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FTAlogoBethesda, Md. – Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Acting Administrator Therese McMillan was at a bus stop just north of Bethesda Maryland to highlight the success of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on the landmark legislation’s 25th anniversary. The Acting Administrator spoke about the great advances that have been made since the Act was passed, most notably that nationwide, 99.8 percent of transit buses are accessible to and usable by people with disabilities, thanks to features like lifts and ramps.

“The Obama Administration is committed to ensuring that everyone, including people with disabilities, can fully access the transportation services they need to get to work, to school and to live their lives,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “I commend the public transportation industry for its hard work to make subways, light rail, buses and other transit services increasingly accessible.”

In spite of the large percentage of facilities that are compliant, many bus stops, typically maintained by local government agencies, remain a challenge to accessibility. To address that, Maryland’s Montgomery County embarked on a comprehensive rehabilitation program of the county’s 5,340 stops. At the North Bethesda bus stop today, McMillan and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett highlighted how the county’s $11 million Bus Stop Improvement Program brought the county’s stops into ADA compliance. Since 2006, the county has improved safety and increased accessibility at 89 percent of its bus stops, in part with ADA-accessible paths for passengers to get to and from bus stops.

“We congratulate Montgomery County for improving its bus system, which provides a lifeline to people who don’t drive,” McMillan said. “We know that many people with disabilities travel by bus, and we want to be sure that they can travel anywhere public transportation is offered across the country.”

People with disabilities are relying increasingly on buses to participate in daily activities rather than paratransit. A 2013 Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) report studied seven transit systems across the country and found that ridership on fixed-route transit by persons with disabilities was two to six times greater than ridership on paratransit. A TCRP nationwide survey of people with disabilities found that one-third of respondents indicated they wanted to take public transportation, specifically fixed-route buses.

All rail transit systems built since 1990, many of them light rail, are required to meet ADA regulations for accessibility and are inspected by FTA for compliance as a condition of federal funding. DOT’s Reasonable Modification Rule, which went into effect last week, clarifies that public transportation providers are required to make reasonable modifications to their policies, practices and procedures to ensure programs and services are accessible.

While the rail transit industry has ensured compliance with an ADA requirement that at least one car per train is accessible, many transit systems struggle to retrofit older, often space-constrained stations.

“We need to do more to ensure that people with disabilities have reliable access to public transportation, which is why we are seeking additional investments in our nation’s transportation infrastructure,” McMillan said. “Older stations remain challenging for people in wheelchairs to traverse, and elevators frequently go out of service, leaving them with few or no options.”

FTA supports transit agencies nationwide through a combination of annual formula funds and grants for transit projects. Montgomery County’s bus program receives approximately $10 million a year through FTA’s Urbanized Area Formula Grant program.

As part of the celebration of ADA-25, the Department of Transportation is co-hosting an “ADA: 25 Years of Disability Civil Rights” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History that demonstrates accessibility at home, in the workplace and in transportation. The exhibit will run Friday-Sunday on the National Mall behind the American History Museum as part of a slate of ADA-25 commemorative activities.

FTAlogoThe Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently published a Federal Register notice seeking nominations for up to eight representatives from the public transportation safety community for Transit Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS) membership.

TRACS was chartered in 2009 by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation for the purpose of providing a forum for the development, consideration and communication of information regarding public transit safety.

Nominees should be knowledgeable of trends or issues related to rail transit and bus transit safety, and will be evaluated on factors including leadership and organizational skills, geographic representation, staff diversity, and the overall balance of industry representation. Appointments are for two-year terms and applications should be submitted by August 31, 2015. For more information contact Steve Kulm at (202) 366-9260.

Acting Federal Transit Administrator Therese McMillan has determined that the random drug-testing rate will remain at 25 percent for 2015 and the random alcohol-testing rate for 2015 will remain at 10 percent for transit employees performing safety-sensitive functions, according to the Federal Register.
The determination was made due to a “positive rate” lower than one percent for random drug test data for the past two years. The random alcohol violation rate was lower than 0.5 percent for the last two years.
The random drug rates for the two preceding years are 0.74 percent for 2013 and 0.87 percent for 2014. The random alcohol rates for the two preceding years are 0.12 percent for 2013 and 0.14 percent for 2014.
On Jan. 1, 1995, FTA required large transit employers to begin drug and alcohol testing employees performing safety-sensitive functions and submit annual reports by March 15 of each year beginning in 1996. The annual report includes the number of employees who had a verified positive for the use of prohibited drugs, and the number of employees who tested positive for the misuse of alcohol during the reported year.
The original rules required employers to conduct random drug tests at a rate equivalent to at least 50 percent of their total number of safety-sensitive employees for prohibited drug use and at least 25 percent for the misuse of alcohol.
However, the rules provided the drug random testing rate may be lowered to 25 percent if the ‘‘positive rate’’ for the entire transit industry is less than one percent for two preceding consecutive years. The alcohol provisions provided the random rate may be lowered to 10 percent if the ‘‘violation rate’’ for the entire transit industry was less than 0.5 percent for two consecutive years.
Click here to review the Federal Register notice.
The U.S. Department of Transportation provides answers to employees’ Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.dot.gov/odapc/employee.
 

DOT_Logo_150pxActing Federal Transit Administrator Therese McMillan has determined that the random drug-testing rate will remain at 25 percent for 2015 and the random alcohol-testing rate for 2015 will remain at 10 percent for transit employees performing safety-sensitive functions, according to the Federal Register.

The determination was made due to a “positive rate” lower than one percent for random drug test data for the past two years. The random alcohol violation rate was lower than 0.5 percent for the last two years.

The random drug rates for the two preceding years are 0.74 percent for 2013 and 0.87 percent for 2014. The random alcohol rates for the two preceding years are 0.12 percent for 2013 and 0.14 percent for 2014.

On Jan. 1, 1995, FTA required large transit employers to begin drug and alcohol testing employees performing safety-sensitive functions and submit annual reports by March 15 of each year beginning in 1996. The annual report includes the number of employees who had a verified positive for the use of prohibited drugs, and the number of employees who tested positive for the misuse of alcohol during the reported year.

The original rules required employers to conduct random drug tests at a rate equivalent to at least 50 percent of their total number of safety-sensitive employees for prohibited drug use and at least 25 percent for the misuse of alcohol.

However, the rules provided the drug random testing rate may be lowered to 25 percent if the ‘‘positive rate’’ for the entire transit industry is less than one percent for two preceding consecutive years. The alcohol provisions provided the random rate may be lowered to 10 percent if the ‘‘violation rate’’ for the entire transit industry was less than 0.5 percent for two consecutive years.

Click here to review the Federal Register notice.

The U.S. Department of Transportation provides answers to employees’ Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.dot.gov/odapc/employee.

FTAlogoPresident Barack Obama has renominated Therese McMillan as the next administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) after the U.S. Senate failed to act on her nomination in the last Congress.

McMillan has served as the agency’s acting administrator since Peter Rogoff was appointed under secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation early last year. McMillan has been the FTA’s deputy administrator since 2009.

Read more from Progressive Railroading. 

By Bonnie Morr
Vice President, Bus Department

Many of our bus locals have responded to a survey focusing on the health conditions of bus operators. This is a very important step in identifying some of the health issues that we face while on the job.

The Transit Bus Operator Workplace Health and Wellness Survey, sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), is an effort to understand health, safety and wellness issues faced by bus operators, and to learn how employers and labor unions are addressing these challenges.

Also responding to the survey were more than 200 transit companies.

Specifically, the survey sought responses on:

* The current state of bus operator health and wellness.

* Health promotion programs and policies.

* The union local’s perspectives on bus operator wellness and workplace health promotion programs, policies and activities.

* Identification of who does what to contribute to bus operator health promotion.

* Opinions on how health promotion and wellness affect the work environment, driver retention and transit operations.

All information gathered in this survey will remain confidential, and the results will not indicate specific locals, employers or employees.

WASHINGTON – Federal Transit Administration bus-project and other transit funding – in danger owing to political squabbling — will remain in place at least through March 31, 2012, following House and Senate action to extend temporarily, for the eighth time since 2009, highway taxes that fund transit programs.

The House and Senate also agreed Sept. 15 to a new four-month extension of Federal Aviation Administration taxes that fund the Essential Air Services program vital to regional airlines that employ UTU-represented pilots and flight attendants. It was the 22nd temporary extension for this program since 2007.

The president said he will sign the temporary extensions into law, allowing more time for the House and Senate to continue attempts at reaching compromise on a permanent extension of transit and EAS programs that have been stalled for years.

The highway bill extension ensures that more than $4 billion from the Highway Trust Fund for Federal Transit Administration formula and bus programs will remain available for spending through March 31. Disagreement between the House and Senate on the number of years to authorize a new highway/transit spending bill is the reason for that stall.

A permanent FAA reauthorization, which includes the EAS program, is stalled over an inability to agree on future EAS subsidies, and an attempt by House Republicans to include in the bill a provision overturning a 2010 National Mediation Board rulemaking. That rulemaking changed the rules for representation elections from counting those not voting as “no” votes, to determining outcomes based only on those voting.

The Federal Transit Administration has placed a hold on $900 million in federal grants destined to Houston’s light-rail transit system – Houston Metro — for alleged violation of “Buy America” procurement regulations, reports the Bureau of National Affairs in its BNA Transportation Watch.

BNA quoted the transit systems’ officials as saying they would rebid procurement contracts that previously had been signed with a rail car manufacturer headquartered in Spain.