Charter Service Operations

The Charter Service program ensures that private charter bus providers (who register on FTA's Charter Registration Website) are given the first opportunity to provide charter bus service and protects them from unauthorized competition from public transit providers that receive federal funding from FTA. This is a voluntary collection of information from private charter bus companies and transit agencies. The collection of information from private charter bus companies is conducted during their initial registration on FTA’s Charter Service Registration website. Registration allows the company to be notified electronically of third-party charter service request in their geographic region that are submitted to FTA grantees. The companies are requested to update their information every two years. Although, private charter companies are given priority, a FTA grant recipient may also provide charter service. However, they are required to electronically report such information on a quarterly basis. The Charter Service program was unchanged with the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) however, this information collection request reflects a decrease in the respondents from 2180 in 2020 to 2,000 currently. This decrease was not associated with any federal regulation or action but the result of consolidation among charter bus respondents and some private bus operators no longer doing business due to the pandemic. This submission also includes updates in cost to the respondents based on the 2022 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage rates and the federal costs which were updated as a result of the 2024 OPM salary table.

The latest form for Charter Service Operations expires 2027-04-30 and is listed under ICR 202312-2132-001.