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; marketing expenses; 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) APTA guidelines--The "Manual for the Development of Rail Transit System Safety Program Plans" published by the American Public Transportation Association on May 1, 1999, and subsequent revisions.
4. (4) Authority--A metropolitan or regional authority created under Transportation Code, Chapter 451 or 452, or 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.
5. (5) Average revenue vehicle capacity--The number of seats in all revenue vehicles divided by the number of revenue vehicles.
6. (6) Capital expenses--Include the acquisition, construction, and improvement of public transit facilities and equipment needed for a safe, efficient, and coordinated public transportation system.
7. (7) Commission--The Texas Transportation Commission.
8. (8) Common rule--49 CFR, Part 18, Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments.
9. (9) Contractor--A recipient of public transportation funds through a contract with the department. This definition is synonymous with subrecipient.
10. (10) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
11. (11) Deputy executive director --The deputy executive director of the department.
12. (12) 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.
13. (13) Director--The director of public transportation for the department.
14. (14) District--One of the 25 districts of the department having responsibility for administration of public transportation programs in a designated geographic area.
15. (15) District engineer--The chief executive officer in charge of a district.
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 chief executive officer of the department.
18. (18) Fatality--A death that results from an incident and that occurs within 30 days following the incident.
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) Hazardous condition--A condition that may endanger human life or property, including an unacceptable hazardous condition.
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) Individual--A natural person, including a passenger, trespasser, employee, or bystander.
25. (25) Injury--Any physical damage or harm that occurs to an individual as a result of an incident and that requires immediate medical attention away from the scene.
26. (26) Investigation--A process to determine the probable cause of a rail accident or an unacceptable hazardous condition, including a review by the department, or its agent, of a rail transit agency's determination of the probable cause of a rail accident or an unacceptable hazardous condition.
27. (27) 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.
28. (28) Local funds--Money from the purchase of service agreements, contract income, advertising revenue, local tax receipts, and private donations, in-kind contributions, and passenger revenue, notwithstanding any statutory requirement to apply that money to offset operating deficits.
29. (29) Local governmental entity--Any local unit of government including a city, town, village, municipality, county, city transit department, metropolitan transit authority, or regional transit authority.
30. (30) 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.
31. (31) Local share requirement--The amount of funds that is required and is eligible to match federally funded projects for the improvement of public transportation.
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 operating revenues are subtracted from eligible operating expenses.
34. (34) 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.
35. (35) Nonurbanized area--An area outside an urbanized area.
36. (36) Obligated funds--Monies made available under a valid, unexpired contract between the department and a public transportation subrecipient.
37. (37) Operating expenses--Costs directly related to system operations of a transit agency. At a minimum, this definition includes 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. This definition also includes the 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.
38. (38) 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.
39. (39) Project--The public transportation activities to be carried out by a subrecipient, as described in its application for funding.
40. (40) Property damage--The dollar amount required to replace any vehicle, whether transit or non-transit, and any property or facility damaged during an incident, or to repair it to a state equivalent to the state that existed before the incident.
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. This definition includes fixed guideway transportation and underground transportation, but excludes services provided by aircraft, taxicabs, ambulances, and emergency vehicles.
42. (42) Rail accident--An event that occurs when a rail fixed guideway system is in operation and as a result of which an individual dies or suffers bodily injury for which immediate medical treatment is given at a location other than the scene of the event or in which a collision, derailment, or fire results in property damage in excess of $100,000. This definition does not include injuries, deaths, and property damage that occur when a rail fixed guideway system is not in revenue service operation.

43. (43) Rail fixed guideway system--Any light, heavy, or rapid rail system, monorail, inclined plane, funicular, trolley, or automated guideway that:

    1. (A) is included in FTA's computation of fixed guideway route miles or receives funding under FTA's formula program for urbanized areas, found in 49 USC §5336; and
    2. (B) is not regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
44. (44) Rail transit agency--An entity operating a rail fixed guideway system.
45. (45) Real property--Land, including improvements, structures, and appurtenances, but excluding movable machinery and equipment.
46. (46) 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.
47. (47) 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.
48. (48) 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 revenues.
49. (49) Ridesharing activities--Transportation provided by rubber-tired vehicles that carry no fewer than 10 nor more than 15 passengers and that are operated on a nonprofit basis.
50. (50) Rural public transportation (RPT)--A generic term used to identify subrecipients who provide service in nonurbanized areas.
51. (51) 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.
52. (52) Safety--Freedom from danger, including freedom from unintentional as well as intentional acts.
53. (53) Security--Freedom from intentional danger, including criminal acts such as muggings, rapes, robberies, and terrorist acts, such as bombings, releases of poisonous gases, and kidnappings.
54. (54) Service expansion--The implementation or enhancement of public transportation services in a geographic area. Examples include, but are not limited to, initiating service in an area previously unserved by any public transportation subrecipient, offering more frequent service within a subrecipient's service area, and implementing a new mode of public transportation services (such as rail service in what was previously a bus-only system or fixed-route services in what was previously a demand-response system).
55. (55) 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.
56. (56) Subrecipient--An entity that receives FTA assistance from the department, rather than directly from FTA. This definition is synonymous with contractor.
57. (57) State data center--A program operated by Texas A&M University to compile and issue demographic and other data.
58. (58) Unacceptable hazardous condition--A particular kind of hazardous condition determined by using the hazard resolution matrix contained in the American Public Transportation Association's guidelines.
59. (59) 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.
60. (60) 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.
61. (61) 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.
62. (62) 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.
63. (63) 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.
64. (64) 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.
65. (65) 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.

Source Note:The provisions of this §31.3 adopted to be effective August 14, 1989, 14 TexReg 3704; amended to be effective November 23, 1989, 14 TexReg 5938; amended to be effective July 6, 1990, 15 TexReg 3643; amended to be effective January 10, 1992, 17 TexReg 47; amended to be effective July 20, 1992, 17 TexReg 4890; amended to be effective October 27, 1993, 18 TexReg 7160; amended to be effective January 13, 1994, 19 TexReg 90; amended to be effective March 22, 1996, 21 TexReg 2096; amended to be effective September 23, 1997, 22 TexReg 9261; amended to be effective March 26, 1998, 23 TexReg 3044; amended to be effective February 15, 2001, 26 TexReg 1365; amended to be effective April 17,2003, 28 TexReg 3080.