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National Transit Database 2026 Policy Manual—Reduced Reporting
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| File Type | application/pdf |
|---|---|
| File Title | National Transit Database 2026 Policy Manual—Reduced Reporting |
| Subject | 2026 NTD Policy Manual for Reduced Reporters |
| Keywords | NTD, FTA, Public Transportation, Reduced Reporting, Small Systems, Rural, Tribal |
| Author | U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administratio |
| Last Modified By | Acrobat PDFMaker 26 for Word |
| File Modified | 2026-06-29 |
| File Created | 2026-06-03 |
| Conversion State | complete |
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Office of Budget and Policy National Transit Database 2026 Policy Manual Reduced Reporting This guidance document is not legally binding in its own right, and the Federal Transit Administration will not rely upon it as a separate basis for affirmative enforcement actions or other administrative penalty. Conformity with this document (as distinct from existing statutes and regulations) is voluntary only, and nonconformity will not affect rights and obligations under existing statutes and regulations. This document supersedes the 2025 NTD Reduced Reporting Policy Manual and is applicable beginning in NTD Report Year 2026. 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Exhibits .............................................................................................................. v Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................................................................... vii Report Year 2026 Policy Changes and Reporting Clarifications ............................. xi Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 The National Transit Database ................................................................................... 2 History .................................................................................................................... 2 Continuing Grant Requirements ............................................................................. 3 NTD Data ................................................................................................................ 4 Data Use and Funding ............................................................................................ 7 Failure to Report ................................................................................................... 10 Inaccurate Data .................................................................................................... 11 Standardized Reporting Requirements ..................................................................... 11 What to Report ..................................................................................................... 11 Reporting Due Dates ............................................................................................ 12 Data Validation ..................................................................................................... 13 Financial Data Requirements ............................................................................... 14 Service Data Requirements .................................................................................. 16 General Data Formatting Rules ............................................................................ 17 Reporting Rules and Regulations ......................................................................... 17 Reporter Types ......................................................................................................... 17 Urban Reporters ................................................................................................... 18 Full Reporting Exemptions and Waivers ............................................................... 19 Rural Reporters .................................................................................................... 20 Transit Asset Management Reporters .................................................................. 25 Voluntary Reporters .............................................................................................. 26 Transit Agency Profile Requirements ........................................................................ 26 Basic Information (Form P-10) .............................................................................. 27 Modes and Types of Service (Form P-20) ............................................................ 29 Reporter Users (Form P-30) ................................................................................. 39 General Transit Feed Specification Data for Fixed Route Service (Form P-50) ... 39 Basic Agency Information Requirements ................................................................. 43 Identification (Form B-10) ......................................................................................... 44 Organization Types............................................................................................... 44 Table of Contents — i 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Demographic Data ................................................................................................ 46 Voluntary Status ................................................................................................... 49 Separate Assets ................................................................................................... 49 Public Sponsor ..................................................................................................... 50 Geospatial Data for Demand Response Modes (Form B-15) ................................... 50 Additional Guidance for B-15 Reporting ............................................................... 51 Contractual Relationship Data Requirements (Form B-30) ....................................... 53 Competitively Bid vs. Negotiated Agreements ...................................................... 53 Purchased Transportation Fare Revenues ........................................................... 54 Reporting Contract Data for Vanpools .................................................................. 54 Contract Capital Leasing Expenses ...................................................................... 55 Direct Payment ..................................................................................................... 55 Contract Cost ........................................................................................................ 55 Other Costs Incurred by the Buyer ....................................................................... 56 Subsidy Contract Type ......................................................................................... 56 Key Relationships Between Forms ....................................................................... 57 Financial Data Requirements ..................................................................................... 58 What to Report .......................................................................................................... 59 Fully Allocated Costs ............................................................................................ 60 How to Record and Report Financial Accounts......................................................... 61 Allocating Costs .................................................................................................... 61 Direct vs. Shared Costs ........................................................................................ 62 Funding Sources (Form RR-20) ................................................................................ 64 Directly Generated Funds ..................................................................................... 64 Non-Federal Funding Sources .............................................................................. 69 Federal Government Sources ............................................................................... 70 Service Data Requirements (Form RR-20) ................................................................ 79 Revenue Service....................................................................................................... 80 Incidental Transit Service ..................................................................................... 80 Vehicle Revenue Miles and Vehicle Revenue Hours ............................................ 81 Unlinked Passenger Trips ..................................................................................... 85 APC Checklist ........................................................................................................... 88 Vehicles Operated in Annual Maximum Service ................................................... 94 Deviated Services ................................................................................................. 94 Volunteer Resources ............................................................................................ 95 ii — Table of Contents 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Service Data for Intercity Bus Subrecipients ............................................................. 95 § 5311 Intercity Bus Vehicle Revenue Miles ......................................................... 96 § 5311 Intercity Bus Unlinked Passenger Trips .................................................... 96 Non-Reportable Service ............................................................................................ 96 Deadhead ............................................................................................................. 96 Charter Service ..................................................................................................... 97 School Bus Service............................................................................................... 97 Safety Data Requirements .......................................................................................... 98 S&S-60 Safety Data Form......................................................................................... 98 Assaults on a Transit Worker ................................................................................ 98 All Other Reportable Safety & Security Data ...................................................... 102 Safety and Security Reporting Thresholds ......................................................... 102 Asset Inventory Data Requirements ........................................................................ 107 Transit Asset Management Performance Measure Targets (Form A-90) ............... 108 Capital Responsibility ......................................................................................... 109 Performance Target Categories ......................................................................... 109 Agency Tiers ....................................................................................................... 111 Narrative Report ................................................................................................. 112 Group Plan Sponsors ......................................................................................... 112 Transit Asset Management Facilities Inventory (Form A-15) .................................. 113 Station Criteria .................................................................................................... 113 Vehicles (Forms A-30 and A-35) ............................................................................. 128 Revenue Vehicle Inventory Data (Form A-30) .................................................... 129 Service Vehicle Inventory (Form A-35) ............................................................... 143 Federal Funding Data Requirements ....................................................................... 146 Reporting Federal Funding Allocation Data (Form FFA-10) .................................... 147 NTD Serve Rules .................................................................................................... 147 Serving an Area .................................................................................................. 148 Commuter Service Federal Funding Allocation .................................................. 153 Reporting Allocation Methods ................................................................................. 154 Declarations and Requests ...................................................................................... 155 CEO Certification (Form D-10) ................................................................................ 156 Certification Requirements ................................................................................. 156 Table of Contents — iii 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Waivers ................................................................................................................... 159 Waiver Types ...................................................................................................... 159 Auditor Statements ................................................................................................. 160 Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data ............................................. 160 Requests ................................................................................................................. 162 Fiscal Year-End Change Requests..................................................................... 162 Extension Requests ............................................................................................ 163 Apportionment Data Adjustment Requests ......................................................... 163 Appendix A: Independent Auditor’s Statement for Financial Data Template .... A-1 Appendix B: Asset Codes ...................................................................................... B-1 Appendix C: Vanpool Questionnaire .................................................................... C-1 Appendix D: Shared Mobility Services & National Transit Database Reporting D-1 iv — Table of Contents 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual LIST OF EXHIBITS Exhibit 1: § 5335 National Transit Database ................................................................... 3 Exhibit 2: Continuing Grant Requirements ...................................................................... 4 Exhibit 3: Public Transportation ....................................................................................... 5 Exhibit 4: Funding Sources (2023) .................................................................................. 8 Exhibit 5: Annual Reporting Deadlines .......................................................................... 12 Exhibit 6: Subrecipient with Different Fiscal Year .......................................................... 12 Exhibit 7: Accrual Accounting ........................................................................................ 15 Exhibit 8: CEO Certification and Independent Auditor Review Requirements ............... 16 Exhibit 9: Urban Reporter Types ................................................................................... 18 Exhibit 10: State DOT and Subrecipient Reporter Types .............................................. 22 Exhibit 11: Urban and Rural Recipients......................................................................... 24 Exhibit 12: TAM-Only Reporter Types ........................................................................... 26 Exhibit 13: Reporter Name and Profile Fields ............................................................... 28 Exhibit 14: Rail and Non-Rail Modes ............................................................................. 30 Exhibit 15: Submitted File vs. Mapped GTFS Data ....................................................... 40 Exhibit 16: Urbanized Areas .......................................................................................... 47 Exhibit 17: Relationship of B-30 Data to Other Forms ................................................... 57 Exhibit 18: Expense Types ............................................................................................ 59 Exhibit 19: How to Report Grant Funds ......................................................................... 60 Exhibit 20: Miles and Hours for Bus (MB, CB, RB) Modes ............................................ 82 Exhibit 21: Miles and Hours for Demand Response Services ....................................... 83 Exhibit 22: Sampling Cycle Requirements .................................................................... 93 Exhibit 23: VOMS .......................................................................................................... 94 List of Exhibits — v 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 24: Other Safety Event Decision Flowchart ..................................................... 105 Exhibit 25: Transit Asset Management Performance Targets: Calculation.................. 108 Exhibit 26: Transit Asset Management Performance Target Inputs ............................ 110 Exhibit 27: Performance Measure Calculations ........................................................... 111 Exhibit 28: Private Modes............................................................................................ 116 Exhibit 29: Facility Size ............................................................................................... 120 Exhibit 30: Administrative and Maintenance Facility Types ......................................... 120 Exhibit 31: Passenger and Parking Facility Types ...................................................... 123 Exhibit 32: TERM Scale .............................................................................................. 127 Exhibit 33: Active and Inactive Vehicles ...................................................................... 133 Exhibit 34: Year of Manufacture vs. Model Year ......................................................... 134 Exhibit 35: Revenue Vehicle Default ULBs ................................................................. 137 Exhibit 36: Manufacturer vs. Model ............................................................................. 140 Exhibit 37: Total Miles and Average Lifetime Mileage per Active Vehicle ................... 141 Exhibit 38: Service Vehicle Default Useful Life Benchmarks ....................................... 144 Exhibit 39: Service in One Area .................................................................................. 149 Exhibit 40: Service in Two Areas: UZA to UZA ........................................................... 150 Exhibit 41: Service in Three Areas: Two UZAs and a Rural Area ............................... 151 Exhibit 42: Service in Two Areas: Urban and Rural Trips............................................ 153 Exhibit 43: CEO Certification Requirements................................................................ 157 vi — List of Exhibits 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Acronym ADA APC APTA AR ARP AVL BTU CARES Act CB CBIP CC CEO CFR Chapter 53 CMAQ CNT COG COVID-19 CR CRRSAA DMU DO DOT DR DRM DUNS FARE FASB FB FFA FFY Description of Term Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Automatic Passenger Counter American Public Transportation Association Alaska Railroad American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Automatic Vehicle Locator British Thermal Units Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Commuter Bus Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program Cable Car Chief Executive Officer Code of Federal Regulations 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53, Public Transportation Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program Coastal Nebraska Transit Council of Governments Coronavirus Disease 2019 Commuter Rail Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 Diesel Multiple Unit Directly Operated Department of Transportation Demand Response Directional Route Miles Data Universal Numbering System (assigned by Dun & Bradstreet [D&B]) Uniform Financial Accounting and Reporting Elements Financial Accounting Standards Board Ferryboat Federal Funding Allocation Federal Fiscal Year Acronyms and Abbreviations — vii 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Acronym FG FHWA FLHP FRA FTA FY FYE GAAP GASB GFI GIS GTFS HIB HO/T HOV HR HVAC IAS-FD IAS-FFA IB IIJA IP JT LOS LR MAP-21 MB MG MOU MPH MPO MR NHS NTD OE OMB PB PMT PT Description of Term Fixed Guideway Federal Highway Administration Federal Lands Highways Program Federal Railroad Administration Federal Transit Administration Fiscal Year Fiscal Year-End Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Governmental Accounting Standards Board Ground Fault Interrupt Geographic Information System General Transit Feed Specification High Intensity Bus/Busway High Occupancy Toll High Occupancy Vehicle Heavy Rail Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data Independent Auditor Statement for Federal Funding Allocation Data Intercity Bus Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Inclined Plane Jitney Level of Service Light Rail Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act Bus Monorail/Automated Guideway Memorandum of Understanding Miles per Hour Metropolitan Planning Organization Monthly Ridership National Highway System National Transit Database Operating Expense Office of Management and Budget Público Passenger Miles Traveled Purchased Transportation – General viii — RY 2026 Policy Changes and Reporting Clarifications 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Acronym RB RGPT ROW RTAP SR STIC STP SV TAM TB TCSP TERM TN TNC TOS TR TTP TX U.S.C. UACE UAFP UEID ULB UMTA UPT URL USDOT USOA UTS UZA VAMS VIN VOMS VP VRH VRM YR Description of Term Bus Rapid Transit Rural General Public Transit Right(s)-of-Way National Rural Transit Assistance Program Streetcar Rail Small Transit Intensive Cities Surface Transportation Program Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Transit Asset Management Trolleybus Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Program Transit Economic Requirements Model Purchased Transportation — Transportation Network Company Transportation Network Company Type(s) of Service Aerial Tramway Tribal Transit Program Purchased Transportation — Taxi United States Code Urban Area Census Code Urbanized Area Formula Program Unique Entity Identifier Useful Life Benchmark Urban Mass Transportation Administration Unlinked Passenger Trips Universal Resource Locator United States Department of Transportation Uniform System of Accounts United Transit System Urbanized Area Vehicles Available for Annual Maximum Service Vehicle Identification Number Vehicles Operated in Maximum Service Vanpool Vehicle Revenue Hour(s) Vehicle Revenue Mile(s) Hybrid Rail Acronyms and Abbreviations — ix 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Note: Refer to Appendix B: Asset Codes for a list of ownership codes, vehicle type codes, funding source codes, manufacture codes (rail and non-rail), and fuel codes. x — RY 2026 Policy Changes and Reporting Clarifications 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual REPORT YEAR 2026 POLICY CHANGES AND REPORTING CLARIFICATIONS Description of Update Type of Update Form(s) Affected Found in Manual Expanded GTFS Guidance Clarification P-50 p. 39-42 Modes Filing Separate Report Clarification B-10, A-15, A-30, A-35 p. 49 Separate Assets Clarification B-10 p. 49-50 Public Sponsor Clarification B-10 p. 50 APC Checklist Moved from Appendix to Main Document Clarification Condition Assessment for Newly Constructed Facility Clarification p. 88-89 A-15 p. 127 RY 2025 Policy Changes and Reporting Clarifications — xi 2026 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 Introduction — 1 2026 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 10 years, UMTA provided capital assistance to public agencies to replace overage transit assets and 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 (Project 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 (49 United States Code [U.S.C.] § 5307) or Formula Grants for Rural Areas (49 U.S.C. § 5311). In addition, all recipients and subrecipients of 49 U.S.C. 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 U.S.C. § 5335 (Exhibit 1). 2 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 1: § 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. Introduction — 3 2026 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. NTD Data Through the NTD, FTA collects annual financial, asset, and operating information from public transportation agencies across the country. 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 refer to the Introduction: Reporter Types section of this chapter. Public Transportation How Is Public Transportation Defined? 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) (Exhibit 3). 4 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 3: Public Transportation The term “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 243 1 (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. Transit agencies report data for all public transportation services they provide, including complementary Paratransit services required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). ADA services must be shared ride 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). • A charter service. In accordance with FTA Charter Rule, agencies cannot report any service reported to FTA charter registration website as public transportation. Chapter 243 describes the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, operating under the business name Amtrak. 1 Introduction — 5 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • 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. • Evacuation of people from a disaster area. Intercity Service Commuter Rail, Commuter Bus, and Ferryboat 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 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 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: 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑎𝑎 + 𝑏𝑏 Where: x = percent of total riders a = total unique passengers making same-day return trip b = total unique passengers making an overnight trip 6 — Introduction 2026 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 at 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. 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] 2026 data are used for the FTA FY 2028 apportionment). FTA has Introduction — 7 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. To be eligible to receive funding from FTA, transit agencies must report to the NTD and follow the requirements listed in this manual. Exhibit 4 presents the total funds that transit agencies have spent during FY 2023 according to the original source of funds. Most Federal funds, of which agencies expended more than $20.5 billion during 2023, 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 50,000 people as determined by the most recent decennial census. FTA initiated this program under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, P.L. 97424. Since 1984, § 5307 has been the primary transit assistance program of FTA. Exhibit 4: Funding Sources (2023) 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 people, Congress apportions 3.0 percent of § 5307 funds according to the Small Transit Intensive Cities (STIC) formula. FTA allocates STIC funding based on the following measures calculated primarily NTD data: • Passenger Miles Traveled (PMT) per Vehicle Revenue Mile (VRM) • PMT per Vehicle Revenue Hour (VRH) • VRM per capita • VRH per capita • PMT per capita • Passenger Trips per capita 8 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual For UZAs with a population of 200,000 or more, 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 apportion 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 people 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) National 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’ nonurbanized VRM, land area, and low-income population. 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 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Twenty percent of the TTP funds must be distributed on a competitive basis, while the remainder must be apportioned by formula. The TTP is based on the following statutory tiers: • Tier 1 (50 percent of TTP funding): VRM are used to allocate this funding among all Indian Tribes. Introduction — 9 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • 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; or • 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 UZA 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 a UZA 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 FTA has time to review the submitted data before including the data in NTD publications and apportionment. A report is incomplete if: • It does not contain all required information • The agency did not collect and submit the data in conformance with NTD requirements • The report is not accompanied by the applicable Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Certification and Independent Auditor Statements (refer to Declarations and Requests: CEO Certifications and Declarations and Requests: Auditor Statements sections); or • The agency does not properly respond to validation questions When FTA questions data that transit agencies submitted during the validation process, those agencies may revise their data to reflect accurate information. Revisions to data require the concurrence of the CEO and, in some cases, the concurrence of the 10 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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” notation. FTA may delete a transit agency’s data 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, but 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 2025. What to Report An NTD report must contain all public transportation services provided by the organization, whether directly operated or purchased transportation, regardless of whether the service is in an urbanized area (UZA) or rural area. All revenues and expenditures for public transportation activities must be included, including planning activities and capital expenditures for modes not yet in service. Agencies should not report services that their organization does not directly operate or purchase. Direct Operation is defined in the Directly Operated Services section of this manual. Purchased transportation is defined in the Purchased Transportation section. Introduction — 11 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Reporting Due Dates FTA determines each agency’s NTD report due date based on the agency’s fiscal yearend date. Reporters submit their Annual Report four months after the fiscal year ends. The NTD reporting system allows for reporting waivers for transit agencies that experience unusual or unforeseen circumstances. Refer to the Declarations and Requests chapter for the types of requests available. Agencies requesting a reporting identifier (ID) must submit ID requests to the 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, 2026, to report to the NTD in 2026. 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 YearEnd Date Waiver, Special Request, etc. Deadline Annual Report Due Date Last Date to Submit Report Revisions Report Closeout Date 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, 2026. One of its subrecipients collects and reports data to the State based on its own fiscal year, ending June 30, 2026. Solution: The State may report subrecipient data according to the subrecipient’s fiscal year ending in 2026 for its 2026 Annual Report. 12 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Data Validation • The NTD data validation process ensures that reporting requirements are met and 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 no validation issues are open 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. Agencies can address important issues by revising the relevant data or writing a comment explaining why the data are correct. • Critical issues are raised when data are logically inconsistent and must be corrected. Introduction — 13 2026 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) require all financial data in the NTD Annual Report meet the following accrual accounting principles: • Agencies record revenues when they earn them, regardless of whether they actually receive the revenue in the same fiscal year. • Agencies record expenditures as soon as they owe an entity, regardless of whether they 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. Exhibit 7 demonstrates the use of accrual accounting for an operating expense. 14 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 service in Year 1 and sends an invoice to the buyer in Year 2. For which year should the agency report this expense? 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. 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. Introduction — 15 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • 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. 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. 16 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual FTA 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. 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 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 USOA, 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 630 (National Transit Database), and 49 CFR part 625 (TAM) are essential to understanding the forms and instructions presented in this manual. You can obtain these documents by visiting the NTD’s Federal Register Notices, Rules, & Regulations web page. Please consult 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, Introduction — 17 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 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 Purchased Transportation TOS 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. 18 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Reporter Types Who Qualifies Plan • Receives or benefits from § 5307 funding. • Does not directly operate or contract out service. • Spends § 5307 funding on planning activities. There are several cases in which an existing Rural Reporter must transition to an Urban Reporter type due to operating within a UZA, but before receiving or benefitting from § 5307 funding. During NTD report years in which a new census dataset is released (e.g., 2020 Census Data being released in RY 2022), if an existing Rural Reporter now provides service within a UZA, they must transition to an Urban Reporter type in the following report year to accurately report their services. If a former Rural Reporter implements service changes and begins serving a UZA, the report is no longer a Rural Reporter by definition. If FTA is provided documentation (e.g., as a result of data validation) that an agency is serving an urban area and will continue to do so, FTA may require the agency to complete a Full or Reduced report in a future report year. Full Reporting Exemptions and Waivers If a Reduced Reporter transit agency exceeds the 30 Vehicles Operated in Maximum Service (VOMS) threshold within a fiscal year, Full Reporter requirements do not apply until the following fiscal year. Similarly, Rural Reporters who begin operating in a UZA must report their urban service to the NTD, no later than the fiscal year after that service begins. Rural Reporters who exceed the 30 VOMS threshold may request a one-time waiver to report as a Reduced Reporter in their first report year under the Urban reporting module. If those services continue to exceed the 30 VOMS threshold in the following report year, those agencies must report as Full Reporters. Full Reporters are required to submit an Annual Report, Monthly Ridership (MR) reports, and monthly Safety and Security (S&S) reports. All other reporter types submit a single Annual Report. FTA publishes the annual Safety and Security Policy Manual on FTA’s web page for NTD manuals. Full Reporting Exemption for Operators Predominantly Serving Rural Areas FTA offers a waiver process in which reporters that predominantly serve rural areas may request an exemption from filing as a Full Reporter. Under this exemption, FTA will allow agencies who report to the Urban Module, operate more than 30 vehicles in maximum service (VOMS), and meet the criteria below to report as Reduced Reporters. FTA will grant the waiver if the agency meets each of the following criteria: Introduction — 19 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • • • Receives § 5311 funding. Operates fewer total VOMS in UZAs than total VOMS in rural areas. Allocates more total VRM to non-UZAs than UZAs FTA will automatically identify agencies that qualify for this waiver based on the prior year’s validated and accepted data submitted to the NTD. Eligible reporters will receive the option to request a Reduced Reporting status during their annual Report Year KickOff. This process allows agencies to confirm their operational characteristics, described above, that would inform their NTD reporter type. This step will use the ratio of § 5307 to total Federal funding expended to estimate VOMS in UZAs versus rural areas because these data are not directly collected on the Federal Funding Allocation (FFA10) form. If a new NTD reporting agency wishes to request this waiver during their first report year, they must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria in their “New ID Request” documents. FTA will verify the agency’s operating characteristics when processing the new ID request. Agencies will certify that they continue to meet the eligibility requirements each year. If an agency’s operations change significantly and they no longer meet eligibility requirements, they may request a one-year extension of the waiver to allow the agency time to implement data collection changes that would facilitate a Full Reporter submission the following year. Agencies considering this exemption should coordinate with the local planning agency in the UZA in which they operate, as well as their State DOT receiving § 5311 funding which may impact apportionment to the UZA, since Reduced Reporters do not submit PMT data. FTA uses PMT data as part of the Urbanized Area Program formula apportionment calculation (§ 5307). 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 rural public transportation or intercity bus service that receives § 5311 funding or are public providers of Chapter 53 funding received from a State DOT. 20 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 TTP 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 DOTs 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. Section 5311 Expended on Administration States report the § 5311 revenues they expended 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. States report the operating revenue expended during the report year from FTA § 5311 Formula Grants for Rural Areas funds. Number of Counties with § 5311 Service State DOTs report the total number of Counties or County Equivalents (as defined by the most recent decennial Census) 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 DOT 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 reporter types (see table below). State DOTs provide only a summary form for each urban transit provider or Tribe receiving § 5311 funds, given that these agencies already report directly to the NTD. Introduction — 21 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 10: State DOT and Subrecipient Reporter Types Reporter Types State DOT 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. The State DOT may elect to complete a report on behalf of the subrecipient or allow the subrecipient to complete its own report. The State DOT must submit the NTD report. 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. Sub-Subrecipients Section 5311 subrecipients typically receive these funds directly from their State DOT; however, the term “subrecipient” may also refer to an agency that receives § 5311 funding from another entity. A subrecipient may receive § 5311 funds from the State DOT and then purchase service from another local transit provider using § 5311 funds. The subrecipient may also enter a pass-through agreement with another local transit provider, in which they pass through some or all of their § 5311 award. If the service agreement does meet the requirements for the buyer to report the service as Purchased Transportation, the seller of service (who is the final recipient of the § 5311 funds) reports the service as Directly Operated (DO). For pass-through agreements, the agency that ultimately receives the pass-through funds and benefits from the government assistance reports the funding. Subrecipient reports are submitted to the NTD through the State DOT. In the cases described above, unless the service operator reports directly to the NTD’s Urban reporting module, the State DOT must report on behalf of the agency (a subsubrecipient) as a Rural General Public Transit (RGPT) subrecipient, even if they do not directly award § 5311 funds to that agency. 22 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Rural General Public Transit Most § 5311 subrecipients are RGPT providers. They provide rural service and either receive or benefit from § 5311 funding or report voluntarily. Please note, RGPT subrecipients must serve only non-UZAs. Intercity Bus Under § 5311(f), States must set aside 15 percent of § 5311 apportionment IB providers, unless the State’s Governor certifies IB 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 a 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: Introduction — 23 2026 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 and § 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 refer to 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. All tribal reporters complete a Reduced Report. 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. 24 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Note that transit agencies may report Indian Health Services (IHS) transportation programs only if the service provided meets the definition of public transportation. 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. Self-reporting 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 location-specific 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. Introduction — 25 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 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 TOS, 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. 26 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Basic Information (Form P-10) NTD 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 9). 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 organization. The terms “Reporter Name” and “Agency Name” are used interchangeably. If reporting is required under an FTA grant program, the reporter name must reflect the legal name of the funding recipient. Do not include any names different than the full legal name of the organization, whether the names of divisions, departments, other organizational units, or any branding names, as discussed below under “Doing Business As” (DBA). Do not use abbreviations or postal codes in your agency name. If your organization does not perform the transit service and activities in this NTD report (e.g., you are filling out this report for a subrecipient), enter the full legal name of the organization that performs the transit service and activities in this report. Do not include your organization’s name in the agency name field. Division or Department Name If your organization is engaged in other lines of business that are not reportable as public transportation to the NTD, enter the name of the division(s), department(s), or other organizational units providing the public transportation services included in this NTD report. Otherwise, leave this field blank. If necessary, enter multiple division names as a list separated by commas. For example, if your organization (as reflected in the agency name above) has separate divisions for bus service, rail service, and airports, then enter the names of the bus division and the rail division here, separated by commas. 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 agency may be Anytown Transportation Authority, but the agency does business and is Introduction — 27 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual known to the public as The Ride. Their Doing Business As name should be the name by which customers know the service. FTA may use the Doing Business As name in select FTA publications. Acronym The agency’s acronym may be used for marketing the transit service. This acronym may be used in selected FTA publications. Exhibit 13: Reporter Name and Profile Fields Example: City of United reports to the National Transit Database to report their transit service. The City of United’s transit program falls under to city’s public works division and uses “United Transit System (UTS)” for its general public correspondence. How should this agency report its Reporter Name, Division or Department Name, Doing Business As, and Acronym? Solution: The agency would report the following fields: Reporter Name: City of United Division or Department Name: Public Works Division Doing Business As: United Transit System Acronym: UTS Address Address means the agency's physical address. This should generally represent the CEO’s primary office location. Agencies must either indicate an 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 it 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 Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number for each unique transit agency reporting to the NTD. 28 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual FTA Recipient Identification Number (FTA Recipient ID) The FTA Recipient ID number is the four-digit number assigned to your agency for FTA’s 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 or benefit from 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. Emergency Contact Agencies must identify an emergency contact in the NTD online reporting system. Identifying an emergency contact allows agencies to establish a point of contact to facilitate communications with FTA before, during, and after emergency situations. An agency’s emergency contact does not have to currently hold an existing NTD system role. FTA encourages agencies to assign this role to a contact with emergency preparedness or response functions, such as an emergency liaison officer, a facility or building emergency response team member, or a person with similar job functions. Agencies who contract out their transit services should provide emergency contact information for an employee of the reporting agency. Agencies do not provide emergency contact information for an employee of the contract service provider. Agencies must certify the accuracy of their emergency contact information each report year during their annual report year kickoff. Modes and Types of Service (Form P-20) FTA requires agencies to report most data by Mode and TOS. Transit agencies must begin reporting modal information as soon as they have a commitment to build the mode (e.g., Commitment Date). Introduction — 29 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 14: 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 the NTD as a Full Reporter. The following table provides details on all NTD modes of transit operated by reduced reporters. 30 — Introduction 2026 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 Bus is 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. Introduction — 31 2026 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 closeddoor 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. 2 32 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Mode Demand Response (DR) Explanation Rail: No Fixed Guideway: No 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. Introduction — 33 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Mode Público (PB) Explanation 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. Públicos are a privately owned and operated public transit service. 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. 34 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Mode Explanation 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 comes 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 a questionnaire to FTA. You can find the questionnaire in Appendix C. 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: 4 Publicly sponsored service is • Directly operated by a public entity; • 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)] Introduction — 35 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • There is limited mixing of vehicles between modes. 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 workday and a CB service during the remaining part of the day. Types of Service Agencies report four TOS 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 TOS FTA defines Purchased Transportation TOS 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. A buyer is a transit agency that pays another entity to perform transit service. A 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 for other contracts. 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. 36 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • 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 the buyer with 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 that FTA 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 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 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. Introduction — 37 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Purchased Transportation – Transportation Network Company Purchased Transportation – TN is a special TOS provided by a Transportation Network Company (TNC) on behalf of a public transportation agency using nondedicated vehicles. The TNC dispatches the service using a mobile application. Refer to Appendix D 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. Full Cost of Service To report Purchased Transportation TOS, 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 annual contribution made by an Indian Tribe to a local transit provider to extend service into the Tribal Statistical Area. In this case, the local transit provider reports the service data. 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 if the agreement meets FTA’s definition of a contractual relationship. 38 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Committing, Starting, and Ending a Mode Agencies must report the date on which the transit agency began applying funds (Commitment Date). 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. More User Management reporting guidance can be found in User Guide for FTA Access Control and Entry System on the FTA website. General Transit Feed Specification Data for Fixed Route Service (Form P-50) FTA requires NTD reporters with fixed route service to create and maintain a General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) feed. GTFS is a common format that allows public transit agencies to publish their transit data in a way that most software applications can read. GTFS requires, in the text file format, current and accurate snapshots of transit services to use in mapping applications. In accordance with IIJA, FTA collects GTFS data for fixed routes as part of a broader effort to collect NTD reporters’ geographic service area coverage data. Introduction — 39 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 15: Submitted File vs. Mapped GTFS Data Segment Segment A. Sample of stops in New York City from stops.txt file. B. The same stops, plotted using Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping software. The GTFS requirements below apply to Full Reporters, Reduced Reporters (including Tribal Reporters) and Rural Reporters (subrecipients). The requirements do not apply to Reduced Asset Reporters nor Group Plan Sponsor Reporters. Feed Requirements GTFS is a single overarching compressed (.zip) file that contains, at a minimum, seven underlying text (*.txt format) files that each meet GTFS dataset formatting and structural requirements. An eighth file is optional but strongly recommended: 1. agency.txt 2. stops.txt 3. routes.txt 4. trips.txt 5. stop_times.txt 6. calendar.txt or calendar_dates.txt 40 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 7. shapes.txt (Required for all GTFS submissions beginning in RY 2026. For more information, please review “Shapes Data Guidance” on the GTFS website) 8. feed_info.txt (Optional but strongly recommended by FTA; this file contains an agency’s GTFS publisher contact, version history, and feed validity information.) Structural requirements for the GTFS dataset are fields that must be included in their respective files for FTA to consider the file valid. These fields include but are not limited to Latitude, Longitude, Stop Name, and Route Name. Similarly, within each file, some fields are noted as “optional.” Optional fields are recommended in the file(s) mentioned above since they improve the usefulness of the datasets for data users. You may find more information about the required and optional fields in each GTFS text file at the GTFS website. For the NTD, all reporters must provide a value in the agency_id field on the P-50 form and in the agency.txt, fare_attributes.txt, and routes.txt files. While this is conditionally required in the GTFS specification, FTA requires this value to crosswalk NTD reporters to the underlying GTFS routes within each submitted feed. If your agency does not already use a value for the agency_id field, FTA recommends using a value that uniquely identifies your agency with respect to other NTD reporters included in the feed. GTFS feeds should reflect active, current operations and should not feature expired service dates (agencies must ensure the calendar.txt or calendar_dates.txt files represent service that is current at least through the end of the most recently completed fiscal year). Agencies can check that their service window is up to date by using the Mobility Data GTFS Validator (https://gtfs-validator.mobilitydata.org/) and inspecting the “Service Window” value at the top of the report. The Service Window is based on the range of service dates the feed covers. If your fixed route modes experience service changes during a given fiscal year period, you should reflect those changes in the GTFS dataset. Agencies certify this information is accurate and up to date on an annual basis on their NTD report via the D-10 Certification Form. Weblink Requirements Agencies must maintain a public domain GTFS dataset that reflects their fixed-route service, as well as a publicly accessible link from which the GTFS dataset can be collected. Specifically, agencies should create and host one or more links containing their GTFS data. Each GTFS link submitted to the NTD must provide a compressed (.zip or “zip”) archive containing at least one copy of each of the required text files, Introduction — 41 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual covering all fixed route modes. Links should provide a direct download of the GTFS dataset zip file. To ensure data users and mapping applications can reliably access and process the data, please adhere to the following: • • • No Enterprise Storage Links: Do not provide links hosted on enterprise data storage solutions, such as Google Drive or SharePoint, because varying permissions and access controls prevent automated retrieval by the FTA team. No Link Wrappers: Ensure the submitted URLs are the direct source links. Ensure the links are not “wrapped” in email security protection (such as Outlook “URL protect” or similar Safelinks). No Password Protection: The feed must be publicly accessible and must not be password protected. If an agency demonstrates that hosting a web link is not possible, the agency can request a waiver for FTA to accept a GTFS zip archive file submission via the P-50 Form. Please refer to the Waivers section of this document for information on how to request a data waiver. RTAP offers free hosting for GTFS to any federally funded agency that is not able to host the link on their website. 42 — Introduction 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 Geospatial Data for Demand Response Modes (Form B-15) Agencies reporting Demand Response (DR) modes must provide details on service area, including state, counties, and census designated places served. Agencies report data on days operated, populations served, and fares on the B-15 Form Contractual Relationship Data Requirements (Form B-30) Requirements that apply to transit agencies who purchase service or provide service on behalf of another agency Basic Agency Information Requirements — 43 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Identification (Form B-10) Organization Types All transit agencies must provide their organization type as of the end of the fiscal year. The organization type selected must describe the organization listed in the Agency Name field on the P-10 Form. Select the Organization Type that reflects your full organization as listed in the Agency Name field on the P-10 form. The following organization types are 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 Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), council of governments (COG), or 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 Nonprofit 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 typically 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. This does not 44 — Basic Agency Information Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual include Tribal governments, which have a separate organization type, as described below. 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. This organization includes both State and territorial governments. 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. This organization type is for agencies that are incorporated as a nonprofit Area Agency on Aging, separate from the government. MPO, COG, or Planning Agency Planning agencies primarily address short and long-range transportation needs through a cooperative process among local jurisdictions. Examples include MPOs, regional councils, and regional commissions. Indian Tribe This organization type is for transit agencies that are federally recognized Indian Tribes or are divisions or departments within a federally recognized Tribal government. 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 In rare cases, a transit agency has separate operating divisions or districts for different areas. With FTA approval, each division or operating district may be granted its own NTD ID. This is generally the case only for very large transit agencies, when including all operating districts or divisions in one NTD report would be burdensome and would be of limited use to data users. If there is only one subsidiary unit for transit, report as an independent public agency or authority for transit service. Basic Agency Information Requirements — 45 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. These are typically organizations formed or chartered as separate legally incorporated organizations by one or more State, county, city, or local government. Examples include airports or port authorities. Private For-Profit Corporation These reporters operate independently for profit. Select this option if your agency is legally incorporated and operates for profit. Private Nonprofit Corporation These reporters do not operate for profit. You would select this option if your agency is a legally incorporated, not-for-profit corporation that is privately owned. This option does not include organizations legally incorporated under the Older Americans Act of 1973, nor institutes of higher education. 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. Please see the section on Agency Name in the P-10 Form for more information on this option. Other If none of the choices fit 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. 46 — Basic Agency Information Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual The NTD reporting system uses two definitions of transit area: • • Urbanized and rural areas Service area Urbanized and Rural Areas Beginning with the 2020 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau no longer distinguishes Urban Areas as either between urbanized areas (UZAs) or Urban Clusters. The criteria for Urban Areas for the Census Bureau now include any area that encompasses at least 2,000 housing units or has a population of 5,000 or more. This does not change the Federal statute governing FTA’s funding programs, which still defines a UZA as an area encompassing a population of not less than 50,000 people. Federal transit law still makes this distinction to prescribe FTA’s distribution of formula grant funding to UZAs vs. non-UZAs. Any area below the 50,000-population threshold is considered a nonUZA, or rural area, for FTA’s programs. 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 web page. FTA bases UZA designations on the most current census population for each area. The NTD reporting system assigns a unique number to each UZA in the United States. For UZAs in the 50 States and the District of Columbia, FTA uses the Census Bureau’s Urban Area Census Code (UACE). Certain areas in Puerto Rico are designated as UZAs. FTA also treats the U.S. Virgin Islands as a UZA for purposes of transit grants, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 5307(g). Exhibit 16 shows how FTA categorizes all UZAs as large or small UZAs. A large UZA has a population of 200,000 or more. A small UZA has a population of fewer than 200,000. FTA refers to non-urbanized areas as rural areas or non-UZAs. Exhibit 16: Urbanized Areas All reporters indicate where they provide transit services by UZA and non-UZA. Agencies must designate a Primary UZA Non-UZA < 50,000 when they begin reporting to the NTD. Small UZA 50,000 - 200,000 The Primary UZA should represent the UZA in which the agency's transit Large UZA ≥200,000 services are mainly located or the main area that is served by the agency's transit services. Agencies can change this designation by submitting a request through the NTD reporting system. UZA Designation Population Size Basic Agency Information Requirements — 47 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Agencies must also report any Secondary UZAs. A Secondary UZA is any area outside the Primary UZA where the agency picks up or drops off passengers. Secondary UZAs may include non-UZAs. Identify the non-UZA if you provide any service that picks up or drops off passengers outside of the Census-defined UZAs, even if all your service data will be allocated to one or more UZAs on your Federal Funding Allocation (FFA-10) form. Agencies reporting to the Urban Module should report a UZA as their Primary UZA. Report any non-UZAs served as Secondary UZAs. Tribal reporters must report the American Indian Areas or Alaska Native Areas recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau where they operate public transit. 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. Serving an area means that passengers can board and alight public transportation services in that 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 (DR), transit agencies report the entire area that the mode serves. For modes not covered by ADA complementary service requirements, including Ferryboat (FB) and Vanpool (VP), transit agencies determine service area and population using locally defined criteria. Commuter Bus (CB) 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 MPO typically estimates population every five to seven years. Population and area (in square miles) statistics for a UZA almost always differ from a transit agency’s service area. 48 — Basic Agency Information Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Voluntary Status Most transit agencies report to the NTD because they are required to do so by Federal statute. However, some transit agencies do not receive or benefit from FTA funds but opt to report to the NTD on a voluntary basis. The reported data generates formula funding for the allocated urbanized or non-UZAs. The term “transit agency” refers to an entity providing public transportation as defined in 49 U.S.C. § 5302. The term “Voluntary Reporter” refers to public or private transit agencies that are not obligated by Federal statute to report to the NTD but voluntarily comply with all NTD reporting requirements under the NTD regulation (49 CFR part 630) and the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA). Voluntary Reporters might report data to the NTD with the intention of future inclusion in FTA's Federal funding awards. Agencies must indicate whether they are Voluntary Reporters on the B-10 form. Agencies that are recipients or beneficiaries of funding under Section 5307 or Section 5311, including those that have continuing grant requirements under either of these programs, would select “No” to indicate they are not Voluntary Reporters and are, thus, required to report to the NTD. Similarly, any other transit agency required to report to the NTD (e.g., transit asset management [TAM] Reporters) would select “No.” Agencies that have no Federal requirement to report to the NTD, including not being subject to any continuing grant requirement, would select “Yes” to indicate that they are Voluntary Reporters. This requirement applies to all reporter types, including Full and Reduced Urban Reporters, Tribal Reporters, State DOTs, Rural General Public Transit (RGPT) Reporters, and Capital Asset Reporters. Agencies must recertify their voluntary reporting status each report year. FTA will verify the responses to this question during the Annual Report validation. Modes Filing a Separate NTD Report When two NTD reporting agencies have a purchased transportation agreement for public transportation services, the agencies determine among themselves who will capture the service data. The agency not capturing the data will select “Modes Filing a Separate NTD Report” on the B-10 form. Separate Assets If an agency owns or otherwise has capital responsibility for an asset used in public transportation provided by another NTD reporting agency, the agency with capital Basic Agency Information Requirements — 49 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual responsibility reports on the B-10 form that they have “Separate Assets” and identifies the other NTD reporters using those assets. This selection will generate another set of asset forms below the main package where the agency should report on these assets. Public Sponsor Agencies with the organization type Private For-Profit Corporation, Private Nonprofit Corporation, or Private Provider Reporting on Behalf of a Public Entity should provide information on the public sponsor of their public transit services. A public sponsor is a public agency that provides funding or assets to a private entity to support their public transportation service. These private organizations reporting to the NTD should enter the NTD ID number for the public sponsor and provide a description of the funding relationship to the sponsor. Agencies that do not have a public sponsor should select the checkbox indicating “We do not have a public sponsor.” Each year, the information will populate from the prior year, and the agency must review and check the box on the B-10 form to confirm “The Public Sponsor information below is correct.” Geospatial Data for Demand Response Modes (Form B-15) Agencies with the following reporter types report geospatial data for Demand Response (DR) modes: • Full Reporters • Reduced Reporters (Including Tribal Reporters) • Rural Reporters (subrecipients) This requirement does not apply to Reduced Asset Reporters nor Group Plan Sponsor Reporters. FTA collects geospatial data for non-fixed routes as part of a broader effort to collect NTD reporters’ geographic service area coverage data, in accordance with IIJA. Agencies submit this data annually on the Geospatial Data for Demand Response Modes (B-15 Form), which contains 10 service-level selections: 1. Do you serve residents in another State besides your State? 2. Select the Counties that you serve, either in whole or in part, where you pick up residents for a new trip origination. 50 — Basic Agency Information Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 3. Select Census “Places” served in these counties; indicate whether these Places (e.g., Township) are served, and whether these Places are partially or wholly served. 4. Is your Demand Response service intended to meet the ADA complementary paratransit requirements for a fixed route system? 5. If yes to #4, is your service area limited to the ADA complementary paratransit distance for: • Your own NTD Reporter ID; or • Select all those that are not your NTD Reporter ID. 6. Within your service area, do you have different passenger eligibility requirements or different terms and conditions of service? 7. Which days per week do you operate? • The purpose of the question is to determine if any service was operated on the given day. For example, if you provide service on four Saturdays during the fiscal year, please select “Saturday” under Days Operated. 8. For each day of the week, what are your hours of operation, and is your service: • Restricted to complementary paratransit under the ADA (i.e., determined through your local eligibility process)? • Restricted to a specific segment of the population defined by age, disability, or low income? • Open to the general population (no eligibility restrictions)? 9. What is the minimum advanced reservation time for your service? Select days or hours. 10. What is the fare charged? If your policies or service offerings changed during the report year, report according to the service you operated on the last day of the report year. Additional Guidance for B-15 Reporting If your demand response service covers the service area of another agency’s fixed route mode and is intended to meet the ADA complementary paratransit requirements for that fixed route mode, report each of those other agencies under question 5 on the Basic Agency Information Requirements — 51 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual B-15 form. A purchased transportation (PT) contract is not required for agencies to be listed in this field. To answer question 8, first list your Demand Response "services." One DR mode may comprise several services. Different services are often branded differently, and may have different service hours, service areas, and eligibility requirements. For each service, what are the eligibility requirements? Is the service restricted to a certain population? For example, if your only service is open to everyone and satisfies the ADA complementary paratransit requirement, you should report it as "Yes" for General Population and "No" for the other categories. Even though it carries seniors, disabled persons, and paratransit-eligible persons, the service is not restricted to those groups. You should only report "Yes" for multiple categories when you have separate services within the DR mode that have different eligibility requirements. • Select "Yes" for Complementary Paratransit Eligible if you operate a service that is intended to meet the ADA complementary paratransit requirement for a fixedroute service, and which is restricted to persons your agency has found eligible for paratransit service. • Select "Yes" for Age or Disability or Low-Income if you operate a service that is restricted to elderly, disabled, or low-income riders, but is not intended to meet the ADA complementary paratransit requirement for a fixed-route service. • Select "Yes" for General Population if you operate a service that has no eligibility restrictions. To answer question 9, if you require passengers to reserve their trip by a certain cutoff time the day before the trip, report 1 day. If different services within the DR mode have different advance reservation requirements, report the shortest minimum advanced reservation time required. For question 10, if your agency's fares vary, please report the most commonly charged Passenger Fare, not including any special discounted category (such as seniors or students) nor any multi-trip or other discounts. Do not include any donations. NTD reporters can utilize reporting assistance through the resources available from the National Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP). These agencies may consult with RTAP and use their tools to assist with training staff and complying with the new reporting requirements. 52 — Basic Agency Information Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 RGPT subrecipient types. These agencies must report data, including the following: • 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 o 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 include: 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) o Terms for Vanpool modes, typically include: Passenger Fees, Passenger Outof-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. 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 Basic Agency Information Requirements — 53 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • 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 4220.1G, 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. Passenger Fees Passenger Fees include the payments from all passengers, including the drivers, to the van leasing agency. This also includes any fees collected from the passengers’ employers to provide the Vanpool service. 54 — Basic Agency Information Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. Contract Capital Leasing Expenses Capital leasing costs 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 Vanpool programs, the Vanpool fees generally include the capital leasing costs. For more information on Vanpool 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 the Purchased Transportation Fare Revenues 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 contract cost is the inflow of revenues received by the seller in exchange for the transit services provided. Basic Agency Information Requirements — 55 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 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 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. 56 — Basic Agency Information Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Key Relationships Between Forms The following exhibit summarizes how data on the B-30 form relates to data on the RR20 form. Exhibit 17: 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 Basic Agency Information Requirements — 57 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 58 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual What to Report Exhibit 18: Expense Types 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 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 $10,000 or less. For example, if a transit agency sets its capitalization level at $2,000, it must report a computer equipment purchase of Financial Data Requirements — 59 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual $1,500 as an operating expense on the NTD Annual Report. For more information, please see the OMB’s Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance. 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. 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 19: 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, 60 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 that do not directly support the transit department are not included in the NTD report. 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. 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 GAAP. To fully report operating expenses, agencies should: • Determine which expenses are direct costs that are attributable to a particular mode and types of service (TOS), and which expenses are shared costs; and • Trace or allocate shared costs to each mode, TOS, and function. Financial Data Requirements — 61 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Direct vs. Shared Costs 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). • 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 62 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual agencies allocate shared costs to the functions, modes, and TOS 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) 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 (PT) and Directly Operated (DO) services. Transit agencies with PT 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 o Electric bills o Phone bills o Fire insurance o 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. Financial Data Requirements — 63 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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: • • • • • • • 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, they should apply their 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 64 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • • Funds unrelated to transit Dedicated funds (applicable to transit agencies that are independent political entities and have the ability to impose taxes) Passenger Fares Passenger Fares include revenues earned from carrying passengers. This applies equally to DO, PT, Purchased Transportation – Transportation Network Company (TN), and Purchased Transportation – Taxi (TX) 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 their 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 Financial Data Requirements — 65 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • • • • 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 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, and permits students to ride fare-free, 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. 66 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual When an agency sells fare media before use (e.g., monthly passes, 10-trip books, smart cards), they report the fare as revenue when the customer redeems the ride, not when the medium is sold. Revenue for fare media that are not redeemed within a reasonable period of time (i.e., its expiration date has passed or fare medium is no longer accepted) should be recognized in the period that it expires. Certain rules discussed below apply only to specific modes of transportation. 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 (VP) services, passenger fares have unique provisions. Passenger fares include Passenger Fees and Out-of-Pocket Expenses as described in the 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 TOS based on a reasonable allocation method. For example, a transit agency may allocate by: • • • Unlinked Passenger Trips Passenger Miles Traveled; or Operating Expenses Financial Data Requirements — 67 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 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 donation-based 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. 68 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 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 the following: • • Operating assistance, such as: o General operating assistance to support service for all classes of passengers; o 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; o Reimbursements of payments for taxes, interest, snow removal, maintenance, and security costs; and o Special demonstration project assistance. Capital assistance Local sources may provide funding from the following: • • • • 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 the following: • • • General revenues of the State government State transportation fund Extraordinary and special items Financial Data Requirements — 69 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 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; and 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 (Form RR-20) 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 70 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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) 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 Your agency may incur costs with the intention of using a Federal grant to pay for the cost, but you do not actually receive the Federal funds until after you incur the cost. If the grant funds have not yet been obligated at the time you incur the cost, you finance the cost using other sources of funds and expect to be reimbursed with Federal funds. You must 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 they have not been reimbursed, when the agency has pre-award authority. An agency may also employ this practice if they incur 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 programs, including, but not limited to the following: Current Programs • • • • • • • FTA Urbanized Area Formula Program (§ 5307) FTA Formula Grants for Rural Areas (§ 5311) FTA Capital Investment Grants (§ 5309) FTA State of Good Repair (§ 5337) FTA Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Formula Program (§ 5339) FTA Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (§ 5310) FTA Metropolitan Planning (§ 5303) Coronavirus Response and Relief Funds – Report According to Current Program (e.g., CARES Act Urbanized Area Program Funds) • Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) Financial Data Requirements — 71 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • • Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 (CRRSAA) American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) New Programs – Report as Other FTA Funds • • • FTA Rail Vehicle Replacement Program FTA All Stations Accessibility Program FTA Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program Expired Programs • • • • FTA Clean Fuels Program (§ 5308) FTA Job Access and Reverse Commute Program (§ 5316) FTA New Freedom Program (§ 5317) FTA Transit in Parks Program (§ 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); and Complementary paratransit services operated to meet ADA requirements. Section 5307 funds include flexible funding programs, which are programs that allow the transfer of funds to an FTA program to be used for transit projects. For example, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the U.S. DOT transfers funds to § 5307 under the flexible funding provision from various programs, including the following: • • • • • • • • Surface Transportation Program (STP) Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) National Highway System (NHS) Construction of Ferryboats and Ferry Terminal Facilities Federal Lands Highways Program (FLHP) Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Program (TCSP) Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program (CBIP) Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program 72 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. FTA Formula Grants for Rural Areas (§ 5311) Section 5311 is a formula program that provides assistance to transit agencies in rural areas for the following: • • • 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 forprofit companies may receive § 5311(f) funding from the State. These companies report limited data to the State as a § 5311(f) subrecipient. 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. Financial Data Requirements — 73 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual FTA Capital Investment Grants (§ 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 Buses 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 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. 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 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (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 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (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. 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. 74 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual FTA Job Access and Reverse Commute Formula Program (§ 5316) 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. 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. Financial Data Requirements — 75 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, provides emergency assistance and health care response for individuals, families and businesses affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 On December 27, 2020, the CRRSAA was signed into law. The CRRSAA provided funding to support the transit industry during the COVID-19 public health emergency. American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The ARP, which was signed on March 11, 2021, includes $30.5 billion in Federal funding to support the Nation’s public transportation systems as they respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency. 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. 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 76 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual earned. See USOA 2.6.4, “Transportation Development Credits,” for additional information. Contributed Services Contributed Services (4610) 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, agencies reported Contributed Services as a directly generated fund. However, since there is no actual cost for the contributed service, FTA has changed this 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 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 Financial Data Requirements — 77 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 78 — Financial Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 the NTD by Reduced Reporters Service Data Requirements — 79 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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, such as: • • 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. If this occurs, please contact the assigned NTD analyst. Sometimes, multiple agencies will collaborate to provide a service through a contract or other arrangement. In some cases, it can be appropriate to split the service among NTD reports using a reasonable method. For example, if Agency A and Agency B have an agreement that Agency A will operate Route 1 serving both areas and Agency B will operate Route 2 serving both areas, then Agency A may report Route 1 and Agency B may report Route 2. However, agencies may not split individual vehicle trips between NTD reports. If a rider boards service that is in Agency A's report, then their entire trip must be in Agency A's report. For Demand Response services, if Agency A's passengers and Agency B's passengers are on the same vehicle at the same time, agencies may not split the data between reports; instead, the agency operating the service must report it. 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 the following: • 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. 80 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Transit agencies must report data associated with incidental transit service on the NTD Annual Report, following 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 Revenue miles include the distances traveled during running time. 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. Usually, agencies schedule layover/recovery time at the end of each trip. Transit agencies use this time to provide the operator with 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. Layover time typically ranges from 10 to 20 percent of the running time. VRM and VRH exclude the miles and hours related to the following: • • • • 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. Service Data Requirements — 81 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 20: 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 Yes No No Bus travels its route in scheduled revenue operation. Passengers board the vehicle. Yes Yes Yes Yes Bus travels its route in scheduled revenue operation. No passengers board the vehicle. Yes Yes Yes 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 Bus arrives at the end of the route, parks, and goes out of service. Bus resumes service in PM peak. No No No No Bus arrives at the end of the route, travels (deadheads) to a storage lot, and parks. Yes Yes No No Bus arrives at the end of the route, travels (deadheads) to another route to operate a scheduled trip. Passengers cannot board during deadhead. Yes Yes No No Bus arrives at the end of the route, travels (deadheads) to the dispatching point. Yes Yes No No Bus travels from the garage to another maintenance facility to perform routine maintenance. No No No No 82 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Activity Actual Vehicle Hours Actual Vehicle Miles Vehicle Revenue Hours Vehicle Revenue Miles Trip is terminated due to a collision with another vehicle, and the bus travels to a maintenance facility. Yes Yes No No Bus travels from start to end of a route for training. Vehicle is not in service and does not board passengers. No No No No Driver fuels the vehicle at a gas station. No N/A No N/A For Demand Response (DR) service, FTA uses a different definition of revenue service. For DR service, 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) Types 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 passenger is onboard as revenue service. When a transit passenger is not onboard, the service is not reportable to the NTD. Exhibit 21: Miles and Hours for Demand Response Services Activity Actual Vehicle Hours Actual Vehicle Miles Vehicle Revenue Hours Vehicle Revenue Miles Vehicle idles at the dispatching point. No N/A No N/A Vehicle departs dispatching point to pick up a passenger. Yes Yes No No 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 Yes Yes Yes Service Data Requirements — 83 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Activity Actual Vehicle Hours Actual Vehicle Miles Vehicle Revenue Hours Vehicle Revenue Miles Driver travels to a restaurant for lunch after the last passenger drop-off. No No No No Driver eats lunch at a restaurant. No N/A No N/A Vehicle waits at the shopping mall until it is time to bring passengers back to the community center. Yes N/A Yes N/A Vehicle returns to the dispatching point with no passengers onboard. Yes Yes No No Vehicle transports passengers from a community center to a shopping mall. Yes Yes Yes Yes Driver fuels the vehicle at a gas station. No N/A No N/A Driver travels to pick up a passenger but the passenger is a no-show. Yes Yes Yes Yes 84 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Unlinked Passenger Trips Unlinked Passenger Trips (UPT) are 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 the DR mode, 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 Vanpool (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 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 the following: • • • • • • 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 disabilities, older adults, and people with low incomes. Transit agencies must include sponsored UPT in their total UPT. Service Data Requirements — 85 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Collecting UPT 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, they 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, they must adhere to FTA requirements of estimation procedures, as described in the following sections. 100 Percent Counts of UPT 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 APCderived data. FTA must approve the following for agencies to report APC data: • • APC benchmarking plan (also known as the APC Certification Request) for the first year. APC benchmarking plan every three years. The next benchmarking year is Report Year (RY) 2028. 86 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 2026 must be recertified in 2028. The benchmarking process requires the agency to complete a manual sample alongside APC data collection to compare the values. To determine the sample size: • • If the mode or TOS being certified has 30 or fewer APC-equipped vehicles, the agency must sample at least 15 trips. If the mode or TOS being certified has greater than 30 active vehicles, the sample size must be half 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. Only trips with valid APC and manual data count toward the sample size requirement. The trips for the manual sample do not need to be randomly selected and can be spread out over any period within the same year. The sample should include heavy ridership trips and must include all APCs and vehicle models or configurations in the fleet. 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. Transit agencies can calculate manual counts 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. Do not reject APC data from the sample due to discrepancies with the manual data. Agencies must sample and certify APCs individually for each mode and TOS unless they share a fleet. Agencies should sample all types of APC models installed as the technology may perform differently. After completing the sample, the agency’s CEO user must submit an APC Certification Request through the NTD reporting system. Please refer to the APC Checklist for what must be included in the request. FTA will only certify APC systems for NTD reporting if the percent difference between manual and APC data in the sample, for both UPT and PMT, is less than 5 percent. The percent difference is calculated as (manual data − APC data) ∕ manual data. FTA will also only certify APC systems if the proportion of trips Service Data Requirements — 87 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual without valid APC data (the discard rate) is less than 50 percent of the number of trips on APC-equipped vehicles. If FTA rejects an agency’s APC system, the agency should reexamine their 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 approach should allow agencies to retest before the end of the year, thus ensuring that an agency that encounters problems with their APC testing can provide an uninterrupted set of data to the NTD. Agencies must also submit the results of the triennial benchmarking plans to FTA for approval. If, at any time, an agency installs new and substantially different APC equipment, the agency must recertify the APCs. APC Checklist Your APC Certification Report should include the following information for each mode/type of service being certified: 1. Your APC vendor 2. The date your APC system was installed (can be approximate) 3. The number of vehicles in the fleet 4. The number of these that are APC equipped 5. The NTD report year in which you plan to begin reporting APC data or for which you are recertifying the APC system 6. The mode and TOS that will use APC data 7. The number of trips you sampled for your benchmarking study 8. A description of how you selected the trips to sample 9. 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 10. The total number of trips that were discarded from the sample and the reason(s) they were discarded 11. 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) 12. A list of common reasons why a trip would not return valid APC data 13. A description of how you use the valid APC data to estimate UPT and PMT on trips that do not have valid data to obtain complete annual totals 14. The total manually collected UPT in the sample 15. The total APC-collected UPT in the sample 16. The total manually collected PMT in the sample 88 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 17. The total APC-collected PMT in the sample 18. Confirmation that you plan to repeat the benchmarking sample in Fiscal Year (FY) 2028 Estimation Methods for UPT If 100 percent counts of UPT are not available and reliable, agencies must estimate and report UPT based on statistical sampling. FTA requirements for sampling UPT for all modes and types of service are: • • Minimum confidence of 95 percent; and 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 TOS. If a transit agency samples, they 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. 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 Service Data Requirements — 89 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 inhouse 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 the following: • • • 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 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. A summary of the statistician’s education and experience that indicates that the statistician is qualified. Sampling Method Scaling Up, Using All Available APC Data For agencies using APC data that do not meet the criteria to report a 100 percent count for UPT or PMT, an optional method to scale up the APC data can be used, which is described below. This method is not required for agencies using APCs. Agencies using APC data may use other approved methods such as the NTD Sampling Method, an Alternative Sampling Method, or, if the APCs collect data on greater than 98% of trips, 100% count. 90 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual APCs occupy a unique position between traditional sampling and 100 percent count. Most APCs collect data on 60–90 percent of vehicle trips: far more than the few hundred trips in a random sample, but less the amount needed to select the 100 percent count option on the D-10 form. For this reason, most agencies with APCs use a stratified scaling-up method. If you use the method described below, report “Used all available APC data, which was less than 98 percent of trips, scaled up using a statistically valid method” on your D-10 form under the UPT and PMT data collection sections, as applicable. First, develop processes to throw out any trips with invalid APC data. Data may be invalid because the APC unit is not operating or the data fails to download, but it may also be invalid if the APC returns data that you determine to be invalid. Most agencies have validation routines that determine which data are valid. For example, agencies may flag trips or blocks where the difference between boardings and alightings is greater than 10 percent, or trips where the passenger load drops below zero. Decide on a way of grouping similar vehicle trips together. For example, you may group all January, Route 1, Monday, 8 a.m. trips together. (Typically, there would be four trips in this group because there are usually four Mondays in a month.) You may find that all weekdays are similar, so you may group January, Route 1, Weekday, 8 a.m. trips (around 20 trips in this group since there are about 20 weekdays in a month). If your service is not strongly seasonal, you may decide not to distinguish by month and group all Route 1, Monday, 8 a.m. trips. Generally, the more specific your groups, the more accurate the data will be, but the groups need to be big enough that you have valid APC data in each. Use your knowledge of your transit service and your APC system to decide how to group your trips. Once you have a vehicle trip grouping scheme, develop average UPT and PMT per group. This is the total UPT and PMT on trips in the group with valid APC data, divided by the number of vehicle trips in the group with valid APC data. If a group had no trips with valid data, use the average UPT and PMT from a similar group. Multiply the average UPT and PMT by the total number of vehicle trips (valid and invalid) in the group to estimate the total UPT and PMT for this group. Do this for all groups, and the grand total will be your Annual Total UPT and PMT. Most APC vendors can help you set up this type of estimation system. If you use your vendor’s system and FTA has certified your APCs, your vendor can certify that it meets FTA’s requirement of 10 percent precision at 95 percent confidence. If you develop your own estimation system, a qualified statistician must determine that it meets FTA’s Service Data Requirements — 91 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual requirement of 10 percent precision at 95 percent confidence and avoids any systematic bias from APC deployment or discarded trips. You may also use APCs as the data collection device in a traditional random sampling method, such as the NTD Sampling Method described in the NTD Sampling Manual. If you do, FTA must still certify your APCs, but you will report NTD Sampling (or Alternative Sampling Method) on your CEO Certification D-10 form. Sampling for Purchased Transportation TOS 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 UZA and the number of 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. 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. 92 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 22: Sampling Cycle Requirements Type of Service Primary UZA Population Total VOMS for Modes 100% Count of UPT Conducted? Mandatory Year DO ≥ 500,000 ≥ 100 Yes/No Annually DO ≥ 500,000 < 100 Yes Triennially DO ≥ 500,000 < 100 No Annually DO 50,000 499,999 Any number No Annually DO 50,000 499,999 Any number Yes Triennially PT, TN, and TX ≥ 50,000 Any number Yes Triennially PT, TN, and TX ≥ 50,000 Any number No 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; o The agency serves a primary UZA with population of less than 500,000; or o The TOS is purchased transportation. If a transit agency wishes to sample every three years, they must collect sample data in FTA-defined mandatory years. This year (FY 2026) is a mandatory sampling year. The next mandatory sampling year is FY 2029. 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. Service Data Requirements — 93 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Vehicles Operated in Annual Maximum Service VOMS is 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 these vehicles simultaneously and does not retain spares during peak service. Please note that rural subrecipients must include volunteer vehicles in their VOMS count. Exhibit 23: 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 threequarters of a mile away from the route to comply with the ADA requirements. 94 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 Transit agencies should provide all required NTD data points, including service, financial and asset data for services using volunteer resources if they meet the following criteria: • 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. • 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. Rural agencies that use volunteer resources report the following data points: • Volunteer Drivers—the number of volunteer drivers the agency has available. • Personal Vehicles in Service—the number of personal vehicles that the agency routinely uses o Personal Vehicles in 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 VRM or UPT data in its NTD report. Service Data Requirements — 95 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual § 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. 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 the following: • • • 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 or from its last stop to the garage or dispatching point. For non-fixed route services, deadheading can involve travel from: • • • • • • The garage to the dispatching point; The garage to the first scheduled passenger pick-up; The dispatching point to the first scheduled passenger pick-up; The last scheduled passenger drop-off to the dispatching point; The last scheduled passenger drop-off to the garage; or The dispatching point to the garage. 96 — Service Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 a scheduled lunch break 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 a scheduled lunch break. 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. Charter service, as defined by 49 CFR part 604, 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. Service Data Requirements — 97 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual SAFETY DATA REQUIREMENTS Agencies must report safety and security data as part of the NTD report. Urban Reporters completing a Full Report must submit monthly safety and security data to the NTD through a separate report package. For more information on safety and security reporting, please refer to the most recent NTD Safety & Security Policy Manual, which is available from the NTD manuals web page. S&S-60 Safety Data Form FTA collects annual safety data in a dedicated safety form contained in the Annual Report, the S&S-60. The following reporter types complete the S&S-60 form: • • • • Urban Reduced Reporter Rural Reporter (subrecipient) Tribal Reporter Reduced Asset (subrecipient) Full Reporters continue to submit monthly Safety & Security Reports. Reduced Asset reporters complete abbreviated S&S-60 forms. The S&S-60 contains three reporting sections: Physical Assaults, Non-Physical Assaults, and All Other Reportable Safety & Security Data. Assaults on a Transit Worker The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) amended 49 U.S.C. 5335(c) to require that recipients of a grant under Chapter 53 submit to the NTD “any data on assaults on transit workers of the recipients.” The IIJA defines an “assault on a transit worker” as: “[A] circumstance in which an individual knowingly, without lawful authority or permission, and with intent to endanger the safety of any individual, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life, interferes with, disables, or incapacitates a transit worker while the transit worker is performing the duties of the transit worker.” FTA defines “transit worker” as any employee, contractor, or volunteer working on behalf of the transit agency. Transit worker assault data is useful for understanding risk trends. For instance, reporting assaults based on location (e.g., revenue vehicles versus 98 — Safety Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual revenue facilities) may inform stakeholders and data users on how to identify potential mitigations. When reporting transit worker assault data, agencies report based on four location options, and three transit worker options. The location selections are: Location Description In Transit Vehicle In or on a transit vehicle. In Revenue Facility A facility or an area that a passenger uses to board/deboard from a transit vehicle using a platform, which may include stairs, elevators, escalators, passenger controls, canopies, wind shelters, ticket office or machines, restrooms, or concessions. This includes busway passenger facilities; ferryboat terminals; transportation, transit, transfer centers, park-and-ride facilities, and transit malls with the above components, including those only used by buses; or parking facilities and garages (those immediately adjacent to a transit station or center). In NonRevenue Facility A facility or an area that is not used to enable individuals to board or alight from transit vehicles and that is primarily staffed by transit employees. Other (e.g., city street) A location that is not in a revenue or non-revenue facility and is not a transit vehicle. This selection is used to capture events that did not occur in listed locations. For example, a person is pushed into a stationary transit vehicle on the roadway. The Transit Worker Type selections are: Transit Description Worker Type Operator An individual who is compensated by the transit agency and whose function is to operate the transit vehicle. Other An individual other than an operator who is compensated by the Transit transit agency or who is otherwise providing specific services on Worker (e.g., behalf of a transit agency. Includes transit police, station agents, etc. transit police, station agent, etc.) Safety Data Requirements — 99 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Transit Description Worker Type Other An individual that is not a transit worker or operator. Agencies may optionally provide additional details regarding any reportable assault on a transit worker. Additional details include, but are not limited to: • Time of day that an assault took place • Whether transit vehicles involved in assaults were equipped with anti-assault infrastructure, such as an operator compartment barrier, silent alarm, audio/video surveillance • Whether assaults involved physical attacks, verbal harassment, or threats of violence • Incidences of spitting • Involvement of weapons during assaults • Law enforcement response to assaults Physical Assaults FTA defines a Physical Assault on a Transit Worker as: “An assault in which the attack involves physical contact with the transit worker. This could include any physical contact with the victim from the attacker's body, a weapon, a projectile, or other item.” Transit agencies must identify the count of physical assaults on transit workers based on four location categories: • Physical Assaults in Transit Vehicle • Physical Assaults in Revenue Facility • Physical Assaults in Non-Revenue Facility • Physical Assaults in Other Location If an agency has physical transit worker assault data to report, they should first report the Total Event Counts for the fiscal year period for the applicable assault location(s) and designate them as either Major Safety and Security Events or Non-Major Events (non-injury). Major and Non-Major Events are defined below. 100 — Safety Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual After reporting the count summary, agencies then report the total number of physical transit worker assault injuries and fatalities corresponding to the location and transit worker types listed in the tables above for the entire fiscal year period. The definitions for injuries and fatalities for reduced reporters are consistent with previous definitions from the Reduced Reporting RR-20 form and are defined below. For example, if a transit operator is physically assaulted on a bus, and had to seek medical attention following the assault, the agency would report 1 Physical Assault in Transit Vehicle as a Major Safety and Security Event. The agency would also report 1 Operator Injury in Transit Vehicle. Please note, the form collects counts for the entire fiscal year period. If there are multiple reportable events, the forms should reflect the appropriate count. Non-Physical Assaults FTA defines a Non-Physical Assault on a Transit Worker as: “An assault in which the attack involves no physical contact with the transit worker. This could include threats or intimidation that did not result in any physical contact with the transit worker.” Transit agencies must identify physical assaults on transit workers based on four location categories: • Non-Physical Assaults in Transit Vehicle • Non-Physical Assaults in Revenue Facility • Non-Physical Assaults in Non-Revenue Facility • Non-Physical Assaults in Other Location If an agency has non-physical transit worker assault data to report, they should first report the Total Event Counts for the fiscal year period for the applicable assault location(s) and designate them as either Major Safety and Security Events or Non-Major Events (non-injury). Major and Non-Major Events are defined below. After reporting the count summary, agencies then report the total number of nonphysical transit worker assault injuries and fatalities corresponding to the location and transit worker types listed in the tables above for the entire fiscal year period. For example, if a transit mechanic is verbally threatened in a non-revenue facility, but the event did not result in an injury or fatality, the agency would report 1 under NonPhysical Assault in Revenue Facility as a Non-Major Event (non-injury). Please note, Safety Data Requirements — 101 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual the form collects counts for the entire fiscal year period. If there are multiple reportable events, the forms should reflect the appropriate count. All Other Reportable Safety & Security Data FTA has moved the former “Safety Data'' section from the Reduced Reporting RR-20 form to the “All Other Reportable Safety & Security Data” section on the S&S-60 form. The RR-20 form collected summary fatality data, but required a single annual count of fatalities, making fatalities that result from an impact with a bus indistinguishable from other types of fatalities. The section in the S&S-60 form contains expanded categories for reporting major events, any resulting fatalities or injuries, and injuries related to nonmajor events. Agencies report a count of the following non-assault safety event types: • • • • Collisions with Pedestrian(s) o Includes bicyclists on non-motorized bicycles and skateboarders. Collisions with Vehicle(s) Collisions with Other (e.g., animal, manhole, shopping cart, etc.) o Includes any objects other than vehicles and does not include collisions with a person. Other Major Events If an agency has data to report for any of the above event types, they must assign the event to one of the following categories: • • • Major Events Fatalities Injuries Agencies must also report injury counts associated with non-major events under Total Reportable Injuries from Non-Major Events. Safety and Security Reporting Thresholds The NTD divides Safety Events into two categories: Major Safety Events, and NonMajor Safety Events. For further details and examples, please refer to the NTD Safety and Security Manual. 102 — Safety Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Major Events A major reportable event is one that meets any NTD reporting threshold (detailed below), and: • Occurs at a transit revenue facility, maintenance facility; • Occurs on transit right-of-way or infrastructure (the underlying framework or structures that support a public transportation system); • Occurs during a transit-related maintenance activity; or • Involves a transit revenue vehicle. This event reporting requirement does not include: • Events that occur off transit property where affected persons, vehicles, or objects come to rest on transit property after the event; • Occupational safety events occurring in administrative buildings; • Deaths that are confirmed to be a result of illness, drug overdose or other natural causes, outside of a reportable event; • Other events (assault, robbery, non-transit vehicle collisions, etc.) occurring at bus stops or shelters that are not on transit-owned property-unless the event involves either a transit vehicle or a person boarding/alighting from a vehicle; o Bus stops or shelters owned by municipalities or authorities that also operate transit systems are not considered “transit-owned” property (see the most current annual NTD Reporting Policy Manual for more detail distinguishing bus stops from facilities); • Collisions that occur while transit personnel are travelling to or from a transitrelated maintenance activity; and • Collisions involving a supervisor car or other non-revenue transit service vehicle operating on public roads. The reporting thresholds for Major Events are: • 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; • Estimated 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; meet an Safety Data Requirements — 103 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual injury, fatality, property damage, or evacuation threshold; include suicides, attempted suicides, assaults, or homicides resulting in an injury or fatality that involve contact with a transit vehicle; or includes collisions that do not involve a transit revenue vehicle but meet a threshold; and • Evacuation of a transit facility or vehicle for life-safety reasons. Fatality Agencies must always report events that result in fatalities, except those that occur because of illnesses, drug overdoses, or other natural causes (including individuals who are found deceased). For example, if a passenger suffers a fatal heart attack in a transit facility or vehicle, the event is not reportable to the NTD. An agency must report a fatality due to a reportable safety event if it is confirmed to have occurred within 30 days of the event. Injury For all modes, any damage or harm to persons that requires immediate medical attention away from the scene because of a reportable event must be reported as an injury. You must report each person transported away from the scene for medical attention as an injury, whether or not the person appears to be injured. If an individual seeks medical care several hours after an event or in the days following an event, that does not constitute immediate medical transportation away from the scene. This criterion requires that the individual receive medical attention at a location other than the location at which the event occurred. This distinction serves to exclude minor first aid or other minor medical assistance received at the scene. When a person receives immediate medical attention away from the event, that individual may seek medical attention through any means of vehicular transport, including by transit vehicle, an ambulance, another emergency vehicle, private vehicle, or via stretcher to the hospital. However, if the person seeks medical attention after leaving the scene on foot, that does not constitute immediate medical transportation away from the scene. Non-Major Events Not all events that result in immediate transport for medical attention are reported on the S&S-60 as major events. One exception is for Other Safety Events Not Otherwise Specified (OSONOCs), which are events that are NOT a result of collisions, fires, 104 — Safety Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual security events, hazardous material spills, acts of God, or derailments. These events include slips, trips, falls, smoke events, fumes, and electric shock. Only report these events as major events when they meet either the fatality, evacuation, or property damage threshold or result in two or more injured persons. Other Safety Events that result in one person immediately being transported from the scene for medical attention but do not trigger any other major reporting thresholds are reported under Total Reportable Injuries from Non-Major Events on the S&S-60 form. Exhibit 24: Other Safety Event Decision Flowchart Exclusions Agencies do not report illnesses that require transport away from the scene for medical attention if the illness is unrelated to an S&S event. For example, a passenger suffering a seizure or a heart attack would not count as an injury. However, a transit operator suffering the same condition is included as an injury if the condition occurred as a result Safety Data Requirements — 105 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual of a collision. For example, if a bus is involved in a collision, and a passenger has a heart attack as a result, then that is a reportable injury. Individuals who are transported away from the scene for the following reasons are not reportable: • Solely for mental health evaluation unrelated to a specific reportable event; • Due to declarations or allegations of self-harm with no evident injury; or • Solely due to intoxication or drug overdose. 106 — Safety Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 Inventory (Form 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 Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 107 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 transit asset management (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). Therefore, 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. Agencies also should not report temporary-use facilities, such as mobile trailers, that are being utilized while another facility undergoes construction. Transit agencies must report performance targets for the following categories: Exhibit 25: Transit Asset Management Performance Targets: Calculation Category What to Report Rolling Stock Percentage of revenue vehicles within a particular asset class that are expected 5 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 5 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.” 108 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 percentage 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 Steel Wheel Vehicles Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 109 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 percentage of facilities that are expected to rate below 3 on the condition scale as defined later in this manual. Performance Measure Calculations Progress toward 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 in Exhibit 26. Exhibit 27 outlines the calculation used to generate the actual performance of each asset type. Exhibit 26: Transit Asset Management Performance Target Inputs Asset Category Asset Inventory Passenger Station Facility All passenger stations and facilities including Stations on right-of-way (ROW), bus terminals, and transfer stations Assets for Performance Target (Based on Condition Benchmark) 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 Count of all Administrative Facility maintenance facilities used to support revenue service All maintenance facilities for which the agency has capital responsibility (Condition on 1 to 5 scale) Detailed inventory of all facilities for which the agency has capital responsibility Revenue Vehicles All vehicles used in revenue service 110 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements All revenue vehicles for which the agency has capital responsibility (ULB) 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Asset Category Asset Inventory Service Vehicles All service vehicles for which the agency has capital responsibility Assets for Performance Target (Based on Condition Benchmark) All revenue vehicles for which the agency has capital responsibility (ULB) Exhibit 27: Performance Measure Calculations Performance Measure Numerator Denominator Total dedicated, active vehicles that have met or Rolling Stock exceeded the reported ULB with capital responsibility Total dedicated, active vehicles with capital responsibility and ULB reported Total vehicles that have Equipment met or exceeded the reported ULB with capital responsibility Total vehicles with capital responsibility and ULB reported Total facilities with a Facilities 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 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 non-rail, fixed route modes or in any one non-fixed route mode. • Own, operate, or manage rail modes. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 111 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 meet one of the following requirements: • 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 Agencies are required to upload a narrative report to the NTD that outlines performance targets and their progress toward their targets. This narrative may include any changes in transit system conditions that may affect progress toward 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 (MPOs) 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. 112 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Transit Asset Management Facilities Inventory (Form A-15) In RY 2025, FTA eliminated the A-10 form and consolidated all stations and maintenance facility reporting into a revised A-15 Transit Asset Management Facilities Inventory form. This change was intended to reduce reporting burden and align stations and facility counts by capturing this information through a single source. The station criteria described below apply to reporting facilities on the A-15 form. 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 Bus, 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, have a minimum roof square footage of 150 feet. Examples may include larger canopies or coverings to serve passengers. Transit agencies must report all passenger facilities they use in revenue service, including passenger stations and parking facilities, regardless of whether they have direct capital responsibility for those facilities. Agencies must report all maintenance facilities, regardless of whether they have direct capital responsibility for those facilities, if the transit use for those facilities is greater than incidental use. Administrative facilities are only reportable if the agency has capital responsibility for the facility and the transit use is greater than incidental. Use is Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 113 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. Small structures such as guard shacks or booths should only be reported if they are part of a larger facility. 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: • Facility Type • Year Built or Reconstructed as New • o If a facility is constructed over the span of multiple years, this should reflect the end date of construction. o 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 have 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). o Parking spaces are only reportable for facilities with a Facility Type of Parking Structure or Surface Parking Lot. o 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. 114 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • Address o Agencies must report either Address or Latitude and Longitude Coordinates. The following characteristics are captured on the A-15 form for each passenger station inventory entry: • Accessibility o ADA-Accessible o ADA-Inaccessible • Transit agencies must indicate if passenger stations comply with 49 CFR part 37. Accessible stations do not have physical barriers that prevent or restrict access by individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs Inaccessible stations do not meet the requirements of 49 CFR part 37. These facilities do not provide easy access (i.e., they 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 o 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. o 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. Shared Capital Responsibility Transit agencies that share a facility’s capital responsibility with another agency must report their percentage of capital responsibility. Both agencies that share the capital responsibility will report the condition assessment for that facility. The agencies must coordinate to 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 Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 115 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 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 28: 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. 116 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Mode Example 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 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 represent the age and function more accurately 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. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 117 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 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. Maintenance facilities are reportable regardless of capital responsibility if the transit use is greater than incidental use. Maintenance Facilities Transit agencies report maintenance facilities by the following categories: • • • 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. 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. 118 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 the following: • • 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 TOS (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. 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 Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 119 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 29: Facility Size Example: Coaster operates 175 vehicles and owns a maintenance facility that can store 225 vehicles. What size of general-purpose maintenance facility should they report? Solution: Coaster should report a general-purpose maintenance facility that serves 200–300 vehicles. 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. 120 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 Storage Facility Stand-alone building or structure for storage vehicles when not in use (ex: bus barn) 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). Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 121 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Administrative or Maintenance Facility Type Facility Type Description Administrative Office / Sales Office 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: • Cameras and Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) • Cash box repair areas • Alarm systems • Computerized probe for downloading etransactions on Ground Fault Interrupt (GFI) farebox • Vault compartment Revenue Collection Facility 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. 122 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 Station Criteria 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 Bus mode (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. Simple shelters should not be reported. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 123 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 the following: • 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. 124 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Passenger or Parking Facility Type Underground Fixed Guideway Station Facility Type Description 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 Exclusive 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. ROW 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. 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. ROW 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. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 125 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 126 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 TERM scale. The scale is based on five values for assets: Exhibit 32: TERM Scale Rating Condition Description 5 Excellent No visible defects, new or new near condition, may still be under warranty if applicable 4 Good Good condition, but no longer new, may have some slightly defective or deteriorated component(s), but is overall functional 3 Adequate Moderately deteriorated or defective components; but has not exceeded its useful life 2 Marginal Defective or deteriorated component(s) in need of replacement, exceeded useful life 1 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 a state of good repair. 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. A facility that was newly constructed or reconstructed to be like new can be reported as condition 5 without a formal condition assessment. 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 determining overall conditions for facilities that have varied conditions for the outlined features. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 127 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Examples of primary level features would include: • • • • Substructure Interiors Conveyance Plumbing For 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 TAM Facility Performance Measure Reporting 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 0.5, the value would be rounded down, and if the value is 0.5 or greater, it would be rounded up. Facilities condition assessments must be updated every four years at minimum. Agencies must update any condition assessments conducted over four years ago. For group TAM plans, this 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 (Forms A-30 and A-35) All transit agencies reporting service data must provide information on revenue vehicles by mode and type of service. Rural reporters provide less detailed data. 128 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 must group vehicles into fleets if they are identical in all aspects, including vehicle type, manufacture year, model, and funding source, etc. Revenue Vehicle Inventory Data (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 ULB Fuel Type Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 129 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 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. Cutaway (CU) is a transit vehicle 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. 130 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 pre-primary, primary or secondary school students either to such schools from home or from such schools to home. Sports Utility Vehicle (SV) is a passenger vehicle usually built on a truck chassis. Most SVs 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 SVs have three rows of seats with a cargo area directly behind the last row of seats. Compact SVs and mini-SVs 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 ROW. 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 Bus (MB) mode. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 131 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 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; or Historic vehicles maintained for special events. 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 (VOMS). 132 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 33: Active and Inactive Vehicles Vehicle Status Total Active Contingency Vehicles Vehicles Vehicles in Service X X - Spare Vehicles X X - Vehicles in Routine Maintenance/Minor Repairs X X - Vehicles in Rehabilitation/Major Repairs X - - Vehicles Awaiting Sale X - - Vehicles in Storage X - - FTA-Approved Contingency Vehicles X - X Vehicles Being Cannibalized for Parts - - - Vehicles Sold During Fiscal Year - - - 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. NonAsset Inventory Data Requirements — 133 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Dedicated 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 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. Sometimes, agencies will purchase a vehicle with the capacity to add additional seats as needed. For example, the vehicle may have a potential seating capacity of 15 but may only have 12 seats installed. The agency reports the full potential seating capacity on the A-30 form. In this way, the agency will not have to update the A-30 form every time they add or remove seats. Year of Manufacture Transit agencies must report the year of manufacture for the vehicles. The year of manufacture 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 2025. The model year of the 20 buses is 2026. What is the year of manufacture for purposes of NTD reporting? Solution: Report the year of manufacture as 2025 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 the following: • • • • Owned outright by a public agency Owned outright by a private entity True lease by a public agency True lease by a private entity 134 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual • • • • 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. 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 recipient). Please see Appendix B, Asset Codes, for the acronyms the NTD uses on the Annual Report for ownership type. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 135 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. In cases where multiple sources are used, select Federal funds first. If no Federal funds were used, select public funds, then 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. 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. 136 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Please see the table below for default ULB’s for common vehicle types. Exhibit 35: Revenue Vehicle Default ULBs Vehicle Type Default ULB (in years) Articulated Bus (AB) 14 Automated Guideway Vehicle (AG) 31 Automobile (AO) 8 Over-the-road Bus (BR) 14 Bus (BU) 14 Cable Car (CC) 112 Cutaway Bus (CU) 10 Double Decker Bus (DB) 14 Ferryboat (FB) 42 Heavy Rail Passenger Car (HR) 31 Inclined Plane Vehicle (IP) 56 Light Rail Vehicle (LR) 31 Monorail Vehicle (MO) 31 Minivan (MV) 8 Commuter Rail Locomotive (RL) 39 Commuter Rail Passenger Coach (RP) 39 Commuter Rail Self-Propelled Passenger Car (RS) 39 School Bus (SB) 14 Sports Utility Vehicle (SV) 8 Trolleybus (TB) 13 Aerial Tramway (TR) 12 Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 137 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Vehicle Type Default ULB (in years) Van (VN) 8 Vintage Trolley (VT) 58 Fuel Type Agencies report fuel types for both Dedicated and Non-Dedicated fleets. Common fuel types include traditional fuels, such as: • • Diesel; and Gasoline. Fuel types also include alternative fuels, such as: • • • • • • • • • • Compressed natural gas; Electric battery; Ethanol; Liquefied petroleum gas (propane); Liquefied natural gas; Kerosene; Biodiesel; Bunker fuel; Hydrogen cell; and Methanol. If none of the energy choices are appropriate, you must select Other Fuel (OR). If you select OR, use the text box in the form to describe what type of energy the revenue vehicles use. 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 percentage 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. 138 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Agencies that have true leases are not required to report ULB for these revenue vehicles since the agency does not have capital responsibility. 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. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 139 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 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. Do not report a company that installed a wheelchair lift or ramp if they did not remake the entire body of the lift/ramp. 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. 140 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 the following: • 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 o 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) 2026 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 2025 Fiscal Year-End Odometer Reading at 2026 Fiscal Year-End Mileage During 2026 Fiscal Year Status at 2026 Fiscal Year-End 1 35,005 72,188 37,183 In revenue operation 2 47,410 98,442 51,032 In revenue operation Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 141 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Vehicle Number Odometer Reading at 2025 Fiscal Year-End Odometer Reading at 2026 Fiscal Year-End Mileage During 2026 Fiscal Year Status at 2026 Fiscal Year-End 3 20,115 25,776 5,661 Out for six weeks for body work 4 140,020 190,290 50,270 In revenue operation 5 38,732 68,333 29,601 Out for six weeks for body work 6 150,043 155,747 5,704 Emergency contingency vehicle 7 40,555 79,676 39,121 In revenue operation 8 30,080 60,045 29,965 Spare used in operation Solution: Determine active vehicles at 2026 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: Total mileage on active vehicles during period: 142 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 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 ULB 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., Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 143 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 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) 8 Trucks and Other Rubber Tire Vehicles 14 Steel Wheel Vehicles 25 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. 144 — Asset Inventory Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 percentage 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. 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. Asset Inventory Data Requirements — 145 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 146 — Federal Funding Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Reporting Federal Funding Allocation Data (Form FFA-10) The U.S. Census Bureau released the new Urban Area (UA) definitions and detailed UA boundary maps in December 2022 based on the 2020 Census data. Report Year (RY) 2022 was the first year that agencies have used the 2020 Census data in NTD reporting. All agencies reporting to the NTD must use the most recent Census Area designations; by law, FTA must collect and use the most recent urbanized area (UZA) data for each year's formula funding apportionments. Allocations for RY 2022 and onward should reflect service according to 2020 Census geographies and current NTD Serve Rules. 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) Vehicle Revenue Hours (VRH) Operating Expense (OE) This form is required for directly reporting Urban and Tribal reporters. These data are defined in the Service Data Requirements (Form RR-20) 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 subtotals for each served area. Reporting by area is critical because it affects the amount of funding FTA apportions to each area. Federal Funding Data Requirements — 147 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 FTA Census Map. The Census Bureau uses the abbreviation “UA” to signify urbanized areas, while UZAs are those UAs over 50k in population per 49 U.S.C. 5302. UZAs are dark and light blue based on UZA size, rural areas are grey, and teal lines designate UZA 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. 148 — Federal Funding Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 39: Service in One Area Exclusive Urban or Rural Service: A trip occurs entirely within one UZA (exclusively urban) or entirely outside of one UZA (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. • 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 Federal Funding Data Requirements — 149 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual urbanized and rural areas it serves using a reasonable and consistent allocation method. Exhibit 40: Service in Two Areas: UZA to UZA (Multi-UZA Trip) Example: One trip end is in the Washington UZA and the other trip end is in the Baltimore UZA. Solution: The agency may report all data to its primary UZA or allocate data between the two UZAs. 150 — Federal Funding Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 41: Service in Three Areas: Two UZAs and a Rural Area Example: Both trip ends are in UZAs, and the trip enters a rural area. Solution: The agency may report all data to its primary UZA, or it may allocate between the urbanized and rural areas. Section 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). Allocation of service is based upon two criteria: 1. How the service is used 2. How the service is funded If a portion of the service is used by riders boarding in a rural area and disembarking in a rural area, then you must allocate a portion of the service to that rural area using a reasonable method based on the percentage of the service used to travel within a rural area relative to the total service. Likewise, if a portion of the service is used by riders boarding in an urban area and disembarking in that urban area, then you must allocate a portion of the service to that urban area using a reasonable method based on the percentage of the service used to travel within the urban area relative to the total service. During NTD report years in which a new census dataset is released (e.g., 2020 Census Data being released in RY 2022), agencies must allocate data according to new UZA/non-UZA areas they serve. This may not align with the funding sources previously Federal Funding Data Requirements — 151 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual awarded, used for the service. For example, if an agency that primarily uses § 5311 is located within a UZA per the census designation, the agency should allocate data according to which area was served. The remainder of the service will be composed of those passengers boarding in a rural area and disembarking in an urban area, or vice versa. For services supported by either rural (e.g., § 5311) operating or capital assistance, and no § 5307 operating funding, you must report the remainder of the service entirely to the rural area. If § 5307 capital assistance is used in combination with § 5311 operating or capital assistance, you must report the remainder of the service entirely to the rural area. For services supported by both § 5311 rural grants (operating or capital) and § 5307 urban operating assistance, you must allocate the remaining service data to the urban and rural areas in proportion to the urban and rural operating funding applied to the service. 152 — Federal Funding Data Requirements 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Exhibit 42: Service in Two Areas: Urban and Rural Trips Example 1: One trip end is in a UZA and the other trip end is in a rural area. The agency expends both § 5311 and § 5307 funding for operations. Solution 1: The agency must allocate data to the urbanized and rural areas using the proportion of § 5311 and § 5307 operating funds that the agency used to provide the service. Example 2: One trip end is in a UZA and the other trip end is in a rural area. The agency expends only § 5307 funding for operations. Solution 2: The agency may either allocate to the area primarily served or allocate between the areas. 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. Federal Funding Data Requirements — 153 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. 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 VRM 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 VRH between different urbanized and rural areas. Transit agencies should use consistent allocation methods and must explain any changes in methodology. 154 — Federal Funding Data Requirements 2026 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 Declarations and Requests — 155 2025 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 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) 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. 156 — Declarations and Requests 2026 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 (TOS). 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 they 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. Transit agencies must procure a new IAS-FD 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 their accounting system, they are exempt for the current report year. Declarations and Requests — 157 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. • FTA granted a waiver for the IAS-FD for the current report year. UPT Data The CEO must also describe Unlinked Passenger Trips (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. Report Year (RY) 2028 is the next 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 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, scaled up using a statistically valid method.” 158 — Declarations and Requests 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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 to the Validation Analyst from the CEO on agency letterhead for the current report year that describes the situation that prevents the agency from submitting data in accordance with NTD standards, explains what the agency is requesting to report instead and how those values were determined, and confirms that the agency will meet requirements in the next report year. 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 STIC funding. Waiver Types Transit agencies may request the following waivers: • • • Data Reporting Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data (IAS-FD) Declarations and Requests — 159 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Data Waiver A transit agency may request a data waiver for a specific data point or set of data that they did not collect per NTD reporting requirements. The agency may offer a different method to estimate data, or they 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. IAS-FD 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: • IAS-FD. (Rural Reporters are exempt from the IAS-FD). • IAS-FFA. (Reduced Reporters and Rural Reporters are exempt from the IASFFA). 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 160 — Declarations and Requests 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. IAS-FD 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 (USOA); • 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. Declarations and Requests — 161 2025 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 USOA. • The transit agency. o Uses an internal accounting system other than the accounting system prescribed by the USOA; o Uses the accrual method of accounting or a directly translatable method; and o 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 (FYE) Change Requests, • Extension Requests, or • 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 FYE date. 162 — Declarations and Requests 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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: • • • 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 adjust 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 as described below. All publicly available NTD data would reflect the actual service data, as reported by the transit agency for the year. Strike Adjustment 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 strike adjustment request to FTA. The request should identify the following: • • • • • The mode or modes affected. The exact time and date that the strike began. The exact time and date that the strike ended. 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. Declarations and Requests — 163 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Disaster Adjustment If a transit agency suffers a significant decrease in transit service due to a natural or person-made disaster, the agency or the designated recipient for the UZA may make a disaster adjustment request. The request must demonstrate that the transit agency meets all 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. 164 — Declarations and Requests 2026 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. Appendix A-1 — IAS-FD Template 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual [Submit a list of the specific financial forms on which audited data are reported:] • • • • 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: IAS-FD Template — Appendix A-2 2026 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 Codes AB Articulated bus AG Automated guideway vehicle AO Automobile BR Over-the-road bus BU Bus CC Cable car CU Cutaway DB Double decker bus FB Ferryboat HR Heavy Rail passenger car IP Inclined plane vehicle Appendix B-1 — Asset Codes 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual LR Light Rail vehicle MV Minivan RL Commuter Rail locomotive RP Commuter Rail passenger coach RS Commuter Rail, self-propelled passenger car SB School bus SV Sports utility vehicle (SUV) TB Trolleybus TR Aerial tramway vehicle VN Van VT Vintage trolley/Streetcar Funding Source Codes UA Urbanized Area Formula Program (§ 5307) OF 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) Asset Codes — Appendix B-2 2026 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 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 BRX BYD CBC CBW CCC CCI CEQ CHA CHR CMC CMD CVL DAK DER DIA Breaux's Bay Craft, DKK Inc. Build Your Dreams, Inc. DMC Collins Bus Corporation (form. DTD Collins Industries Inc./COL) Carpenter DUC Industries LLC (form. Carpenter Manufacturing Inc.) DUP Cable Car EBC Concepts Inc. Chance Bus Inc. EBU (formerly Chance EDN Manufacturing Company/CHI) Coach and Equipment EII Manufacturing Company ELK Chance Manufacturing Company FDC New Chrysler FIL Champion Motor Coach Inc. Chevrolet Motor FLT Division – GMC FLX Canadian Vickers Ltd. FRC Dakota Creek Industries, Inc. FRD Derecktor Diamond Coach FRE Corporation (formerly Coons FSC Mfg. Inc./CMI) Double K, Inc. (form. Hometown Trolley/Hometown Manufacturing) 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 APC Certification Checklist — Appendix B-3 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual GCC GCA GEO GIL GIR GLF GLH GLV GMC GML GOM HMC HSC HYU INT IRB KIA KKI MAN MBZ MCI MDI MER MNA MOL MTC Goshen Coach General Coach MVN America, Inc. GEO Shipyard, Inc. NAB Gillig Corporation Girardin Corporation NAT Gulf Craft, LLC Gladding Hearn NAV Glaval Bus General Motors Corporation General Motors of Canada Ltd. NBB Gomaco NBC American Honda Motor Company, Inc. NCC Hawker Siddeley Canada IKU – NEO Ikarus USA Inc. Hyundai Rotem NEW International NFA 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 NIS NOV OBI OCC OTC PCI PLY PRO Metrotrans Corporation PST Mobility Ventures PTE North American Bus Industries Inc. RIC (form. Ikarus USA SBI Inc./IKU) SHI North American Transit Inc. SCC Navistar International Corporation (also known as SPC International/INT) Nichols Brothers Boat Builders SPR National Mobility Corporation SSI National Coach Corporation STE Neoplan - USA Corporation STR New England SUB Wheels New Flyer of America SUL Nissan NOVA Bus SVM Corporation Orion Bus Industries Ltd. TBB (formerly Ontario Bus Industries) AKA Bus Industries TEI of America TMC Overland Custom Coach Inc. Oshkosh Truck TOU Corporation TOY Prevost Car Inc. Plymouth DivisionTRN Chrysler Corp. Appendix B-4 — APC Certification Checklist 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 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual TRT TRY TTR TTT VAN VOL VTH VWN WCI WDS WOC WTI WYC ZZZ Transteq Trolley Enterprises Terra Transit Turtle Top Van Hool N.V. Volvo VT Halter Marine, Inc. (includes Equitable Shipyards, Inc.) Volkswagen 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) APC Certification Checklist — Appendix B-5 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Appendix C: 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: ________________ Vanpool Questionnaire — Appendix C-1 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 5. Description of the advertising and branding costs (e.g., developing the brand name, logo, van decals): ____________________________________________ 6. What branding is used on the vanpool vehicles themselves? Vanpool Program name: ___________________________________________ 7. 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 8. 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): _______________________________________ 9. 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? Appendix C-2 — Vanpool Questionnaire 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 10. 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 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 C-3 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Appendix D: 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 NTD 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 non-dedicated vehicle owned, leased, or otherwise authorized for use by the driver to a point chosen by the rider. 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 TOS. 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 Appendix D-1 — Shared Mobility Services and NTD Reporting 2025 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual 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. Shared Mobility Services and NTD Reporting — Appendix D-2 2026 NTD Reduced Reporter Policy Manual Appendix D-3 — Shared Mobility Services and NTD Reporting 2025 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. Shared Mobility Services and NTD Reporting — Appendix D-4