The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

1. (1) Administrative expenses--Include, but are not limited to, general administrative expenses such as salaries of the project director, secretary, and bookkeeper; insurance premiums or payments to a self-insurance reserve; office supplies; facilities and equipment rental; and standard overhead rates.
2. (2) Allocation--A preliminary distribution of grant funds representing the maximum amount to be made available to a subrecipient during the fiscal year, subject to the subrecipient's completion of and compliance with all application requirements, rules, and regulations applicable to the specific funding program.
3. (3) Authority--A metropolitan or regional authority created under Transportation Code, Chapter 451 or 452, a city transit department created under Transportation Code, Chapter 453, by a municipality having a population of not less than 200,000 according to the most recent federal census, or a coordinated county authority created under Transportation Code, Chapter 460.
4. (4) Average revenue vehicle capacity--The number of seats in all revenue vehicles divided by the number of revenue vehicles.
5. (5) Capital expenses--Include the acquisition, construction, and improvement of public transit facilities and equipment needed for a safe, efficient, and coordinated public transportation system.
6. (6) Commission--The Texas Transportation Commission.
7. (7) Common rule--49 CFR Part 18, Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments or 49 CFR Part 19, Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other Non-profit Organizations.
8. (8) Contractor--A recipient of public transportation funds through a contract or grant agreement with the department.
9. (9) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
10. (10) Deputy executive director--The deputy executive director of the department.
11. (11) Designated recipient--The state, an authority, a municipality that is not included in an authority, a local governmental body, or a nonprofit entity providing rural public transportation services, that receives federal or state public transportation money through the department or the Federal Transit Administration, or its successor.
12. (12) Director--The director of public transportation for the department.
13. (13) District--One of the 25 districts of the department having responsibility for administration of public transportation programs in a designated geographic area.
14. (14) District engineer--The chief executive officer in charge of a district.
15. (15) Employment-related transportation--Transportation to support services that assist individuals in job search or job preparation. Trips to daycare centers, one-stop workforce centers, jobs interviews, and vocational training are examples.
16. (16) Equipment--Tangible, nonexpendable, personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit.
17. (17) Executive director--The executive director of the department.
18. (18) Farebox revenues--Fares paid by riders, including those who are later reimbursed by a human service agency or other user-side subsidy arrangement. This definition includes subscription service fees, whether or not collected on-board a transit vehicle. Payments made directly to the transportation system by a human service agency are not considered to be farebox revenues.
19. (19) Federally funded project--A public transportation project that is being funded in part under the provisions of the Federal Transit Act, as amended, 49 USC §5301 et seq., the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973, as amended, 23 USC §101 et seq., or any other federal program for funding public transportation.
20. (20) Fiscal year--The state accounting period of 12 months that begins on September 1 of each calendar year and ends on August 31 of the following calendar year.
21. (21) FTA--The Federal Transit Administration, an agency of the United States Department of Transportation.
22. (22) Good standing--A status indicating that the department's director of public transportation has not sent a letter to an entity signifying the entity is in noncompliance with any aspect of a program.
23. (23) Incident--An intentional or unintentional act that occurs on or in association with transit-controlled property and that threatens or affects the safety or security of an individual or property.
24. (24) Job access project--A public transportation project relating to the development and maintenance of transportation services designed to transport welfare recipients and eligible low-income individuals to and from jobs and activities related to their employment, or as otherwise defined by 49 USC §5316, the Job Access and Reverse Commute program.
25. (25) Like-kind exchange--The trade-in or sale of a transit vehicle before the end of its useful life to acquire a replacement vehicle of like kind.
26. (26) Local funds--Directly generated funds, as defined in the latest edition of the Federal Transit Administration National Transit Database Reporting Manual. Examples include, but are not limited to, passenger fares, special transit fares, purchased transportation fares, park and ride revenue, other transportation revenue, charter service revenue, freight tariffs, station and vehicle concessions, advertising revenue, funds dedicated to transit at their source, taxes, cash contributions, contract revenue, general revenue, and in-kind contributions.
27. (27) Local governmental entity--Any local unit of government including a city, town, village, municipality, county, city transit department, metropolitan transit authority, coordinated county transportation authority, or regional transit authority.
28. (28) Local public body--Includes cities, counties, and other political subdivisions of states; public agencies; and instrumentalities of one or more states, municipalities, or political subdivisions of states.
29. (29) Local share requirement--The amount of funds required and eligible to match federally funded projects for the improvement of public transportation.
30. (30) Low income individual--An individual whose family income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty line, as that term is defined in the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 USC §9902(2)), including any revision required by that section, for a family of the size involved, or as otherwise defined by 49 USC §5316, the Job Access and Reverse Commute program.
31. (31) Mobility management--Eligible capital expenses consisting of short-range planning and management activities and projects for improving coordination among public transportation and other transportation-service providers carried out by a recipient or subrecipient through an agreement entered into with a person, including a government entity, under 49 USC Section 5301 et seq. (other than Section 5309). Mobility management excludes operating public transportation services.
32. (32) MPO--Metropolitan Planning Organization, the organization designated by the governor as the responsible entity for transportation planning in urbanized areas over 50,000 in population.
33. (33) Net operating expenses--Those expenses that remain after farebox revenues are subtracted from eligible operating expenses.

34. (34) New public transportation services or alternatives--An activity that, with respect to the New Freedom program:

    1. (A) is targeted toward people with disabilities;
    2. (B) is beyond the ADA requirements;
    3. (C) meets the intent of the program by removing barriers to transportation and assisting persons with disabilities with transportation, including transportation to and from jobs and employment services; and
    4. (D) is not included in a Transportation Improvement Program or Statewide Transportation Improvement Program prior to August 10, 2005.
35. (35) Nonprofit organization--A corporation or association determined by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to be an organization described by 26 USC §501(c), one that is exempt from taxation under 26 USC §504(a) or §101, or one that has been determined under state law to be nonprofit and for which the state has received documentation certifying the status of the nonprofit organization.
36. (36) Nonurbanized area--An area outside an urbanized area.
37. (37) Obligated funds--Monies made available under a valid, unexpired contract or grant agreement between the department and a public transportation subrecipient.

38. (38) Operating expenses--Costs directly related to system operations of a transit agency regardless of the category of funding. At a minimum, this definition includes:

    1. (A) fuel, oil, replacement tires, replacement parts that do not meet the criteria for capital items, drivers' and mechanics' salaries and fringe benefits, dispatchers' salaries, and licenses;
    2. (B) maintenance, repair, servicing, and inspection of transit agency property, including both vehicles and other property, whether routine or to remedy the effects of collision damage or vandalism; and
    3. (C) expenses funded with capital or administrative funds, including preventative maintenance, provision of paratransit service under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), capital cost of contracting, and insurance.
39. (39) Private--Pertaining to nonpublic entities. This definition does not include municipalities or other political subdivisions of the state; public agencies or instrumentalities of one or more states; Indian tribes (except private nonprofit corporations formed by Indian tribes); public corporations, boards, or commissions established under the law of any state; or entities subject to control by public authority, whether state or municipal.
40. (40) Project--The public transportation activities to be carried out by a subrecipient, as described in its application for funding.
41. (41) Public transportation--Transportation of passengers and their hand-carried packages or baggage on a regular or continuing basis by means of surface or water conveyance by a governmental entity or by a private entity if the private entity receives financial assistance for that conveyance from any governmental entity. This definition includes fixed guideway transportation and underground transportation, but excludes services provided by aircraft, ambulances, and emergency vehicles.
42. (42) Real property--Land, including improvements, structures, and appurtenances, but excluding movable machinery and equipment.
43. (43) Revenue service--Passenger transportation occurring when a vehicle is available to the general public and there is a reasonable expectation of carrying passengers that directly pay fares, are subsidized by public policy, or provide payment through some contractual agreement. This does not imply that a cash fare must be paid. Vehicles operated in free fare services are considered in revenue service.
44. (44) Revenue vehicle--The rolling stock used in providing transit service for passengers. This definition does not include a vehicle used in connection with keeping revenue vehicles in operation, such as a tow truck or a staff car.
45. (45) Reverse commute project--A public transportation project designed to transport residents of urbanized areas and other than urbanized areas to suburban employment opportunities, or as otherwise defined by 49 USC §5316, the Job Access and Reverse Commute program.
46. (46) Ridership--Unlinked passenger trips.
47. (47) Rural public transportation (RPT)--A generic term used to identify subrecipients who provide service in nonurbanized areas.
48. (48) Rural transit district--A political subdivision of the state that provides and coordinates rural public transportation within its boundaries in accordance with the provisions of Transportation Code, Chapter 458.
49. (49) Stakeholders--All individuals or groups that are potentially affected by transportation decisions. Examples include public agencies, representatives of transportation agency employees or other affected employees, private providers of transportation, non-governmental agencies, local businesses, persons in diverse and traditionally underserved communities, and other interested parties.

50. (50) Strategic priorities--Projects that the commission has determined will:

    1. (A) stabilize funding levels;
    2. (B) increase transit operating efficiency or effectiveness as demonstrated by significant cost savings or substantial enhancements to service delivery; or
    3. (C) advance the level of coordination among transportation service providers, and among transportation service providers and health and human services agencies.
51. (51) Subrecipient--An entity that receives state or federal transportation funding from the department, rather than directly from FTA or other state or federal funding source.
52. (52) Uniform grant and contract management standards--The standards contained in the Texas Administrative Code, Title 1, Chapter 5, Subchapter A, concerning uniform grant and contract management standards for state agencies.
53. (53) U.S. DOT--United States Department of Transportation.
54. (54) Unlinked passenger trips--The number of passengers who board public transportation vehicles. A passenger is counted each time the passenger boards a vehicle even though the passenger might be on the same journey from origin to destination.
55. (55) Urban transit district--In accordance with Transportation Code, Chapter 458, a local governmental body or a political subdivision of the state that operates a public transportation system in an urbanized area with a population between 50,000 and 200,000, according to the most recent federal census. This definition includes small urban transportation providers under Transportation Code, Chapter 456, that received state money through the department on September 1, 1994.
56. (56) Urbanized area--A core area and the surrounding densely populated area with a population of 50,000 or more, with boundaries fixed by the United States Census Bureau.
57. (57) Vehicle miles--The miles a vehicle travels while in revenue service, plus deadhead miles. This definition excludes miles a vehicle travels for charter service, school bus service, operator training, or maintenance testing.
58. (58) Vehicle revenue hours or miles--The hours or miles a vehicle travels while in revenue service. This definition includes layover and recovery, but excludes travel to and from storage facilities, the training of operators prior to revenue service, road tests, deadhead travel, and school bus and charter service.
59. (59) Vehicle utilization--Average daily passenger trips per revenue vehicle, divided by average revenue vehicle capacity. This definition provides a measure of an individual system's ability to use existing seating capacity.
60. (60) Welfare recipient--An individual who has received assistance under a state or tribal program funded under the Social Security Act, Title IV, Part A, at any time during the previous three year period, or as otherwise defined by 49 USC §5316, the Job Access and Reverse Commute program.

Source Note:The provisions of this §31.3 adopted to be effective June 15, 2006, 31 TexReg 4736; amended to be effective November 16, 2006, 31 TexReg 9353; amended to be effective February 21, 2008, 33 TexReg 1380; amended to be effective June 17, 2010, 35 TexReg 5079; amended to be effective May 19, 2011, 36 TexReg 3111.