[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67203-67205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-25419]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program Announcement of Project 
Selections

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded 
under Fiscal Year 2004 appropriations for the Over-the-Road Bus (OTRB) 
Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation 
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The OTRB Accessibility 
Program makes funds

[[Page 67204]]

available to private operators of over-the-road buses to help finance 
the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT's 
over-the-road bus accessibility rule, published in the Federal Register 
on September 24, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The appropriate FTA Regional 
Administrator for grant-specific issues; or Blenda Younger, Office of 
Program Management, (202) 366-2053, for general information about the 
OTRB Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A total of $6.9 million was made available 
for the program in FY 2004: $5.2 million for intercity fixed-route 
providers and $1.7 million for all other providers, such as commuter, 
charter, and tour operators. A total of 96 applicants requested $23.9 
million: $11.2 million was requested by intercity fixed-route 
providers, and $12.7 million was requested by all other providers. 
Project selections were made on a discretionary basis, based on each 
applicant's responsiveness to statutory project selection criteria, 
fleet size, and level of funding received in previous years. Because of 
the high demand for the funds available, most applicants received less 
funding than they requested, but almost all qualified applicants 
received some funding. The selected projects will provide funding for 
the incremental cost of adding lifts to 79 new vehicles, retrofitting 
110 vehicles, and $172,839 for training. Each of the following 74 
awardees, as well as the 22 applicants who were not selected for 
funding, will receive a letter that explains how funding decisions were 
made.

                                                  Award Amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Intercity
               Operator                        City/state           fixed-route        Other           Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Region I
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonanza Bus Lines.....................  Providence, RI..........        $104,784  ..............        $104,784
Bristol Tours, Inc....................  Bristol, VT.............  ..............         $30,659          30,659
Cavalier Coach Corp...................  Boston, MA..............  ..............          36,000          36,000
Concord Coach Lines, Inc..............  Concord, NH.............          49,800  ..............          49,800
Dartmouth Transportation Co. Inc......  Concord, NH.............  ..............          22,400          22,400
Lamoille Valley Transportation........  Morrisville, VT.........  ..............          25,192          25,192
Peter Pan Bus Lines...................  Springfield, MA.........         264,650  ..............         264,650
Premier Coach Company, Inc............  Colchester, VT..........  ..............          30,240          30,240
Vermont Transit Co....................  Burlington, VT..........         132,606  ..............         132,606
VIP Tour and Charter Bus Co...........  Portland, ME............  ..............          40,492          40,492
---------------------------------------
                                                    Region II
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adirondack Trailways..................  Hurley, NY..............         290,500  ..............         290,500
Allen AME Transportation Corp.........  Jamaica, NY.............  ..............          71,000          71,000
Blue Bird Coach Lines.................  N. Tonawanda, NY........  ..............          45,000          45,000
Brown Coach Inc.......................  Amsterdam, NY...........  ..............          35,429          35,429
Coach USA/Cape Transit................  Pleasantville, NJ.......  ..............          39,150          39,150
Hampton Jitney, Inc...................  Southampton, NY.........          31,827  ..............          31,827
Paradise Travel, Inc..................  W. Hempstead, NY........  ..............          40,000          40,000
Private One of New York, LLC..........  Brooklyn, NY............  ..............          22,500          22,500
Shortline (Hudson Transit)............  Mahwah, NJ..............         150,039  ..............         150,039
Stout's Charter Service, Inc..........  Trenton, NJ.............  ..............          25,650          25,650
Suburban Trails, Inc..................  New Brunswick, NJ.......  ..............          22,500          22,500
Syracuse and Oswego Motor Lines.......  E. Syracuse, NY.........  ..............          40,500          40,500
Trans Express, Inc....................  Brooklyn, NY............  ..............          59,420          59,420
Trolley Tours, Inc....................  Forked River, NJ........  ..............          22,950          22,950
Utica Rome Bus Company................  Clinton, NY.............  ..............          40,500          40,500
---------------------------------------
                                                   Region III
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abbott Bus Lines, Inc.................  Roanoke, VA.............  ..............          39,600          39,600
Bieber Tourways.......................  Kutztown, PA............         113,000  ..............         113,000
Butler Motor Transit..................  Butler, PA..............  ..............          45,000          45,000
Elegance Bus Tours, Inc...............  Suitland, MD............  ..............          27,000          27,000
Eyre Bus Service, Inc.................  Glenelg, MD.............  ..............          26,105          26,105
Lenzer Tour and Travel................  Sewickley, PA...........  ..............          45,000          45,000
Martz Trailways.......................  Wilkes-Barre, PA........         148,000  ..............         148,000
Morgan & Sons Week-End Tours..........  Greensboro, NC..........  ..............          33,300          33,300
Scenic America, Inc...................  Broad Run, VA...........  ..............          39,600          39,600
Sun Coach Lines, LLC..................  McKeesport, PA..........  ..............          28,000          28,000
Trans-Bridge Lines....................  Bethlehem, PA...........          90,000  ..............          90,000
Wilson's Luxury Tours, Inc............  District Hgts., MD......  ..............          39,600          39,600
---------------------------------------
                                                    Region IV
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Americoach Tours......................  Memphis, TN.............  ..............          38,250          38,250
Angelic Tours and Shuttles............  Fayetteville, NC........  ..............          40,000          40,000
Carolina Trailways....................  Raleigh, NC.............         198,909  ..............         198,909
Lancaster Tours Inc...................  Lancaster, SC...........  ..............          40,000          40,000
---------------------------------------

[[Page 67205]]

 
                                                    Region V
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colonial Coach Lines..................  Mt. Prospect, IL........  ..............          27,000          27,000
Croswell Bus Lines Inc................  Williamsburg, OH........  ..............          24,416          24,416
Jefferson Lines.......................  Minneapolis, MN.........  ..............          50,400          50,400
Lakefront Lines Inc...................  Brook Park, OH..........          27,900  ..............          27,900
Lamers Bus Lines Inc..................  Green Bay, WI...........          47,000  ..............          47,000
Pioneer Coach Lines, Inc..............  Chicago, IL.............  ..............          27,000          27,000
Ready Bus Line........................  La Crescent, MN.........  ..............          25,200          25,200
Riteway Bus Service, Inc..............  Richfield, WI...........  ..............          29,250          29,250
Robinson Coach........................  Evanston, IL............  ..............          28,875          28,875
Seniors Unlimited Inc.................  Pontiac, MI.............  ..............          26,550          26,550
Van Galder Bus Company................  Janesville, WI..........          95,000  ..............          95,000
Wisconsin Coach.......................  Waukesha, WI............          74,250  ..............          74,250
---------------------------------------
                                                    Region VI
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central Texas Trails Inc..............  Waco, TX................  ..............          12,600          12,600
El Expresso...........................  Houston, TX.............          78,000  ..............          78,000
Franklin Motorcoach Charters..........  Sapulpa, OK.............  ..............          39,600          39,600
Greyhound.............................  Dallas, TX..............       2,609,512  ..............       2,609,512
Gulf Coast Transit....................  Houston, TX.............  ..............          36,000          36,000
Hotard Motor Coach Services...........  New Orleans, LA.........  ..............          36,000          36,000
Kerrville Bus Co......................  San Antonio, TX.........          87,800  ..............          87,800
San Antonio City Tours................  San Antonio, TX.........  ..............          36,000          36,000
Si Texas Tours........................  Bandera, TX.............  ..............          44,345          44,345
TNM&O.................................  Lubbock, TX.............          99,453  ..............          99,453
Valley Transit........................  Harlingen, TX...........          99,453  ..............          99,453
---------------------------------------
                                                   Region VII
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burlington Trailways..................  W. Burlington, IA.......          89,283  ..............          89,283
---------------------------------------
                                                   Region VIII
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Applications.......................  ........................  ..............  ..............  ..............
---------------------------------------
                                                    Region IX
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Aboard America....................  Mesa, AZ................  ..............          20,715          20,715
Antelope Valley Bus...................  Long Beach, CA..........         180,540  ..............         180,540
Arrow Stage Lines.....................  Phoenix, AZ.............  ..............          35,955          35,955
K-T Contract Services.................  Las Vegas, NV...........          71,910  ..............          71,910
Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours.......  Anaheim, CA.............  ..............          39,780          39,780
Ryan's Express........................  Las Vegas, NV...........  ..............          23,337          23,337
Showtime Tours........................  Las Vegas, NV...........  ..............          35,910          35,910
---------------------------------------
                                                    Region X
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northwestern Stage Lines..............  Spokane, WA.............          40,050  ..............          40,050
Wickkiser International Co............  Ferndale, WA............          44,759  ..............          44,759
                                       ---------------------------
    Total.............................  ........................       5,219,025       1,689,970       6,908,995
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Eligible project costs may be incurred by awardees prior to final 
grant approval. The incremental capital cost for adding wheelchair lift 
equipment to any new vehicles delivered on or after June 9, 1998, the 
effective date of TEA-21, is eligible for funding under the OTRB 
Accessibility Program.
    Applicants selected for funding may be contacted by FTA regional 
offices if additional information is needed before grants are made. The 
grant applications will be sent to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) 
for certification under labor protection requirements pursuant to 49 
U.S.C. 5333(b). After referring applications to affected employees 
represented by a labor organization, DOL will issue a certification to 
FTA. Terms and conditions of the certification will be incorporated in 
the FTA grant agreement under the new guidelines replacing those in 29 
CFR part 215. Please see Amendment to Section 5333(b), Guidelines To 
Carry Out New Programs Authorized by the Transportation Equity Act for 
the 21st Century (TEA-21); Final Rule (64 FR 40990, July 28, 1999).

    Issued on: November 9, 2004.
Jennifer L. Dorn,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-25419 Filed 11-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P