| Transit Manager's Handbook |
Glossary of Terms
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 Table
of Contents |
 Previous
Chapter | Acronyms  |
| Accident : |
A crash involving a public transit vehicle that resulted in a fatality, a personal injury, or disability damage to one or more vehicles causing the vehicle to be towed. In theses cases, the operator of the public transit vehicle is required to be drug and alcohol tested. |
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| Accrual Accounting: |
Method of accounting which records expenses and revenues as they are incurred whether funds have actually changed hands or not. |
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| Alcohol : |
The intoxicating agent in beverage alcohol, ethyl alcohol, or other low molecular weight alcohols contained in any beverage, mixture, mouthwash, candy, food, or medication. |
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| Alcohol Test Form (ATF): |
A standard form to be used to report results from alcohol tests required by the US DOT.
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| Annual Element: |
The first year of programming included in and in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). |
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| Annual Goal: |
A numerically expressed objective for DBE utilization in the performance of all DOT assisted contracts (including purchase orders), exclusive of funds for transit vehicle purchases, during a one-year period.
Test |
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| Aspirational Goal: |
National goal (10%) that USDOT uses as a tool in evaluating and monitoring Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) firms opportunity to participate in DOT-assisted contracts. |
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| Assignability: |
Clause included in a vehicle procurement to allow a portion of the vehicle quantity in the original contract to be delivered to a different location not specified in the original contract.
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| Automatic Fare Collection System: |
The controls and equipment that automatically admit passengers on insertion of the correct fare in an acceptable form.
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| Bidder: |
An individual, partnership, firm, corporation, or any acceptable combination or joint venture that is submitting a bid. |
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| Blanket Releases: |
Release of a category of information (e.g. all test results) or release to a category of parties (e.g. other employers an employee may apply for employment), are prohibited under 49 CFR Part 40. |
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| Cash Accounting: |
Method of accounting that recognizes expenses in the period of the payment and revenue at the time cash is received. |
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| Certification: |
a recipients written statement, authorized by the organization’s governing board or other authorizing official that the recipient has complied with the provisions of 49 CFR Parts 40 and 655. |
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| Charter: |
Transportation service operated on an occasional basis to an exclusive group other than agencies that have a contract with the transit system. All such service must be performed in conformance with the FI'A charter rule and must not contribute to the vehicle being used for more than 20 percent incidental service. |
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| Collector: |
a trained person who instructs and assists employees at a collection site, who receives and makes an initial inspection of the urine specimen provided by those employees, and who initiates and completes the Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form (CCF). |
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| Common Carrier: |
A company or agency certified by a regulatory body to carry all passengers who pay the required fee. |
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| Complementary Paratransit: |
Paratransit service that is required as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act which complements, or is in addition to, already available fixed-route service in terms of service hours and area, fares, and other service characteristics. |
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| Compliance: |
Correctly implementing federal requirements. |
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| Computer Aided Dispatch Software: |
Software used in demand-response transportation to make reservations for clients, schedule trips on vehicles, provide drivers with lists of riders, and compile and complete billing and performance reports. |
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| Consortium/Third-party administrator: |
A service agent that provides or coordinates the provision of a variety of drug and alcohol testing services to employers. C/TPA’s typically perform administrative tasks concerning the operation of the employer’s drug and alcohol testing programs. This term includes, but is not limited to, groups of employers who join together to administer, as a single entity, the DOT drug and alcohol testing programs of its members. |
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| Contract Goals: |
A numerically expressed objective based upon a DBE availability analysis that recipients or their contractors are required to make good faith efforts to achieve. |
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| Coordination: |
A cooperative arrangement between transportation providers and organizations needing transportation services. |
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| Cost Allocation: |
Dividing costs among the various purposes or categories involved. |
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| Covered employee: |
An employee who performs a safety sensitive function, including an applicant or transferee who will be hired to perform a safety sensitive function. |
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| Deadhead Hours/Miles: |
Hours/miles traveled by revenue vehicles when not in revenue service. Includes miles traveled to and from storage facilities, fuel stops, and other non-The revenue service mileage. Hours/miles back to the base station after delivering the last client are deadhead hours/miles. |
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| Demand-Response or Dial-A-Ride: |
The kind of transit service where individual passengers can request door-to-door or point-to-point transportation from a specific location to another specific location at a certain time. Can also be called "dial-a-ride". These services usually require advance reservations. |
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| Disruptive Behavior: |
Passenger behavior that creates a safety hazard in that it distracts the operator who cannot fully attend to the safe operation of the vehicle. |
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| DOT Assisted Contract : |
Any contract between a recipient and a contractor funded in whole or in part with DOT financial assistance, including letters of credit or loan guarantees, except a contract solely for the purchase of land. |
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| Elderly: |
The minimum age for elderly persons can be determined locally (e.g., 55+, 60+, 65+). According to the Older Americans Act, all persons age 60 and older are elderly. |
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| Employer: |
A recipient or other entity that provides mass transportation service or which performs a safety-sensitive function for such recipient or other entity. This term includes subrecipients, operators, and contractors. |
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| Escalator Clause: |
A provision in a contract that stipulates that wages or prices are to be automatically increased or decreased at specific times according to a schedule that is usually related to changes in the cost of living. |
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| Feasibility Study: |
A study to determine the suitability of a proposed action, such as establishment of transit service in a given area. |
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| Feeder Bus: |
A bus service that provides passengers with connections with a major transportation service. |
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| Fixed Route: |
Transit services where vehicles run on regular, pre-designated, pre-scheduled routes, with no deviation. Typically, fixed-route service is characterized by features such as printed schedules or timetables, designated bus stops where passengers board and alight and the use of larger transit vehicles. |
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| Formula Funds: |
Funds for which the funding levels for individual recipients are determined by a mathematical formula. Transit formulas are typically based upon population characteristics of the service area as well as performance statistics. |
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| Fully Allocated Costs: |
Total costs of providing transportation, including services that are purchased through transportation operators or provided through service coordination contracts. |
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| Good Faith Effort: |
Efforts to achieve a DBE goal. Contractors must show that DBE firms were contacted, and an effort was made to use DBE firms. |
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| Headway: |
Time interval between vehicles moving in the same direction on a fixed-route. |
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| Job Access Reverse Commute: |
A program established in TEA-21 to provide funding to transit systems for expanded service for transportation of low income individuals to child care, training, and employment. |
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| Joint Participation Agreement: |
A contract between the department and a public transit system for either operations or capital assistance needed for implementation of a transit service project or projects. Each agreement shall include, but not be limited to, a project budget, method of payment, and period of performance. |
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| Life Cycle Costing: |
Method of evaluation of alternative choices on the basis of comparative total costs for purchase and operations over the expected useful life of the asset. |
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| Micro Purchase: |
A procurement for items less than $2,500, and can be done without obtaining competitive proposals if price quotes received are reasonable. |
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| Miss out: |
A time when a vehicle is unable to operate a route due to mechanical problems. |
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| National Transportation Database: |
Reports presenting statistical information about the financing and operations of public transportation systems providing service in areas over 50,000 population. |
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| Operating Deficit: |
The sum of all operating costs minus operating revenues. |
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| Passenger Revenue: |
Money, including fares, transfers, and donations received from transit passengers; also known as "farebox revenues". It should include ticket, token, and pass receipts. |
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| Passenger Trip: |
One passenger making a one-way trip from origin to destination. |
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| Personal Net Worth: |
The net value of the assets of an individual remaining after total liabilities are deducted. Personal net worth does not include the individual’s ownership interest in a firm or the equity in a primary residence. To qualify as a DBE, the personal net worth of the disadvantaged owner cannot exceed $750,000. |
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| Pre-trip Inspection: |
An inspection conducted by a driver of the vehicle prior to operation, assessing functionality and condition of the vehicle. This is also known as a walk-around. |
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| Prohibited Drug: |
Marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, or phencyclidine at levels above the minimum thresholds specified in 49 CFR Part 40. To |
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| Protest: |
A formal filing the by a third party to challenge some portion of a procurement. |
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| Public Transit System: |
A transit system, either urban or regional, which provides transit services to both the general public and transportation disadvantaged persons. |
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| Pull-in: |
A deadhead trip from the point at which the transit vehicle ends an in-service trip to the garage. |
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| Race Conscious: |
A method to achieve a DBE goal focused specifically on assisting DBEs including women owned DBEs. |
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| Race Neutral: |
Methods used to achieve a DBE goal by assisting all small businesses. Race neutral includes gender neutrality. |
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| Rebuttable Presumption: |
Those individuals who are citizens or legal residents of the United States and are women, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Americans, or Asian/Indian Americans and other minorities or individuals found to be disadvantaged by the Small Business Administration. |
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| Recipient: |
The agency directly receiving FTA funds. |
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| Rehabilitation: |
The reconstructing or rebuilding of a high mileage vehicle in order to extend the vehicle’s useful life. |
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| Revenue Hours/Miles: |
Hours/miles traveled within the contract service area while providing service to passengers. Hours/miles traveled from the base location to pick up the first client are revenue hours/miles. However, if the vehicle is not based in the service area, the miles driven to reach the service area are deadhead miles. |
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| Rider Profile: |
Demographic characteristics, transit system use characteristics and relative transit dependency of current customers. |
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| Ridership: |
The number of passenger boardings on a transit system within any given period. |
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| Rides: |
Each time a passenger boards and rides to another location is a ride. Transfers are counted as a ride. |
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| Route: |
Fixed path traversed by a transit vehicle in accordance with a predetermined schedule. |
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| Route Deviation: |
Public transportation service on a fixed route (but not a fixed schedule). The vehicle may deviate from the route in response to demand for service or to take a passenger to a destination, after which it returns to its route. |
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| Rural Transit: |
Transportation services operated in rural areas. |
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| Safety-Sensitive Functions: |
Functions consideredto a transit revenue service vehicle even when the vehicle is not in revenue service; operation of non-revenue service vehicle by an employee when the operator is required to have a CDL; maintain g a revenue service vehicle or equipment used in revenue service; dispatch or control of revenue service vehicles; or carrying a firearm for security purposes. |
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| Service Agent : |
Any person or entity, other than an employee of the employer, who provides services specified under 49 CFR Part 40 to employers and/or employees in connection with DOT drug and alcohol testing requirements. This includes, but is not limited to, collectors, BAT’s and STT’s, laboratories, MRO’s, SAP’s and C/TPA’s. |
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| Service Animal: |
A guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. |
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| Service Area: |
The geographic region in which a transit system provides service or that a transit system is required to serve. |
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| Solicitation Identifier: |
An abbreviated name used to identify a solicitation package that may include the transit system name, a short abbreviation of item to purchase, year, or other identifying abbreviation. |
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| Subcontract: |
A secondary contract undertaking some or all of the obligations of the primary contract. |
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| Subrecipient: |
Any entity receiving federal financial assistance from FTA through a primary recipient. |
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| Technical Assistance: |
Hands-on assistance to transit system for purposes of problem-solving, planning, development, expansion, training, or refinement of services. |
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| Third Party: |
any person or organization to whom the federal regulations do not explicitly authorize or require the transmission of information in the course of the drug or alcohol testing process. |
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| Third Party Contract: |
A contract between the local transportation agency and a private firm for products or services. |
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| Tripper : |
A transit service that operates on only a portion of a route. |
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| Unlimited Passenger Trip: |
A one-way trip made by an individual rider in a single vehicle. |
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| Vehicle: |
a bus, electric bus, van, automobile, or trolley bus. A mass transit vehicle is a vehicle used for mass transportation or for ancillary services. |
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| Vehicle Hours/Miles: |
The total distance traveled by revenue vehicles, including both revenue miles and deadhead miles. Miles traveled by support vehicles are not included unless the vehicle was used in revenue service. |
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| Vendors of Record: |
Bidders that received a solicitation package. |
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| Written Consent: |
specific written consent is a statement signed by the employee that he or she agrees to the release of a particular piece of information to a particular, explicitly identified, person or organization at a particular time. |
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