condition and useful
life of a new facility. A facility that has just been reconstructed as new should
a rating of 5 on FTA’s TERM scale, even if no explicit condition assessment
has been performed.

Square Feet or Number of Parking Spaces
o

Agencies should report the best available measurement for the total number
of square feet or parking spaces in a passenger or parking facility (or section
of a facility).

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•

Parking spaces are only reportable for facilities with a Facility Type of Parking
Structure or Surface Parking Lot.

Agencies should use the following criteria to report square footage:
▪

Underground Facilities: Report all areas under the roof, including
mezzanines, platforms, and track.

▪

Multilevel Facilities: Report all platforms and other floor areas under a
roof.

▪

Elevated Facilities: Report all platform and mezzanine space. Do not
include track space.

▪

At-Grade Facilities: Report building square footage (if applicable) and all
platform area.

Address
o

Agencies must report either Address OR Latitude and Longitude Coordinates.

Shared Capital Responsibility
Transit agencies that share capital responsibility with another agency must report the
amount of capital responsibility for each facility shared. Both agencies that share the
capital responsibility will report the condition assessment for the asset. The agencies
must determine their roles in conducting the assessment.

Primary, Secondary, and Private Mode
Transit agencies must report a primary mode for each facility. If a facility is utilized by
more than one mode, agencies should report secondary modes for each mode that the
facility is shared with. For example, if a shared facility hosts revenue vehicles for the
operation of MB and DR vehicles but predominantly handles buses, then classify the
facility as a MB maintenance facility. If a facility is shared with a private mode or nonpublic transportation service, these should also be reported.
Report a secondary mode for a passenger station when a capital cost was incurred in the
construction of the station to accommodate the secondary mode. For example, for a rail
station with off-street space for buses to load and unload passengers, report the bus
mode as a secondary mode. If there is only a simple bus stop on the street near the
station, do not report a secondary mode.

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Private Modes
Transit agencies that serve multimodal passenger facilities with non-public transportation
providers are required to report the non-public transportation modes with their facility
asset information. Examples of these private modes include airports, Amtrak, and Intercity
Bus.
A station is defined as multimodal if it serves more than one public transit mode operated
by the reporting agency or another public transit agency, OR if it serves both a public
transit and private mode, as defined in the table below.
Exhibit 29: Private Modes
Mode

Example

Private Water Transit

Passenger facility building is shared
between a transit mode and a private ferry
service. Shared space may include
passenger waiting and ticket vending
areas.

Private Rail Transit

Passenger facility building is shared
between a transit mode and intercity
passenger rail service (typically Amtrak).
Shared space may include platforms,
passenger waiting areas and ticket vending
locations.

Airport/ Private Bus Transit

Passenger facility building is shared
between a transit mode and an airport,
private bus provider, or the passenger
facility provides connectivity to an airport.
Connectivity may mean station and airport
are connected directly via pedestrian
overpasses, indirectly via airport shuttle
buses, or directly with rail cars entering a
station located in an airport building.
Shared space for private bus providers
may include passenger waiting areas,
restrooms and ticket vending locations.

Non-Agency Mode
The non-agency mode field is intended for use in cases when an agency has capital
responsibility for a facility and continuing reporting requirements but does not operate

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public transit service using the facility. The agency will select the mode that the facility
serves, which is operated by another entity.

Facility Types
Each facility must be defined as a specific type. Facilities are broken down into three
categories:
•
•
•

Administrative
Maintenance
Passenger/Parking

Subsection of a Larger Facility
A subsection of a larger facility is a section of a facility that varies in age from the rest of
the main facility due to significant rebuilding, addition, or retrofitting. Agencies are
encouraged to report sections of the facility in multiple entries to more accurately
represent its age and function in the inventory. A facility may be reported as several
subsections if the age varies throughout.
Different buildings on a single property should not be reported as subsections of a larger
facility. Each building is one facility. Facilities that are adjacent to one another must be
reported separately.
Administrative and Maintenance Facility Type
Administrative buildings are the general administrative offices owned by a transit agency.
Administrative buildings usually house executive management and support activities for
overall transit operations, including accounting, finance, engineering, legal, safety,
security, customer services, scheduling, and planning. Administrative buildings also
include separate buildings for customer information or ticket sales that a transit agency
owns and that are not part of passenger stations.
Maintenance facilities are those where routine maintenance and repairs or heavy
maintenance or unit rebuilds are conducted. Agencies must not report maintenance
facilities where third-party vendors perform services, such as a local gasoline service or
body shop.
Administrative and maintenance facilities are reportable if the agency has capital
responsibility, and the transit use is greater than incidental. For example, if the
administrative office is in a building that has only incidental transit use (e.g., city hall),
then it is not reportable.
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Exhibit 30: Administrative and Maintenance Facility Types
Administrative or Maintenance
Facility Type

Facility Type Description

Maintenance facility where mechanics, machinists
and other maintenance personnel perform
preventive maintenance, daily service and
inspection, and/or corrective maintenance
activities on revenue vehicles to keep them inservice.
Facilities generally contain maintenance bays,
built- in or portable lifts and/or inspection pits, fuel
pump islands, fuel storage tanks, bus wash
systems, and brake testing lanes.

Maintenance Facility (Service
and Inspection)

Personnel inspect, repair, or replace some, but
not all, vehicle components during the following
activities:
• Clean interiors
• Maintain cameras
• Fill/replace fluids and lubricants
• Replace filters
• Replace/repair tires
• Inspect suspensions and brakes
• Inspect batteries, wheelchair lifts and ramps
• Degrease engines
• Perform minor body repairs and painting
Revenue vehicles may be stored overnight or
between being placed into revenue service.

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Administrative or Maintenance
Facility Type

Heavy Maintenance and
Overhaul (Backshop)

Facility Type Description

Maintenance facility where mechanics, machinists
and other maintenance personnel perform heavy
overhaul and other related rebuilding activities to
help revenue vehicles reach their targeted service
life. Activities usually occur at mid-life (i.e., midpoint of useful life) to refurbish, overhaul or
replace major vehicle components. These
components include, but are not limited to, the
following:
• Engines, transmissions, or axles
• Fareboxes, radios, and other electronics
• Starters, alternators, and brake system
components
• Chassis parts and seats
• Bearings

General Purpose Maintenance
Facility/Depot

Maintenance facility where mechanics and other
maintenance department personnel, provide basic
service readiness inspection (e.g., tire pressure,
oil/fluid levels etc.) and light repair (e.g., mirror
replacement) or service (e.g., sweeping) on
revenue. Revenue vehicles may be stored here
overnight or between being placed into revenue
service.

Vehicle Washing Facility

Stand-alone building or structure containing
vehicle washer equipment.

Vehicle Blow-Down Facility

Stand-alone building or structure containing
equipment for cleaning under-floor equipment of
rail rolling stock.

Vehicle Fueling Facility

Stand-alone building or structure containing
vehicle fuel dispensing equipment.

Vehicle Testing Facility

Maintenance facility used for vehicle acceptance
testing (after being received from manufacturer or
overhauls or other maintenance activity).

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Administrative or Maintenance
Facility Type

Administrative Office / Sales
Office

Facility Type Description

Facilities and offices which house the executive
management and supporting activities for transit
operations, with the exception of vehicle
maintenance, that could include accounting,
finance, engineering, legal, safety, security,
customer services, scheduling and planning.
These buildings may include customer information
or ticket sale offices, which are owned by the
transit agency but not part of passenger stations.
Facility where revenue collection personnel
process electronic and/or cash fare payments.
May include revenue counting equipment such as
bill counters, coin scanners, and coin sorters. May
also include or store the following revenue
collection and monitoring equipment:

Revenue Collection Facility

• Cameras and Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV)
• Cash box repair areas
• Alarm systems
• Computerized probe for downloading etransactions on GFI farebox
• Vault compartment

Combined Administrative and
Maintenance Facility

Any facility with combined functions of at least one
of the administrative facilities listed above and one
of the maintenance facilities listed above. If
selected, describe specific facility in “Notes” field.

Other

Any administrative or maintenance facility that
does not fit into one of the ten categories
described above. If selected, describe specific
facility.

Passenger and Parking Facility Types
Agencies must report all passenger stations and parking facilities that passengers use in
revenue service. Parking facilities include park-and-ride lots as well as parking garages.
Note that passenger and parking facilities are often collectively referenced as “passenger
facilities.” Parking facilities used solely by employees are not reportable.

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Parking facilities are those immediately adjacent to passenger facilities. Agencies must
inventory parking facilities separately.
Except for Parking Structure or Surface Parking Lot, all other passenger facilities must
meet the station criteria outlined in this manual. Please refer to the “Asset Inventory Data
Requirements: Transit Agency Facilities” section for further detail on criteria for specific
modes.
Exhibit 31: Passenger and Parking Facility Types
Passenger or Parking Facility Type

Facility Type Description

Bus Transfer Center

Terminal station for several routes or a large
mid-route transfer facility where passengers
may connect between two or more fixed-route
bus services. The station may or may not
have off-street area for buses to pull in or turn
around. Terminal may have a single rubbertire mode, usually MB, but may be connection
hub for bus, CB, and/or Intercity Bus services.
Transfer centers are structures that have a
passenger waiting area. Some transfer
centers have ticket vending machines or
staffed ticketing booths. Does not include
simple bus shelters.

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Passenger or Parking Facility Type

Facility Type Description

Elevated Fixed Guideway Station

Station located above grade built on a
viaduct, a steel or concrete structure, or on
retained fill.
Steel and reinforced concrete components in
elevated structure can include:
• Foundation
• Piers
• Retaining Walls
• Beams
• Stringers
• Bearing pads
• Expansion joints
Passenger stations include stairs, elevators,
and escalators to reach ticket mezzanines
and/or train platforms. Elevated stations may
have pedestrian overpasses to allow
passengers to cross over the tracks before or
after entering the station. Stations may
include canopies or shelters, lighting, and
signage.

At-Grade Fixed Guideway Station

Station located at street grade along a transit
exclusive ROW. May include pedestrian
overpasses to allow passengers to reach
station.

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Passenger or Parking Facility Type

Facility Type Description

Underground Fixed Guideway
Station
A passenger station typically consisting of a
concrete structure built below grade,
constructed by cut and cover, drill-and-blast,
excavated, bored tunnel, or sunken
underwater tube.
Stations typically include sump pumps,
ventilation systems, and lighting systems.

Simple At-Grade Platform Station

Stops on-street or in street or highway
medians. May be low-level platforms (serving
low-floor vehicles) or raised platforms
(serving high-floor vehicles). Typically
includes shelters, canopies, lighting, signage,
and/or ticket vending machines. Right-of-way
leading up to the platform station is in mixed
traffic. This station type is often served by
Light Rail and Streetcar transit. For MB, CB,
RB, and TB modes, a significant structure
must be present. Does not include simple bus
shelters.

Exclusive Platform Station

Stops along the street or in street or highway
medians that are separated from mixed
traffic. May be low-level platforms (serving
low-floor vehicles) or raised platforms
(serving high-floor vehicles).
Typically include shelters, canopies, lighting,
signage, and/or ticket vending machines.
Right-of-way leading up to the platform
station is separated from automobile traffic.
This station type is often served by LR and
SR transit. For MB, CB, RB, and TB modes, a
significant structure must be present. Does
not include simple bus shelters.

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Passenger or Parking Facility Type

Facility Type Description

Ferryboat Terminal
Terminal station where passengers may
board or alight from the ferryboat. Terminals
may include canopies or shelters, lighting,
and signage.

Surface Parking Lot
A lot paved with asphalt, concrete, or
permeable materials with parking spaces
outlined by paint and other materials for
demarcation. Typically includes lanes for
vehicle circulation and is usually uncovered.

Parking Structure

Single or multi-level parking structure built
either underground (typically underneath a
building or station), above grade, or both.
Characterized by a street-level entrance with
ramps to access parking spaces below the
surface.

Other

Any passenger or parking facility that does
not fit into one of the nine categories
described above. If you select “Other,”
describe specific facility and its functions in
the “Notes” field.

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Condition Assessment
Transit agencies are required to report a condition assessment for all facilities for which
they have capital replacement responsibility. The condition assessment is based on
FTA’s Transit Economic Requirements Model (TERM) scale. The scale is based on five
values for assets:
Exhibit 32: TERM Scale
Rating

Condition Description

Excellent

No visible defects, new or new near condition, may still be
under warranty if applicable

Good

Good condition, but no longer new, may have some slightly
defective or deteriorated component(s), but is overall functional

Adequate

Moderately deteriorated or defective components; but has not
exceeded its useful life

Marginal

Defective or deteriorated component(s) in need of
replacement, exceeded useful life

Poor

Critically damaged component(s) or in need of immediate
repair; well past useful life

Assets are considered in good repair with a score of 3 or higher. With a score of 2 or
lower, assets are not considered to be in the state of good repair backlog.
Agencies are not required to report condition assessments on facilities or stations that
are under construction. Agencies must inventory existing facilities that are under
construction if they are still using them in revenue service. A condition assessment is not
required until construction is complete. Agencies may only report condition assessments
that occurred during the fiscal year being reported on.
Primary and Secondary Rating Levels
In the TAM Facility Performance Measure Reporting Guidebook: Condition Assessment
Calculation, FTA outlines primary and secondary rating levels to assist in assessing
facilities conditions. Primary levels describe large components of a facility, while
secondary levels will detail the smaller components that make up the larger component.
Secondary rating levels may assist in determine overall conditions for facilities that have
varied conditions for the outlined features.

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Examples of primary level features would include:
•
•
•
•

Substructure
Interiors
Conveyance
Plumbing

For the primary level, Substructure, secondary levels included may be elements such as:
•
•

Foundations: walls, columns, pilings, etc.
Basement: materials, insulations, slab, floor underpinnings

For a complete list of primary and secondary levels, please refer to the FTA guidebook.
Equipment in Facilities
Agencies may choose to include equipment in facility condition assessments. If the
equipment is integral to the building and is not typically moved from one facility to another,
it should be inventoried and assessed as part of the facility. Equipment that is inventoried
separately, should not be assessed as part of an agency’s facilities. Please note, the
Equipment target set for each agency refers to service vehicles only.
TERM Scale Reporting
The TERM scale condition assessments must be reported as integers. The overall ratings
must be rounded to the nearest whole value following standard rounding guidelines – if
the value is less than .5, the value would be rounded down, and if the value is .5 or
greater, it would be rounded up.
Facilities condition assessments must be updated every four years at minimum. In Report
Year 2022, agencies must update at least 25 percent of all facility condition assessments
from the prior four-year cycle. For Group TAM plans, the 25 percent annual minimum
applies to the group as a whole and not to individual participants.
Please refer to the FTA guidebook for more information on determining TERM scale
ratings for facilities.

Vehicles
All transit agencies reporting service data must provide information on revenue vehicles
by mode and type of service. Rural reporters provide less detailed data.

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Transit agencies must inventory all vehicles they use to provide public transportation that
have not been sold or disposed of at the end of the fiscal year. Vehicles must be reported
on the first fiscal year in which they are used in revenue service. This inventory identifies
the vehicles in the total fleet and includes all revenue and service vehicles in the following
situations.
•
•
•
•
•

Vehicles in operation (i.e., providing revenue service)
Vehicles awaiting sale or disposal
Vehicles out for long-term repair
Vehicles in storage
Vehicles retained as part of an FTA-approved emergency contingency plan

Transit agencies report revenue vehicle inventory data by groups or fleets. Agencies
should group vehicles into fleets if they are identical in all aspects, including vehicle type,
manufacture year, model, and funding source, etc.

Revenue Vehicle Inventory (Form A-30)
FTA collects the following data from transit agencies that report revenue vehicle inventory
information:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Agency Fleet Identification
Vehicle type
Number of vehicles in total fleet
Number of active vehicles in fleet
Dedicated fleet
Vehicle length
Seating capacity
Year of manufacture
Ownership
Funding source
Number of emergency contingency vehicles
ADA-accessible vehicles
Useful Life Benchmark

Agency Fleet Identification
Transit agencies may report unique identifiers for each fleet in their inventory. This may
be any characteristic or group identifier the agency uses to distinguish between vehicle
fleets.

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Vehicle Type
Transit agencies must report the vehicle type for each fleet of vehicles. Please see the
list of vehicle types below:
Articulated Buses (AB) are extra-long (54 ft. to 60 ft.) buses with two connected
passenger compartments. The rear body section is connected to the main body by a joint
mechanism that allows the vehicles to bend when in operation for sharp turns and curves
and yet have a continuous interior.
Automobile (AO) is a passenger car up to and including station wagons in size. Excludes
minivans and anything larger.
Over-the-road bus (BR) is a bus characterized by an elevated passenger deck located
over a baggage compartment.
Bus (BU) is a rubber-tired passenger vehicle powered by diesel, gasoline, battery, or
alternative fuel engines contained within the vehicle. Vehicles in this category do not
include school buses or cutaways. This group does include minibuses such as a Sprinter.
Cutaway (CU) is a transit vehicle is built on a van or truck chassis by a second stage
manufacturer. The chassis is purchased by the body builder, a framework is built for the
body, and then the body is finished for a complete vehicle. For example, a truck chassis
may be used as the base for a small transit bus. The demand response picture under the
mode section displays a cutaway.
Double Decker Bus (DB) is a high-capacity bus having two levels of seating, one over
the other, connected by one or more stairways. Total bus height is usually 13 to 14.5 feet,
and typical passenger seating capacity ranges from 40 to 80 people.
Ferryboat (FB) is a vessel for carrying passengers or vehicles over a body of water. The
vessels are generally steam or diesel-powered conventional ferry vessels. They may also
be hovercraft, hydrofoil, and other high-speed vessels.
Inclined Plane Vehicle (IP) is a special type of passenger vehicle operating up and down
slopes on rails via a cable mechanism.
Minivan (MV) is a light duty vehicle having a typical seating capacity of up to seven
passengers plus a driver. A minivan is smaller, lower, and more streamlined than a fullsized van, but it is typically taller and has a higher floor than a passenger car. Minivans
normally cannot accommodate standing passengers.
School Bus (SB) is a passenger vehicle, which is designed to carry more than ten
passengers in addition to the driver. School buses are used primarily for transporting preAsset Inventory Data Requirements — 109

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primary, primary or secondary school students either to such schools from home or from
such schools to home.
Sports Utility Vehicle (SV) is a high-performance four-wheel drive car built on a truck
chassis. It is a passenger vehicle, which combines the towing capacity of a pickup truck
with the passenger-carrying space of a minivan or station wagon. Most SUVs are
designed with a roughly square cross-section, an engine compartment, a combined
passenger and cargo compartment, and no dedicated trunk. Most mid-size and full-size
SUVs have three rows of seats with a cargo area directly behind the last row of seats.
Compact SUVs and mini SUVs may have five or fewer seats.
Trolleybus (TB) is a rubber-tired, electrically powered passenger vehicle operated on
city streets drawing power from overhead lines with trolleys.
Aerial Tramway Vehicle (TR) is an unpowered passenger vehicle suspended from a
system of aerial cables and propelled by separate cables attached to the vehicle
suspension system. Engines or motors at a central location, not onboard the vehicle,
power the cable system.
Van (VN) is an enclosed vehicle having a typical seating capacity of 8 to 18 passengers
and a driver. A van is typically taller and with a higher floor than a passenger car, such
as a hatchback or station wagon. Vans normally cannot accommodate standing
passengers.
Vintage Trolley/Streetcar (VT) is a vintage or antique rail car originally manufactured
before 1975 or a replica of this type of rail car built more recently. The vehicles are
typically operated in mixed traffic ROW but may also operate on exclusive ROWs.
Appendix B, “Asset Codes,” provides a quick reference for abbreviations the NTD uses
on the Annual Report for vehicle type.
Some transit agencies operate motor buses that look like trolleybuses. However, these
replica trolleys do not share the same characteristics as true trolleybuses, such as
drawing electrical power from overhead lines. If an agency operates replica trolleys, it
must report the replicas as buses under the MB mode.

Number of Vehicles in Total Fleet
Transit agencies must report the number of revenue vehicles in the total fleet at the end
of the fiscal year. This total does not include supervisor or support vehicles. Total vehicles
include both active and inactive vehicles held at the end of the fiscal year. Agencies report
vehicles they sell or dispose of during their fiscal year and should indicate they have
retired these vehicles.
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Inactive vehicles are not readily available for revenue service. They include vehicles that
are:
•
•
•
•

In storage
Retained for emergency contingency purposes
Out of service for an extended period of time for major repairs
Awaiting sale or disposal

Transit agencies add vehicles to the inventory of Total Vehicles the first year they are
used in transit service. Active vehicles are the vehicles available to operate in revenue
service. Active vehicles include spare vehicles and vehicles temporarily out of service for
routine maintenance and minor repairs. Because the number of active vehicles includes
spares, the number of active vehicles is typically greater than the number of Vehicles
Operated in Maximum Service.
Exhibit 33: Active and Inactive Vehicles
Vehicle Inventory

Total
Active
Inactive Contingency
Vehicles Vehicles Vehicles

Vehicles in Service

Spare Vehicles

Vehicles in Routine
Maintenance/Minor Repairs

Vehicles in
Rehabilitation/Major
Repairs

Vehicles Awaiting Sale

Vehicles in Storage

FTA-Approved Contingency X
Vehicles

Vehicles Being
Cannibalized for Parts

Vehicles Sold During Fiscal
Year

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Vehicle Inventory

Total
Active
Inactive Contingency
Vehicles Vehicles Vehicles

Support Vehicles and
Supervisor Vehicles

New Vehicles not yet in
Service

Number of Active Vehicles in Fleet
Transit agencies must report the number of active vehicles in the fleet at year-end. Active
vehicles do not include emergency contingency vehicles.
If an agency were holding an entire fleet of vehicles until disposal, the agency would
report the number of active vehicles for that fleet as zero.

Dedicated Fleet
FTA defines dedicated vehicles as vehicles used exclusively for public transit service.
Transit agencies that report directly operated service must report all vehicles under
dedicated fleets.
In some cases, purchased transportation contractors do not use a dedicated fleet for
public transit services. Transit agencies reporting this service must report such vehicles
as non-dedicated. Transit agencies report limited data for non-dedicated fleets. NonDedicated fleets should encompass a representative sample of the vehicles used to
provide the service. For TN and TX types of modes, spares should not be included in this
sample.

Vehicle Length
Transit agencies must report the vehicle length for each fleet of vehicles in feet.

Seating Capacity
The NTD captures seating capacity for each vehicle fleet. This is the actual number of
seats onboard the vehicle and does not include the driver’s seat except for Vanpool where
the driver is typically a passenger. Manufacturers generally cite this information in the
specification of the vehicle.

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Year of Manufacture
Transit agencies must report the year of manufacture for the vehicles. The year of
manufacturer is the year that the vehicles were built, not the model year.
Exhibit 34: Year of Manufacture vs. Model Year
Example: A fleet of 20 buses is manufactured in 2021. The model year of the 20
buses is 2022. What is the year of manufacture for purposes of NTD reporting?
Solution: Report the year of manufacture as 2021 as this is the year in which the
vehicles were built.

Ownership
Transit agencies must indicate what type of entity owns the revenue vehicles and the
ownership type. Ownership types include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Owned outright by a public agency
Owned outright by a private entity
True lease by a public agency
True lease by a private entity
Lease under a lease purchase agreement by a public agency
Lease under a lease purchase agreement by a private entity
Leased or borrowed from related parties by a public agency
Leased or borrowed from related parties by a private entity

Owned Outright
Owned outright indicates that a public agency or private entity owns the vehicles. Owned
outright also includes safe harbor leasing agreements where only the tax title is sold.
True Lease
Under a true lease the public agency or private entity does not own the vehicle. Typically,
at the end of the lease, the entity leasing the vehicle returns it to the leasing company.
When the public agency or private entity returns the leased vehicle, it often enters into a
new lease agreement, usually for a new vehicle.
In some cases, true leases include the option to purchase the vehicle at the end of the
lease. When the agency buys the vehicle, vehicle ownership becomes owned outright.

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Public transit agencies generally do not enter into true leases for revenue vehicles.
However, should a transit agency enter into a true lease with a private entity for a Vanpool
program, it should report the arrangement as a true lease. If the agency does not have a
true lease, it should report the vehicles as owned outright by a private entity.
Lease Purchase Agreement
Under a lease purchase agreement, the public agency or private entity acquires the
vehicle by making all lease payments. The public agency or private entity owns the vehicle
when it makes all payments, at which the ownership type changes to owned outright.
Leased or Borrowed from Related Parties
Leased or borrowed from related parties usually involves two government entities.
Sometimes, another public agency (e.g., a State) owns the vehicles and either leases
them or provides them at no cost to the transit agency (e.g., local grantee).
Please see Appendix B, “Asset Codes,” for the acronyms the NTD uses on the Annual
Report for ownership type.

Funding Source
Agencies must indicate the funding source used to purchase or lease vehicles using the
following options:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Urbanized Area Formula Program (§5307)
Formula Grants for Rural Areas (§5311)
Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (§5310)
Other Federal funds
Non-Federal public funds
Non-Federal private funds.

Please see Appendix B, “Asset Codes,” for the abbreviations the NTD uses on the Annual
Report for funding sources.

Number of Emergency Contingency Vehicles
FTA normally requires that agencies dispose of vehicles when they replace them with
FTA-funded vehicles. However, FTA may permit a transit agency to keep the vehicles in
an inactive fleet to be used in the event of natural disasters. Agencies must request FTA
approval of an Emergency Contingency Plan for keeping replaced vehicles.

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Agencies must report the number of vehicles in an approved FTA Emergency
Contingency Plan. They must report the emergency contingency vehicles as an inactive
fleet.

ADA-Accessible Vehicles
Agencies must identify active vehicles that meet ADA requirements for accessibility.

Useful Life Benchmark
ULB is the expected life cycle of a capital asset for a particular transit agency’s operating
environment, or the acceptable period of use in that environment. Agencies must report
a ULB for all fleets for which they have capital replacement responsibility.
FTA has outlined default ULB for each vehicle type. If a transit agency selects ULBs that
differ from FTA’s default values, the NTD analyst may request supporting documentation.
Please see the table below for default ULB’s for common vehicle types.
Exhibit 35: Revenue Vehicle Default Useful Life Benchmarks
Vehicle Type

Default ULB (in years)

Articulated Bus (AB)

Automated Guideway Vehicle (AG)

Automobile (AO)

Over-the-road Bus (BR)

Bus (BU)

Cable Car (CC)

112

Cutaway Bus (CU)

Double Decked Bus (DB)

Ferryboat (FB)

Heavy Rail Passenger Car (HR)

Inclined Plane Vehicle (IP)

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Vehicle Type

Default ULB (in years)

Light Rail Vehicle (LR)

Monorail Vehicle (MO)

Minivan (MV)

Commuter Rail Locomotive (RL)

Commuter Rail Passenger Coach (RP)

Commuter Rail Self-Propelled Passenger Car (RS)

School Bus (SB)

Sports Utility Vehicle (SV)

Trolleybus (TB)

Aerial Tramway (TR)

Van (VN)

Vintage Trolley (VT)

Capital Responsibility for Revenue Vehicles
Transit agencies indicate whether they have capital responsibility for each revenue
vehicle fleet. If the transit agency leases the vehicles but must pay a certain percent
annually to eventually own the assets, such as lease-to-own arrangements, the agency
should report the status of capital responsibility as of the end of the fiscal year.
In the case of leased or borrowed from related parties’ agreements, the lessee does not
have to report ULB for these assets, as they do not have capital responsibility. It is
typically the lessor that would report this condition assessment.
Agencies that have true leases are not required to report ULB for these revenue vehicles
since the agency does not have capital responsibility.

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Autonomous Vehicle Fleets
Transit agencies indicate whether fleet vehicles are autonomous. An automated or
autonomous vehicle is “a vehicle that can itself perform all driving tasks and monitor the
driving environment in certain circumstances.”

Revenue Vehicle Inventory – Additional Requirements for Urban Reporters
Urban Reporters that report directly to the NTD must also report:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Year of rebuild
Manufacturer
Model
Standing capacity
Total miles on active vehicles
Average lifetime miles per active vehicle

Year and Type of Last Renewal
Transit agencies must report the year of renewal and type of renewal for the vehicles, if
applicable. An agency must report a year of renewal if it performs work on a vehicle to
extend its useful life or ensure the useful life is reached. The following renewal types must
be reported:
•
•

Mid-Life Vehicle Overhaul
Life-Extending Rebuild

Mid-Life Vehicle Overhaul is the systematic replacement or upgrade of vehicle systems
with a useful life less than the useful life of the entire vehicle in a programmed manner.
Overhaul is performed as a planned or concentrated preventive maintenance activity and
is intended to enable the vehicle to perform to the end of the original useful life.
Life-Extending Rebuild is a capital activity associated with rolling stock that occurs at or
near the end of a unit of rolling stock’s useful life. This results in an extended useful life
for the unit consistent with the extent of the rebuild.
For example, an agency may rebuild a bus with a useful life of 12 years to extend its
useful life to 17 years.
If an agency rebuilds a portion of a vehicle fleet that it reports to the NTD, it must divide
the fleet and report the rebuilt vehicles separately. Agencies can only group vehicles into

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a fleet on the Annual Report if the vehicles are identical. Agencies should not update the
original funding source in the event of a rebuild.
Manufacturer
Agencies should report the company that manufactured the vehicle. Some vehicles may
have more than one manufacturer. For example, cutaway vehicles have two
manufacturers: the manufacturer of the chassis and the manufacturer of the body. Transit
agencies must report the manufacturer of the body.
Please see Appendix B, “Asset Codes,” for the acronyms the NTD uses on the Annual
Report for manufacturer type.
Model
Transit agencies must report the model name for a vehicle as the model that the vehicle
manufacturer provides. The Vehicle Identification Number is not the model.
Exhibit 36: Manufacturer vs. Model
Example: Transit Agency A has a fleet of cutaway vehicles built on Ford F-350
chassis. The bodies were manufactured by El Dorado. El Dorado lists the vehicles as
being Aerotech models. What does the agency report as the manufacturer and the
model?
Solution: The agency must report the body manufacturer. Transit Agency A reports El
Dorado (EDN) as the manufacturer and Aerotech as the model.
Standing Capacity
Transit agencies must report the standing capacity of the vehicle fleet. This is the
maximum number of people that a transit agency allows (by policy) to stand on the vehicle
at one time.
If local policy prohibits standing, the agency would report zero for standing capacity. In
the unlikely event that there is no local policy on the maximum number of standees, the
agency should report the rated standing capacity as provided by that vehicle’s
manufacturer.
Total Miles on Active Vehicles
Agencies must report the total miles each vehicle fleet was driven during the fiscal year.
The total miles on active vehicles include

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•

Actual vehicle miles (including deadhead and revenue miles)

•

The other miles incurred or driven during the reporting period such as mileage
from
o

Operator training

Moving vehicles between and within maintenance facilities/garages

Average Lifetime Mileage per Active Vehicle
Transit agencies must report the average lifetime miles on its vehicles at the end of the
fiscal year.
Average lifetime miles are the average mileage, since the date of manufacture, on active
vehicles at fiscal year-end. Average lifetime miles always begin with the original date of
manufacture, even if an agency has rebuilt a vehicle.
Exhibit 37: Total Miles and Average Lifetime Mileage per Active Vehicle
Example: A transit agency operates MB service with a fleet of 8 vehicles. The
odometer/hubometer readings for each vehicle and the vehicle status at fiscal
year-end (FYE) 2022 are below. All buses have the same vehicle type, fuel
type, ownership code, funding source, year of manufacture, manufacturer
code, model number, and capacity (seating and standing). How does the
agency report Total Miles During the Period and Average Lifetime Miles per
Active Vehicle?

Vehicle
Number

Odometer
Reading at
2021 Fiscal
Year-End

Odometer
Reading at
2022 Fiscal
Year-End

Mileage
During
2022 Fiscal
Year

35,005

72,188

37,183

In revenue
operation

47,410

98,442

51,032

In revenue
operation

20,115

25,776

5,661

Out for six weeks
for body work

140,020

190,290

50,270

In revenue
operation

Status at 2022
Fiscal Year-End

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Vehicle
Number

Odometer
Reading at
2021 Fiscal
Year-End

Odometer
Reading at
2022 Fiscal
Year-End

Mileage
During
2022 Fiscal
Year

38,732

68,333

29,601

Out for six weeks
for body work

150,043

155,747

5,704

Emergency
contingency vehicle

40,555

79,676

39,121

In revenue
operation

30,080

60,045

29,965

Spare used in
operation

Status at 2022
Fiscal Year-End

Solution: Determine active vehicles at 2022 FYE:
Vehicles 1, 2, 4, 7, and 8 are active vehicles at FYE (includes vehicles currently in
revenue operation and temporarily out of service for routine preventive
maintenance). Vehicles 3, 5, and 6 are not part of the active fleet. Calculate and
report average lifetime mileage per active vehicle and total mileage on active
vehicles during the period:
Average lifetime mileage per active vehicle: (72,188 + 98,442 + 190,290 + 79,676
+ 60,045) / 5 vehicles = 100,128 miles
Total mileage on active vehicles during period: (37,183 + 51,032 + 50,270 + 39,121
+ 29,965) = 207,571 miles

Service Vehicle Inventory (Form A-35)
Transit agencies must report the number of service vehicles in the total fleet at the end of
the fiscal year. Agencies must only report service vehicles for which they have capital
replacement responsibility. Transit agencies are required to report data on service
vehicles, or vehicles which do not carry passengers.
Agencies report service vehicle inventory data by groups or fleets. Agencies should group
vehicles into fleets if they are identical in all aspects, including vehicle type, manufacture
year, primary mode, etc. Service vehicles must not be used in revenue service to be
reported on the A-35.
Service vehicles must be self-propelled and either road worthy or major pieces of
construction equipment to be reportable to the NTD. Examples of reportable service
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vehicles include automobiles used by supervisors or maintenance staff, wreckers, tow
trucks, work trains, tampers, diggers, etc. Flatbed train cars, golf carts, and forklifts are
not considered reportable service vehicles.
If an agency uses service vehicles that are pulled from a non-dedicated pool of agency
owned vehicles that are not specific (or assigned) to transit, the agency should report a
representative sample fleet of vehicles they typically use to support service.

Service Vehicle Inventory Data
The NTD collects the following data on service vehicles:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Vehicle Type
Primary Mode
Secondary Mode(s)
Total Vehicles
Useful Life Benchmark
Year of Manufacture
Transit Agency Capital Responsibility
Estimated Cost
Year Dollars of Estimated Cost

Vehicle Type
Service Vehicles can be categorized into three vehicle types:
•

Automobiles — Passenger cars, including station wagons. Excludes SUVs
(crossovers and traditional SUVs), vans, minivans, and pickup trucks. Trucks and
other rubber-tired vehicles — A self-propelled motor vehicle designed for the
transportation of property or special purpose equipment or passengers., This
vehicle category includes heavy-duty rubber-tired vehicles as well as pickup
trucks, vans, SUVs (crossovers and traditional SUVs), and minivans.

Modes
Agencies must report a primary mode for each fleet. If service vehicles are used across
multiple modes, the agency must report one mode as the primary and then indicate the
secondary modes for each fleet.

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Total Vehicles
Transit agencies must report the number of service vehicles in the total fleet at the end of
the fiscal year. Total vehicles include both active and inactive vehicles held at the end of
the fiscal year.

Useful Life Benchmark
ULB is the expected life cycle of a capital asset for a particular transit agency’s operating
environment, or the acceptable period of use in service that environment. FTA has
outlined default ULBs for service vehicle types. If a transit agency selects ULBs that differ
from FTA’s default values, the agency must submit documentation supporting their
agency-specific ULBs for approval. Please see the table below for default ULB’s for
service vehicle types.
Exhibit 38: Service Vehicle Default Useful Life Benchmarks
Vehicle Type

Default ULB (in years)

Automobile (AO)

Trucks and Other Rubber Tire
Vehicles

Steel Wheel Vehicles

Year of Manufacture
Transit agencies must report the year of manufacture for the vehicles. The year of
manufacturer is the year that the vehicles were built, not the model year.

Capital Responsibility for Service Vehicles
Transit agencies report service vehicle fleets for which they own or have direct capital
responsibility. Agencies report the degree of capital responsibility for each fleet as a
percentage. If the transit agency leases the vehicles but must pay a certain percent
annually to eventually own the assets, such as lease-to-own arrangements, the agency
should report the value for capital responsibility as of the end of the fiscal year.

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Estimated Cost
For each service vehicle fleet, agencies must report the full cost to replace the fleet with
a comparable set of vehicles. A reasonable estimate should reflect the current asset type,
allowing for moderate increases in cost due to inflation or improvements in technology.
The field should not reflect planning, but rather actual current estimated cost. The cost
estimate should include “soft costs” such as unallocated contingencies or finance
charges. The dollar figure should represent the agency’s most recent estimate of the full
cost to replace these assets. If no recent cost estimate has been developed, then the
agency may report either the original cost of the asset.

Year Dollars of Estimated Cost
Agencies are required to report the year corresponding to dollar value reported for
estimated cost for each fleet.

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FEDERAL FUNDING DATA REQUIREMENTS
Reporting Federal Funding Allocation Data (Form FFA-10)
A summary of the importance of data allocation and
its uses
NTD Serve Rules
An overview of NTD requirements for data allocation
Reporting Allocation Methods
A summary of the different allocation methods for
Federal funding data

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Reporting Federal Funding Allocation Data (Form FFA-10)
The U.S. Census Bureau will tentatively release the new Urbanized Area (UZA)
definitions and detailed UZA boundary maps in the winter of 2022. Therefore, transit
agencies will submit NTD reports according to the regular deadlines but without FFA-10
forms. Upon the release of Census demographic information and UZA maps, FTA will
notify all NTD reporters to log on to the NTD Online Reporting System and identify the
2020 UZAs in which they operated.
At that time, FTA will notify all NTD reporters to log on to the NTD Online Reporting
System and identify the 2020 UZAs in which they operated.
•

Full and Reduced Reporters will allocate FFA–10 data reflecting the new UZA
definitions (if applicable).

•

State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) will identify any subrecipients that no
longer operate exclusively in a rural (non-urbanized) area and allocate data as if
they were filing an FFA-10 form.

FTA will disable FFA-10 forms for the 2022 Report Year until the Census Bureau releases
the Census data to avoid duplicating the requirement to allocate data across Census
areas. All agencies reporting to the NTD in this report year must use the most recent
(2020 when available) Census Area designations; by law, FTA must collect and use the
most recent UZA for each year's formula funding apportionments. Likewise, you should
not carry forward old data allocations for areas that do not have similarly drawn
boundaries.
Allocations should reflect service according to 2020 Census Bureau geographies and
current NTD Serve Rules.
If an urban area has a population below 50,000 in the 2020 census, it will not appear in
the list of UZAs among which you can allocate NTD data. If you operated service in that
area (formerly urban, now rural) in FY 2022, you must use NTD Serve Rules to
determine how much data to allocate to the non-UZA vs. other current (2020) UZAs.
Transit agencies must report data by mode and service type for the urbanized and rural
areas they serve. These data are an important part of NTD reporting because they directly
affect the amount of funding FTA apportions to each area. FTA uses this information to
support the §5307, §5337, §5339, and §5311 formula funding programs. The reported
data are:
•

Unlinked Passenger Trips (UPT)

•

Vehicle Revenue Miles (VRM)
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•

Vehicle Revenue Hours (VRH)

•

Operating Expense (OE)

•

Directional Route Miles (Fixed Guideway and High Intensity Bus only)

This form is required for directly reporting Urban and Tribal reporters. These data are
defined in the Service and Financial Data sections of this manual. Data reported on the
FFA-10 must be consistent with data reported in these modules.

NTD Serve Rules
Agencies report annual service data for each mode and type of service they operate. The
“Service Data Requirements (Form RR-20)” section of this manual describes policies
related to service data in detail.
In addition to agency-wide service totals, FTA requires reporters to report service totals
and operating expenses for each of the individual areas the agency serves – urban or
rural. Reporters use Federal Funding Allocation (FFA) forms to allocate service and
operating expense totals into sub-totals for each served area. Reporting by area is critical
because it affects the amount of funding FTA apportions to each area.

Serving an Area
Transit agencies must follow serve rules when reporting data for Federal funding. Serve
rules determine how an agency may report data among the urbanized and rural areas it
serves.
FTA defines “serving an area” as operating a transit service that has a trip end (origin or
destination) in that specific urbanized or rural area. Transit agencies must analyze each
service that they operate and determine if it serves one or multiple urbanized or rural
areas. Agencies must report data based on the results of these analyses.
The following exhibits use images from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau
uses the abbreviation “UA” to signify urbanized areas (UZAs). UZAs are blue, rural areas
are white, and grey lines designate county boundaries.

Serving One Area
If a transit service operates entirely within one urbanized or rural area, then the transit
agency must report the data for the service in that specific service area. The transit
agency has no reporting discretion and must follow this reporting rule.

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Exhibit 39: Service in One Area
Exclusive Urban or Rural Service: A trip occurs entirely within one urbanized area
(exclusively urban) or entirely outside of one urbanized area (exclusively rural).

Solution: In both cases, the transit agency reports all data to the area it serves.

Serving Multiple Areas
If a transit service serves two or more urbanized or rural areas, then the transit agency
has two reporting options:
•

•

If the transit agency determines that the primary intent of the transit service is to
serve the travel needs of one urbanized or rural area, then the transit agency
reports all Federal funding data to this one area; or
If the transit agency determines that the intent of the transit service is to serve the
travel needs of all or some of the urbanized and rural areas in which it operates,
then the transit agency allocates its Federal funding data to the urbanized and
rural areas it serves using a reasonable and consistent method.

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Exhibit 40: Service in Two Areas: Urbanized Area to Urbanized Area
(Multi-UZA Trip)
Example: One trip end is in the Washington urbanized area and the other trip end is
in the Baltimore urbanized area.

Solution: The agency may report all data to its primary urbanized area or allocate
data between the two urbanized areas.

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Exhibit 41: Service in Three Areas: Two Urbanized Areas and a Rural Area
Example: Both trip ends are in urbanized areas, and the trip enters a rural area.

Solution: The agency may report all data to its primary urbanized area, or it may
allocate between the urbanized and rural areas.

§5311 Reporting Rules
The NTD has specific reporting rules for agencies operating between urbanized and rural
areas and using funds from the rural program (§5311):
•
•

•

If §5311 funding is the only FTA funding used to support the service, the
transit agency must report all Federal funding data for the service to the rural area;
If the service is supported by §5311 operating or capital funding and §5307
capital funding, the transit agency must report all Federal funding data for the
service to the rural area; and
If the service is supported by §5311 operating or capital funding and §5307
operating funding, the transit agency must allocate Federal funding data to the
urbanized and rural areas in proportion to the §5307 and §5311 operating funding
applied to the service.

Federal Funding Data Requirements — 129

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Exhibit 42: Service in Two Areas: Urban and Rural Trips
Example: One trip end is in an urbanized area and the other trip end is in a rural
area. The agency receives both §5311 and §5307 funding for operations.

Solution: The agency must allocate data to the urbanized and rural areas using the
proportion of §5311 and §5307 operating funds that it used to provide the service.

Commuter Service Federal Funding Allocation
Intercity Service
Intercity service is not attributable to a UZA. Intercity service that meets the statutory
definition of public transportation at 49 U.S.C 5302 is reportable to the NTD as public
transportation service. However, only the portion that is located within the boundaries of
a UZA may be attributable to that UZA.

Reporting Allocation Methods
Transit agencies may use the following methods to allocate Federal funding data among
multiple urbanized and rural areas:
•

Actual Data

•

VRM, or

•

Other

130 — Federal Funding Data Requirements

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Transit agencies use the Actual Data method when they directly record the values for
each data item by urbanized and rural areas.
Transit agencies choose the VRM method when they record actual vehicle revenue miles
and then use that data as a factor to allocate other Federal funding data. This is the most
common allocation method used by transit agencies.
Transit agencies may use an alternative method of data allocation, which is termed
“Other.” Transit agencies must provide documentation that demonstrates reasonableness
of their data allocation method for review by the NTD. One such method is using Vehicle
Revenue Hours between different urbanized and rural areas.
Transit agencies should use consistent allocation methods and must explain any changes
in methodology.

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2021 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

DECLARATIONS AND REQUESTS
CEO Certification (Form D-10)
The requirements for the Annual Report Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) Certification
Waivers
An overview of waivers that transit agencies may
request
Auditor Statements
A summary of the Independent Auditor Statement for
Financial Data, a requirement for all Urban Reporters
Requests
A summary of requests that transit agencies may
submit to the NTD

132 — Declarations and Requests

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

CEO Certification (Form D-10)
Transit agencies must submit a CEO Certification with the Annual Report. Through this
certification, the CEO endorses and attests to the accuracy of the data in the Annual
Report.
Transit agencies determine which person acts as the CEO for NTD reporting purposes.
Typically, the CEO is the principal executive in charge of and responsible for the transit
agency. The reporter types that must submit a CEO Certification are as follows:
•

Full Reporter

•

Reduced Reporter

•

Separate Service

Agencies that are public service providers may designate any of the following personnel
as the CEO for NTD reporting purposes:
•

Transit authority general manager

•

Transit authority administrator

•

County or city government department head

•

State Department of Transportation division head

•

Council of Governments, commission, or transit district executive director

•

City-sponsored demand response system executive director, or

•

Whomever the transit agency board designates to authorize the NTD Annual
Report

Private operators may designate any of the following personnel as the CEO for NTD
reporting purposes:
•

Senior operations manager (site-specific), or

•

An officer (e.g., the president or vice president or a corporate-level controller)

Certification Requirements
Each transit agency CEO must complete a CEO Certification every report year. The
following exhibit details exactly what the CEO certifies through this document.

Declarations and Requests — 133

2021 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Exhibit 43: CEO Certification Requirements
The CEO must
• Certify the accuracy of the data the transit agency submits in the overall report;
• Certify the accuracy of the Federal funding allocation data used in §5307, §5337,
§5339, and §5311 formula funding programs;
• Attest to the independent auditor reviews of both financial data and Federal funding
data (if applicable); and
• Describe the procedures that the transit agency uses to estimate or collect actual
Unlinked Passenger Trip (UPT) data by mode and type of service.
The CEO must certify that all data in the NTD Annual Report are accurate and that the
transit agency collects and reports the data in accordance with NTD definitions.
During the validation process, the CEO documents that he or she concurs with revisions
to the transit agency’s report and retains a copy of the revisions in the transit agency’s
files.

Transit Agencies Serving Large UZAs
If a transit agency serves an Urbanized Area (UZA) with a population of 200,000 or more,
the CEO must also certify that:
•

The data FTA uses for the apportionment of Urbanized Area Formula, State of
Good Repair, and Bus and Bus Facilities Programs are accurate; and

•

There is documentation of procedures and internal controls to ensure data
accuracy.

Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data (IAS-FD) – Additional
Urban Reporter Requirement
Note: This section reviews the transit agency/CEO role in procuring and submitting the
Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data (IAS-FD). For details about the auditor
role/procedure, see the section IAS-FD Independent Auditor Requirements.
An independent auditor must determine if a transit agency’s accounting system meets
FTA requirements. After this review, the transit agency must submit an IAS-FD completed
by the independent auditor.

134 — Declarations and Requests

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
The IAS-FD must be updated every 10 years. If a transit agency has met this requirement
within the last ten fiscal years including the current report year and has not changed its
accounting system, it is exempt for the current report year.
The CEO verifies one of the following:
•

The transit agency provided an IAS-FD for the current report year;

•

FTA approved an IAS-FD within 10 prior fiscal years and the transit agency’s
accounting system remains unchanged; or

•

FTA granted a waiver for the IAS-FD for the current report year.

Unlinked Passenger Trip Data
The CEO must also describe UPT data collection or estimation procedures for each mode
and type of service. Transit agencies may use one of the following methods for
determining UPT:
•

100 percent count (actual data)

•

Alternative sampling procedure that meets 95 percent confidence and 10 percent
precision levels determined by a qualified statistician (estimated data)

•

Another method that is explained by the CEO and approved by FTA, or

•

NTD Sampling Method

Additional Certification Requirements for Agencies Using APCs
On the CEO Certification (D-10) form, agencies must indicate whether they used
Automatic Passenger Counters (APCs) to collect UPT for NTD reporting. This Report
Year (2022) is a mandatory recertification year for agencies that are using APCs.
Agencies must also report their method for using APC data to generate NTD figures as
follows:
•

If the agency randomly selected a predetermined number of vehicle trips and
sampled the trips using APCs, the agency reports the sampling method (either
NTD Sampling Method or Alternative Sampling Procedure).

•

If the APCs collected valid data on more than 98 percent of all annual revenue
service trips, the agency reports 100 percent count.

•

If the agency used all available, valid APC data, but this was less than 98 percent
of trips, the agency must have a statistically valid procedure for scaling up the
Declarations and Requests — 135

2021 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
APC data to an annual total. In this case, the agency reports “Used all available
APC data, which was less than 98 percent of trips.”

Waivers
Transit agencies must report data in conformance with NTD reporting requirements. If an
agency does not follow these requirements, FTA can issue a Failure to Report finding.
For more information on reporting failures, see the “Introduction: The National Transit
Database” section of this manual.
However, extenuating circumstances occur that prevent transit agencies from meeting all
or specific NTD reporting requirements. In these cases, transit agencies may request a
one-time waiver from these requirements.
Transit agencies must request waivers 60 days prior to the Annual Report due date. FTA
approves waivers on a case-by-case basis and does not automatically approve a request.
In most cases, FTA only approves waivers for the current fiscal year. Transit agencies
must file additional requests for future report years.
To request a waiver, a transit agency must submit a letter from the CEO for the current
report year that describes the situation that prevents the agency from submitting data in
accordance with NTD standards. If possible, the transit agency should propose an
alternative method for estimating the affected data.
FTA will not approve a waiver request based on cost, personnel, or data collection
problems, loss of records, or unexplained undue burden.
An approved waiver does not affect a transit agency’s funding eligibility for §5307, §5311,
§5337, or §5339 funding, but it may affect the amount of funding the agency’s UZA(s)
receive. In a large UZA or a rural area, the amount of funding may decrease because
FTA may not include specific data in formula funding programs. In a small UZA (between
50,000 and 200,000 population), funding may change because FTA may exclude transit
agency data from the factors used to determine eligibility for Small Transit Intensive Cities
(STIC) funding.

Waiver Types
Transit agencies may request the following waivers:
•

Data

•

Reporting

136 — Declarations and Requests

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
•

Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data

Data Waiver
A transit agency may request a data waiver for a specific data point or set of data that it
did not collect per NTD reporting requirements. The agency may offer a different method
to estimate data, or it may request to zero (not report) the data for the current report year.

Reporting Waiver
A transit agency may request a reporting waiver if it is unable to complete the Annual
Report for the current report year. FTA will not accept a partially completed report. If FTA
approves a reporting waiver, FTA will not apportion any Federal funding based on the
transit agency’s NTD data for that report year.

Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data Waiver
New NTD reporters filling out an Urban report may request an IAS-FD waiver in their first
year of reporting. If approved by FTA, the waiver is good for one year and the transit
agency must submit the IAS-FD in the following report year.

Auditor Statements
FTA requires that an independent auditor review certain reporter types and provide an
IAS. An IAS is a letter that an official representative from an independent public
accountant or other independent entity (such as a State audit agency) signs.
The independent auditor must confirm that the transit agency data conforms to NTD
requirements. If an auditor finds an issue, the auditor must explain the discrepancy in the
IAS. Auditors must identify the auditing firm name, the location of the office, and to sign
and date the IAS.
There are two Independent Auditor Statements:
•

Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data (IAS-FD) (Rural Reporters are
exempt from the IAS-FD)

•

Independent Auditor Statement for Federal Funding Allocation Data (IAS-FFA).
(Reduced Reporters and Rural Reporters are exempt from the IAS-FFA.)

Declarations and Requests — 137

2021 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data
Full Reporters, Urban Reduced Reporters, and Separate Service transit agencies must
file an initial IAS-FD. For this statement, the auditor must determine if the transit agency
accounting system meets FTA requirements. FTA does not allow agencies to use an audit
from the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-133 Single Audit Act.
Business papers, records and reports, and the procedures that an agency uses to record
transactions and report their effects are the “accounting system.” The term “accounting
system” does not refer to the hardware or software program transit agencies use.
Therefore, the accounting system remains the same, even when hardware or software
upgrades or changes.
A transit agency must provide an IAS-FD to the NTD in the first year it reports as an Urban
Reporter and every ten reporter years thereafter. In the interim, if a transit agency has
met the IAS requirements in the prior year and has not changed its accounting system,
FTA waives the annual IAS-FD. Instead, FTA requires the CEO to certify annually that
the agency’s financial data continue to meet NTD requirements. FTA may require a new
review if a transit agency substantially changes its financial data reporting method.
The transit agency must file the Annual Report on time even if the IAS-FD is incomplete.
If extenuating circumstances cause a delay of the IAS-FD, the CEO must provide
documentation explaining the late auditor review. The transit agency must complete the
IAS-FD no later than the date of the last report revision. FTA may issue a Failure to Report
finding if a transit agency does not submit an IAS-FD when required.

Independent Auditor Requirements
For the IAS-FD, the auditor must review all financial forms to ensure that:
•

The transit agency’s accounting system follows the Uniform System of Accounts;

•

The transit agency’s accounting system follows accrual accounting or uses a
directly translatable method; and

•

All financial data are in accordance with NTD requirements.

Auditors must state in the IAS-FD if they find that any data do not conform to NTD
requirements and describe the discrepancies.

138 — Declarations and Requests

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
FTA Approval
FTA will approve the IAS-FD if the agency complies with one of the following conditions:
•

The transit agency adopts the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA); or

•

The transit agency
o

Uses an internal accounting system other than the accounting system
prescribed by the USOA;

Uses the accrual method of accounting or a directly translatable method; and

Directly translates the system and accounting categories, using a clear audit
trail, to the accounting treatment and categories the USOA specifies.

IAS-FD Template
FTA provides a template of the IAS-FD in Appendix A. FTA does not require agencies to
use the exact format set forth in Appendix A; however, the independent auditor must
address each item in the template. If the auditor follows the provided template closely,
the statement will meet FTA requirements.

Requests
Transit agencies may experience changes and events during a report year that affect the
Annual Report. In these cases, agencies may file a request. Requests can include:
•

Fiscal Year-End Change Requests,

•

Extension Requests,

•

Special Requests for either Strikes or Disaster Adjustment

Fiscal Year-End Change Requests
Agencies must notify the NTD of changes to their Fiscal Year. FTA will determine the
period to be covered by the report, which will typically be a 12-month period ending on
the new fiscal year-end date.

Extension Requests
Transit agencies may request an extension of the annual report deadline (e.g., extend the
annual report deadline of October 31 to November 30). Typically, FTA approves
extension requests due to extenuating circumstances, such as:

Declarations and Requests — 139

2021 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
•

Natural disasters,

•

Audits, and

•

Medical leave.

Transit agencies must request an extension through the NTD system prior to the annual
report due date. FTA does not automatically grant extension requests.
FTA does not grant extensions due to time constraints or unawareness of reporting
requirements.

Apportionment Data Adjustment Requests
FTA may make adjustments to data in the apportionment to offset negative events
(described below) that affected a transit agency’s data during the year. These
adjustments are not automatic; a transit agency must make a request to receive an
adjustment.
If FTA approves an adjustment request, a transit agency must still file the Annual Report
and report actual data for the year. FTA would make the adjustment by adjusting the data
for apportionment purposes only. All publicly available NTD data would reflect the actual
service data, as reported by the transit agency for the year.

Strikes
During the year, a transit agency may experience a strike that prohibits or negatively
affects transit service. In this case, the CEO of the transit agency may make a request to
FTA that identifies:
•

The mode or modes affected

•

The exact time and date that the strike began

•

The exact time and date that the strike ended, and

•

Supporting documentation (e.g., published news reports) for the duration of the
strike

•

Estimates of the impacts of the lost service on the data items used in the
apportionment.

140 — Declarations and Requests

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
Disaster Adjustment
If a transit agency suffers a significant decrease in transit service due to a natural or
manufactured disaster, the agency or the designated recipient for the urbanized area may
make a disaster adjustment request.
The request must demonstrate that the transit agency meets all of the following criteria:
•

A Federal disaster declaration is in place for at least a portion of the agency’s
service area for all or part of the report year;

•

The decrease in transit service is a direct result of the disaster; and

•

The decrease in transit service is temporary; thus, the reduced transit service
levels are not reflective of the true transit needs of the area.

If FTA grants the request, it will apportion funds based on the agency’s prior report year
Annual Report. The request should indicate that it is requesting FTA to make this
apportionment adjustment.
FTA grants a disaster adjustment request for one year only. If a natural disaster extends
across two report years, separate requests for each report year must be submitted for
approval.

Declarations and Requests — 141

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

Appendix A: INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S
STATEMENT FOR FINANCIAL DATA TEMPLATE
Instructions: The Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data (IAS-FD) file copy
should be on the independent auditor’s letterhead and should be kept on file by the transit
agency.
The Board of Trustees
Transit Agency Name
In connection with our regular examination of the financial statements of [agency
name], for the fiscal year ended [date], on which we have reported separately
under [date of auditor’s statement], we have also reviewed the reporting forms
listed below and included in the report for the fiscal year ended [date], required
under Title 49 U.S.C. 5335(a), for conformity in all material respects with the
requirements of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as set forth in its
applicable National Transit Database (NTD) Uniform System of Accounts (USOA).
Our review for this purpose included such tests of the accounting records and such
other auditing procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We
did not make a detailed examination such as would be required to determine that
each transaction has been recorded in accordance with the USOA.
[Select one of the following two paragraphs for inclusion in your Statement:]
The accounting system from which this NTD report is derived follows the
accounting system prescribed by the USOA. The same accounting system
has been adopted and was used to compile this NTD report.
or
The accounting system from which this NTD report is derived is other than
the accounting system prescribed by the USOA but uses the accrual basis
of accounting and is directly translated, using a clear audit trail, to the
accounting treatment and categories specified by the USOA. The same
internal accounting system has been adopted and was used to compile this
NTD report.
[Submit a list of the specific financial forms on which audited data are
reported:]
IAS-FD Template — Appendix A-1

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
•
•
•
•

Sources of Funds – Funds Earned and Funds Expended form
Uses of Capital form
Operating Expenses forms
Reduced Reporting – Small Systems

Based on our review, the accompanying reporting forms identified above conform
in all material respects with the accounting requirements of FTA as set forth in its
USOA.
Signed:
Title:
City:
Date:

Appendix A-2 — IAS-FD Template

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

Appendix B: ASSET CODES
Ownership Codes
LPPA

Leased under lease purchase agreement by a public agency

LPPE

Leased under lease purchase agreement by a private entity

LRPA

Leased or borrowed from related parties by a public agency

LRPE

Leased or borrowed from related parties by a private entity

OOPA

Owned outright by public agency (includes safe harbor leasing agreements
where only the tax title is sold)

OOPE

Owned outright by private entity (includes safe harbor leasing agreements
where only the tax title is sold)

TLPA

True lease by a public agency

TLPE

True lease by a private entity

Vehicle Type
AB

Articulated bus

Automated guideway vehicle

Automobile

Over-the-road bus

Bus

Cable car

Cutaway

Double decker bus

Ferryboat

Heavy Rail passenger car

Inclined plane vehicle
Asset Codes — Appendix B-1

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
LR

Light Rail vehicle

Minivan

Commuter Rail locomotive

Commuter Rail passenger coach

Commuter Rail, self-propelled passenger car

School bus

Sports utility vehicle (SUV)

Trolleybus

Aerial tramway vehicle

Van

Vintage trolley/Streetcar

Funding Sources
UA

Urbanized Area Formula Program (§5307)

Other Federal funds

NFPA

Non-Federal public funds

NFPE

Non-Federal private funds

RAFP

Formula Grants for Rural Areas (§5311)

EMSID

Enhanced Mobility for Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (§5310)

Appendix B-2 —Asset Codes

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

Non-Rail Manufacturer Codes
AAI
ABI
ACF
ACI
AEG
AII
ALL
ALX
AMD
AMG
AMT
ARB
ASK
ATC
AZD
BBB
BFC
BLN
BOM
BOY
BRA
BRX
BYD
CBC
CBW
CCC
CCI
CEQ
CHA
CHR

Allen Ashley Inc.
Advanced Bus Industries
American Car and Foundry
Company
American Coastal Industries
AEG Transportation Systems
American Ikarus Inc.
Allen Marine, Inc.
Alexander Dennis Limited
AMD Marine Consulting Pty Ltd
AM General Corporation
AmTran Corporation
Arboc Mobility LLC
AAI/Skoda
American Transportation
Corporation
Azure Dynamics Corporation
Blue Bird Corporation
Breda Transportation Inc.
Blount Boats, Inc.
Bombardier Corporation
Boyertown Auto Body Works
Braun
Breaux's Bay Craft, Inc.
Build Your Dreams, Inc.
Collins Bus Corporation (form.
Collins Industries Inc./COL)
Carpenter Industries LLC (form.
Carpenter Manufacturing Inc.)
Cable Car Concepts Inc.
Chance Bus Inc. (formerly Chance
Manufacturing Company/CHI)
Coach and Equipment
Manufacturing Company
Chance Manufacturing Company
New Chrysler

CMC
CMD
CVL
DAK
DER
DIA
DKK
DMC
DTD
DUC
DUP
EBC
EBU
EDN
EII
ELK
FDC
FIL
FLT
FLX
FRC
FRD
FRE
FSC
GCC
GCA
GEO
GIL
GIR

Champion Motor Coach Inc.
Chevrolet Motor Division — GMC
Canadian Vickers Ltd.
Dakota Creek Industries, Inc.
Derecktor
Diamond Coach Corporation
(formerly Coons Mfg. Inc./CMI)
Double K, Inc. (form. Hometown
Trolley)
Dina/Motor Coach Industries
(MCI)
Dodge Division — Chrysler
Corporation
Dutcher Corporation
Dupont Industries
ElDorado Bus (EBC Inc.)
Ebus, Inc.
El Dorado National (formerly El
Dorado/EBC/Nat. Coach/ NCC)
Eagle Bus Manufacturing
Elkhart Coach (Division of Forest
River, Inc.)
Federal Coach
Flyer Industries Ltd (aka New
Flyer Industries)
Flxette Corporation
Flexible Corporation
Freightliner Corporation
Ford Motor Corporation
Freeport Shipbuilding, Inc.
Ferrostaal Corporation
Goshen Coach
General Coach America, Inc.
GEO Shipyard, Inc.
Gillig Corporation
Girardin Corporation

Asset Codes — Appendix B-3

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
GLF
GLH
GLV
GMC
GML
GOM
HMC
HSC
HYU
INT
IRB
KIA
KKI
MAN
MBZ
MCI
MDI
MER
MNA
MOL
MTC
MVN
NAB
NAT
NAV
NBB
NBC
NCC
NEO
NFA
NIS
NOV

Gulf Craft, LLC
Gladding Hearn
Glaval Bus
General Motors Corporation
General Motors of Canada Ltd.
Gomaco
American Honda Motor Company,
Inc.
Hawker Siddeley Canada IKU —
Ikarus USA Inc.
Hyundai Rotem
International
Renault & Iveco
Kia Motors
Krystal Koach Inc.
American MAN Corporation
Mercedes Benz
Motor Coach Industries
International (DINA)
Mid Bus Inc.
Ford or individual makes
Mitsubishi Motors; Mitsubishi
Motors North America, Inc.
Molly Corporation
Metrotrans Corporation
Mobility Ventures
North American Bus Industries
Inc. (form. Ikarus USA Inc./IKU)
North American Transit Inc.
Navistar International Corporation
(also known as International/INT)
Nichols Brothers Boat Builders
National Mobility Corporation
National Coach Corporation
Neoplan - USA Corporation
New Flyer of America
Nissan
NOVA Bus Corporation

Appendix B-4 — Asset Codes

OBI
OCC
OTC
PCI
PLY
PRO
PST
PTE
RIC
SBI
SHI
SCC
SPC
SPR
SSI
STE
STR
SUB
SUL
SVM
TBB
TEI
TMC
TOU
TOY
TRN
TRT
TRY
TTR
TTT
VAN
VOL
VTH

Orion Bus Industries Ltd. (formerly
Ontario Bus Industries)
Overland Custom Coach Inc.
Oshkosh Truck Corporation
Prevost Car Inc.
Plymouth Division-Chrysler Corp.
Proterra, Inc.
Pullman-Standard
Port Everglades Yacht & Ship
Rico Industries
SuperBus Inc.
Shepard Brothers Inc.
Sabre Bus and Coach Corp.
(form. Sabre Carriage Comp.)
Startrans (Supreme Corporation)
Spartan Motors Inc.
Stewart Stevenson Services Inc.
Steiner Shipyards, Inc.
Starcraft
Subaru of America or Fuji Heavy
Industries Ltd.
Sullivan Bus & Coach Limited
Specialty Vehicle Manufacturing
Corporation
Thomas Built Buses
Trolley Enterprises Inc.
Transportation Manufacturing
Company
Tourstar
Toyota Motor Corporation
Transcoach
Transteq
Trolley Enterprises
Terra Transit
Turtle Top
Van Hool N.V.
Volvo
VT Halter Marine, Inc. (includes
Equitable Shipyards, Inc.)

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
WCI
WDS
WOC
WTI
WYC
ZZZ

Wheeled Coach Industries Inc.
Washburn & Doughty Associates,
Inc.
Wide One Corporation
World Trans Inc. (also Mobile—
Tech Corporation)
Wayne Corporation (form. Wayne
Manufacturing Company/WAY)
Other (Describe)

Asset Codes — Appendix B-5

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

Appendix C: AUTOMATIC PASSENGER COUNTER
CERTIFICATION CHECKLIST
General Guidelines:
•

Different modes and types of service should be sampled separately.

•

A wide range of trips provides the best sample — passenger load is an important
consideration.

•

Sample all types of Automatic Passenger Counter (APC) model, as the technology
may perform differently.

•

Make sure to include all vehicle models/configurations in the sample. The error
rate of the APCs could be different depending on door geometry.

APC Checklist:
•

Your APC Certification Report should include the following:
•

Your APC vendor

•

The date your APC system was installed (can be approximate)

•

The NTD report year in which you plan to begin reporting APC data

•

The mode and type of service that will use APC data

•

The number of vehicles in the fleet

•

The number of these that are APC-equipped

•

The number of trips you sampled for your benchmarking study

•

A description of how you selected the trips to sample

•

A description of your survey procedure, including information such as whether you
used video or sent in-person ride checkers, and how many checkers you had on
each vehicle

•

Confirmation that you plan to repeat the benchmarking survey in Fiscal Year 2022

APC Certification Checklist— Appendix C-1

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
•

The percentage of trips during your last fiscal year that did not return valid APC
data for any reason (can be a reasonable estimate based on a sample)

•

A list of common reasons why a trip would not return valid APC data

•

A description of your method for using APC data to determine annual totals

•

The total manually collected Unlinked Passenger Trips (UPT) in the sample

•

The total APC-collected UPT in the sample

•

The total manually collected Passenger Miles Traveled (PMT) in the sample

•

The total APC-collected PMT in the sample

Appendix C-2 — APC Certification Checklist

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

Appendix D: VANPOOL QUESTIONNAIRE
1. How is your vanpool advertised to the public?
The program is advertised to the public through (check all that apply):







Agency website URL: ____________________________________
Other website URL: _____________________________________
Promotional materials (posters, brochures, billboards, signs)
Media Advertising
Employer fairs
Other (describe): ________________________________________

2. Are there direct relationships between your agency and specific employers for
any vans to be reported to the NTD?
 There are no direct relationships with employers for any of the vans in our
program, all vans are open to the public and none are restricted to
particular employers.
 There are direct relationships with employers for any of the vans in our
program, as follows: (describe relationships)
3. Who is responsible for ride-matching individuals to vans with available seats?
How is this ride-matching conducted? (i.e. how are vans with available seats
made known to the public, and how are these seats filled?)







Online matching service via agency website
Online matching service at regional ridesharing website
Online matching service at State ridesharing website
Third party lessor/provider is responsible
Lessor/Provider: ________________________________________
Other (please describe): _______________________________________

4. What branding is used in the advertising of the vanpool program, and who pays
these costs?
The name of the vanpool program is: _________________________________
Name of agency paying the advertising and branding costs: ________________
Description of the advertising and branding costs (e.g., developing the brand
name, logo, van decals): ____________________________________________

Vanpool Questionnaire — Appendix D-1

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
5. What branding is used on the vanpool vehicles themselves?
Vanpool Program name: ___________________________________________
If there is a third-party vehicle lessor (e.g., vRide, Enterprise, State Department
of Transportation), is their name also on the vehicle?
 Yes
 No
 N/A
6. Are third parties (i.e., other than your agency and the riders) used in providing
the vanpool service? If so, for each third party, please provide the following:
Name of the third-party: ____________________________________________
Length of contract is [number of months]: ______________________
Contract start date is [month, day, year]: _______________________
Contract is competitively bid.
 Yes
 No
 N/A
If “No”, describe how you select contractors:

Terms of arrangement (i.e., what third party services/costs do you pay for?)
 Administrative costs
 Marketing, promotion, and advertising
 Other (please describe): _______________________________________
Who is responsible for the different aspects of the service such as marketing,
promotion, and advertising costs for the vanpool program, the ride-matching
services, fuel costs, maintenance costs, insurance costs, capital cost for
replacement of vehicles, and capital costs for replacement of facilities?
7. How are the rider costs in the vanpool established, and by who? How are rider
costs tracked?
 Our agency establishes vanpool fares
 A third-party lessor/provider establishes vanpool fares
Appendix D-2 — Vanpool Questionnaire

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
 We use vans provided by our agency and a third party
Please describe the process for establishing rider costs:

Third party name(s) (if applicable): ___________________________________
 Our agency requires each vanpool to record rider costs
If so, describe review procedures:

 Third party requires each vanpool to record rider costs
If so, state third party and describe review procedures:

Vanpool Questionnaire — Appendix D-3

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

Appendix E: SHARED MOBILITY SERVICES &
NATIONAL TRANSIT DATABASE REPORTING
If your agency reports to the NTD and contracts with a Transportation Network Company
(TNC) for on-demand, shared mobility service, you may be able to include data for this
service in your NTD report under the Transportation Network Company (TN) type of
service. The shared mobility service must meet all criteria for public transportation as
codified in 49 U.S.C. §5302(14).
What is a TNC?
The General Services Administration’s Office of Government-Wide Policy defines a TNC
as “a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other entity, that uses a digital
network to connect riders to drivers affiliated with the entity in order for the driver to
transport the rider using a vehicle owned, leased, or otherwise authorized for use by the
driver to a point chosen by the rider.”6
What kind of shared mobility service is reportable to the NTD?
You may report shared mobility service if it is
•

regular, continuing, shared-ride surface transportation service that is open to
the general public or a segment of the general public defined by age, disability, or
low income.

What kind of shared mobility service is not reportable to the NTD?
If a ride-hailing service is part of your trip planning platform, but you do not operate it
under contract with the provider, you should not report it to the NTD.
You should not report pilot projects, chartered bus service, intercity bus, sightseeing
service, school bus service, courtesy shuttles for patrons of one or more specific
establishments, and intra-terminal/facility shuttles.
What do you mean by “operated under contract”?
If your agency contracts with a TNC for public transit, then the service must meet FTA’s
definition of Purchased Transportation.

Federal Travel Regulation; Transportation Network Companies (TNC), Innovative Mobility Technology
Companies, and Reporting Travel, Transportation, and Relocation Costs, 83 FR 602 §300-3.1 (2018)

Shared Mobility Partnerships with TNCs — Appendix E-1

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual
What do you mean by “shared-ride”?
Shared-ride service exists when the TNC groups passengers together based on
passenger origins and destinations. Neither the driver of the revenue vehicle nor the
passenger can decline additional passengers when there is room for them. The operator
cannot cap the size of a party at less than the capacity of the vehicle. Not every trip needs
to be a shared ride for a provider to be considered a shared-ride operator, but all reported
rides should involve an active attempt to share rides.
What do you mean by “regular and continuing” service?
“Regular and continuing” refers to service that operates on a schedule during specified
hours during the week and weekend. Services that operate on an ad hoc basis (e.g., only
for special events) are not regular and continuing. Time-limited pilot projects are not
regular and continuing either.
What information do I report to the NTD?
If the shared mobility service meets NTD reporting requirements, you will report financial,
service, and asset data. The level of detail of the report will depend on whether your
agency is a Full or Reduced Reporter. You will need to work with your contracted TNC to
gather data points such as Unlinked Passenger Trips, Vehicle Revenue Miles, Vehicle
Revenue Hours, passenger fares, operating expenses, sources of revenue, and
information regarding the assets used to provide the service.

Shared Mobility NTD Reporting Eligibility
Agencies reporting to the NTD that have partnered with on-demand, shared mobility
services may refer to the chart and examples below to see if their service is reportable to
the NTD.

Appendix E-2 — Shared Mobility Partnerships with TNCs

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

Does your agency
have a contract with a
shared mobility
service operator or
Transportation
Network Company?

You should not report
the service unless
your agency operates
it or has a contract
with the operator to
provide service.

Yes

Does your agency pay
the full cost of the
contract?

You should not report
the service if the
agency only pays a
partial subsidy for the
service.

Yes

Is this service open to
the general public or
open to a segment of
the public defined by
age, disability, or low
income?

You should not report
the service if it is only
offered to a segment
of the population
(such as employees
or parking permit
holders).

Yes

Does the service
provider attempt to
group rides?

You should not report
the service if there is
no attempt to group
rides or if the driver
can refuse additional
passengers.

Yes

You may report mobility service operated under contract to a transit agency if the following apply:

•
•
•
•
•
•

Your agency pays the full cost of the contracted service (less fares).
The service is available to the general public.
The service is regular and continuous.
The operator attempts to group rides to create shared-ride service.
Drivers and passengers cannot refuse additional passengers if there is available seating
capacity.
The operator cannot cap the size of a party at less than the capacity of the vehicle

Shared Mobility Partnerships with TNCs — Appendix E-3

2022 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual

Example 1: A transit agency contracts a ride-hailing service to provide a first/last mile
solution within the community. Passengers can use a mobile app to request a ride
to/from any location within the service area.
Solution: This service would be eligible for NTD reporting if
• the agency is paying the full cost of service (less fares),
• drivers and passengers cannot refuse additional passengers if there is available
seating capacity, and
• the service operator is attempting to group all rides to facilitate shared-ride service.
Example 2: A transit agency contracts a ride-hailing service to help offset parking
demand at their more heavily used passenger stations. Passengers with parking
permits for these stations receive 10 free rides per month via the ride-hailing service to
encourage less use of parking inventory.
Solution: This service would not be eligible for NTD reporting because it is limited to a
segment of the general public (permit holders) not defined by age, disability, or lowincome.
Example 3: A transit agency contracts a ride-hailing service to provide on-demand
service to its paratransit riders. Riders receive a limited number of subsidized, ondemand rides per month. Customers are not guaranteed an exclusive ride.
Solution: This service would be eligible for NTD reporting if
• the agency is paying the full cost of service (less fares),
• drivers and passengers cannot refuse additional passengers if there is available
seating capacity, and
• the service operator is attempting to group all rides to facilitate shared-ride service.

E-4 — Shared Mobility Services and NTD Reporting

File Type	application/pdf
File Title	2022 NTD Policy Manual for Reduced Reporters
Subject	Commitment to Accessibility: DOT is committed to ensuring that information is available in appropriate alternative formats to me
Author	D O T - Federal Transit Administration
File Modified	2022-09-09
File Created	2022-09-07