FTA to Respect Local Decision but
Aims to Enforce Rules Elsewhere
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 21, 2008) — The Federal Transit Administration announced this week an intent to revise its policy on school tripper service to more narrowly define the difference between legal transit service and school bus operations, following a ruling by a U.S. District Court in January that upheld a modified, exclusive service by the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transit Authority deemed by the FTA to be in violation of federal law.
The Notice of Proposed Policy Statement, which was issued on May 14 and is open to public comment through June 18, respects the ruling by the U.S. Court for the Western District of New York but seeks to clarify its tripper service guidance as the “Court’s decision is problematic because, if applied elsewhere in the United States, it could obstruct FTA’s ability to execute and implement Congress’ school bus prohibition ..." Transit agencies receiving federal funding are prohibited from setting up new or exclusive service to compete with local private school bus operators, which FTA ruled in the RGRTA case. The court disagreed.
If the policy statement is implemented, transit agencies engaged in tripper service would only be allowed to modify existing routes or provide more frequent service to accommodate students and school personnel while still providing service to the general public. School bus service would be newly defined “to encompass any service that a reasonable person would conclude primarily was designed to accommodate students and school personnel, and only incidentally to serve the non-student general public” as consistent with the 1973 Highway Act passed by Congress and the 1976 implementation of 49 CFR 605.
“Essentially they’ll respect the court’s decision in the Western New York district, but that’s as far as it goes,” commented Robin Leeds, NSTA’s industry specialist. “FTA is putting transit agencies across the county on notice that they intend to enforce the current rules.”
