Public Comments

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On March 26, 2026, FTA published a 60-day Federal Notice (91 FR 14751) to review the National Transit database Information Collection Renewal. 10 comments were received from this publication.
National Transit Database PRA Approval Duration
One commenter requested lowering the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the National Transit Database (NTD) information collection to two years rather than the standard three-year approval period. The commenter stated that a shorter approval period would encourage additional reductions in reporting burden, particularly for small and rural transit providers, and would allow FTA to revisit and streamline NTD requirements more quickly.
FTA Response: FTA appreciates the commenters perspective regarding reporting burden on small and rural transit providers and recognizes the importance of balancing the NTD data collection process with the administrative burden placed on reporting entities. FTA has historically practiced a three-year renewal period for the Information Collection Request for the NTD. FTA proactively evaluates opportunities to better reporting requirements and reduce burden where possible. As the commenter noted, FTA recently discontinued the weekly reference reporting requirement (WE-20) that had been established for the COVID-19 public health emergency as it determined the WE-20 no longer offered value in relation to the administrative burden on transit agencies and FTA. FTA believes the standard three-year PRA approval period is appropriate for this already established information collection. 
Section 5311 Match Requirement 
One commenter recommended reducing or eliminating the local match requirement associated with the Section 5311Formula Grants for Rural Areas, stating that the current structure creates financial challenges for rural transit providers operating in low density areas with limited local funding capacity. The commenter stated that rural providers often rely on contract revenue, including non-emergency medical transportation, to generate the required local match and that factors such as long travel distances and no-show trips further complicate service provided in rural areas.
FTA Response: FTA appreciates the commenter’s perspective regarding the challenges faced by rural transit providers in meeting local match requirements under the Section 5311 program. However, Federal share and local match requirements for Section 5311 assistance are established by statute and are outside the scope of this information collection renewal.
Demand Response Vehicle Revenue Miles
Several commenters recommended revising the definition of vehicle revenue miles (VRM) for demand response service under NTD. Commenters stated that current reporting practices do not reflect the operational realities of rural transit service, specifically in low density areas where providers may travel large distances prior to passenger pickup or experience no show trips. Commenters recommended allowing demand response providers to count dispatch to pickup travel, no show trips, and other miles associated with scheduled trips as revenue service. Commenters further stated that such changes would better reflect rural service delivery, improve equity in performance evaluation, and support rural funding considerations.
FTA Response: FTA appreciates the commenters’ perspectives regarding the operational challenges associated with providing rural demand response service. FTA notes that these comments concern substantive NTD reporting methodology and longstanding definitions of revenue service, rather than the information collection burden associated with this PRA renewal.
Vehicle revenue miles are defined consistently across all modes and reporting entities to support comparability and consistency of performance data over time. Under current NTD reporting, vehicle revenue miles reflect service provided while vehicles are in revenue service, rather than non-revenue travel associated with dispatch, deadhead movement, or no-show trips. Expanding the definition of vehicle revenue miles to include such travel would constitute a methodological change to longstanding NTD reporting practices and performance metrics and is outside the scope of this information collection renewal. 
FTA considered all the comments and suggestions provided and concluded that it will not make any changes to the information collections based on the comments before submitting the ICR to OMB for review