Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 211 / Thursday, October 31, 2024 / Notices 86907 

of FHWA’s financial assistance for the 

project, which is estimated to be 

December 31, 2025. 

The UDOT and its contractors and 

subcontractors involved in the 

procurement of the relevant components 

are reminded of the need to comply 

with the Cargo Preference Act in 46 CFR 

part 38, if applicable. 

In accordance with the provisions of 

section 117 of the SAFETEA–LU 

Technical Corrections Act of 2008, 

FHWA is providing this notice as its 

finding that a waiver of its Buy America 

requirements for steel and iron is 

appropriate. The FHWA invites public 

comment on this finding for an 

additional five days following the 

effective date of the finding. Comments 

may be submitted to FHWA’s website 

via the link provided to the waiver page 

noted above. 

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 313; Pub. L. 110– 

161; 23 CFR 635.410. 

Kristin R. White, 

Acting Administrator, Federal Highway 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2024–25387 Filed 10–30–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[Docket No. FTA–2024–0013] 

National Transit Database: Proposed 

Reporting Changes and Clarifications 

for Report Years 2025 and 2026 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), Department of Transportation 

(DOT). 

ACTION: Notice, request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides 

information on proposed changes and 

clarifications to the National Transit 

Database (NTD) reporting requirements. 

Some of the proposed NTD changes 

would take effect beginning in NTD 

report year (RY) 2025, while others 

would take effect in RY 2026. 

DATES: Comments should be filed by 

December 30, 2024. FTA will consider 

comments received after that date to the 

extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

identified by docket number FTA– 

2024–0013, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Send comments to Docket 

Management Facility; U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 

20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Management Facility, U.S. Department 

of Transportation, at (202) 493–2251. 

Instructions: You must include the 

agency name (Federal Transit 

Administration) and Docket Number 

(FTA–2024–0013) for this notice, at the 

beginning of your comments. If sent by 

mail, submit two copies of your 

comments. 

Electronic Access and Filing: This 

document and all comments received 

may be viewed online through the 

Federal eRulemaking portal at https://

www.regulations.gov or at the street 

address listed above. Electronic 

submission, retrieval help, and 

guidelines are available on the Federal 

eRulemaking portal website. The 

website is available 24 hours each day, 

365 days a year. Please follow the 

instructions. An electronic copy of this 

document may also be downloaded 

from the Office of the Federal Register’s 

home page at https://

www.federalregister.gov. 

Privacy Act: Except as provided 

below, all comments received into the 

docket will be made public in their 

entirety. The comments will be 

searchable by the name of the 

individual submitting the comment (or 

signing the comment, if submitted on 

behalf of an association, business, labor 

union, etc.) You should not include 

information in your comment that you 

do not want to be made public. You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477) or at https://

www.transportation.gov/privacy. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chelsea Champlin, National Transit 

Database Program Manager, FTA Office 

of Budget and Policy, 202–366–1651, 

Chelsea.champlin@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

A. Background and Overview 

B. Additional Data Within Publicly Hosted 

General Transit Feed Specification 

(GTFS) Datasets 

C. Changes to Passenger Stations and 

Maintenance Facilities Reporting 

D. A–20 NTD/TERM Alignment 

E. Safety and Security—Cyber Security Event 

Reporting 

F. Safety and Security—Disabling Damage 

G. Reduced Reporter Exemption for 

Operators Serving Predominantly Rural 

Areas 

H. Voluntary Reporter Tag 

A. Background and Overview 

The National Transit Database (NTD) 

was established by Congress to be the 

Nation’s primary source for information 

and statistics on the transit systems of 

the United States. Recipients and 

beneficiaries of Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) grants under 

either the Urbanized Area Formula 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5307) or Rural Area 

Formula Program (49 U.S.C. 5311) are 

required by law to report to the NTD. 

FTA funding recipients that own, 

operate, or manage public transportation 

capital assets are required to provide 

more limited reports to the NTD 

regarding Transit Asset Management. 

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5334(k), FTA 

seeks public comment on seven (7) 

proposed NTD reporting changes and 

clarifications. These proposals are based 

on input from the transportation 

industry and FTA’s assessment of 

geospatial data needs following the 

NTD’s first annual data collection since 

implementing reporting changes 

required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure 

Law, enacted as the Infrastructure 

Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117– 

58). The information below describes 

anticipated reporting impacts from each 

proposed change or clarification and the 

proposed effective date of each change. 

FTA seeks comments on the proposed 

changes and clarifications described 

below. All impacts or changes described 

below are proposed and subject to 

finalization in a future notice. 

B. Additional Data Within Publicly 

Hosted General Transit Feed 

Specification (GTFS) Datasets 

The Infrastructure Investment and 

Jobs Act amended 49 U.S.C. 5335(a) to 

require FTA to collect ‘‘geographic 

service area coverage’’ data through the 

NTD. As of Report Year (RY) 2023, FTA 

requires that reporters with fixed route 

modes create and maintain a public 

domain GTFS dataset that reflects their 

fixed route service. These changes were 

finalized through a Federal Register 

notice published on March 3, 2023 (88 

FR 13497). Specifically, FTA requires 

agencies that operate fixed route service 

to maintain a GTFS feed and submit to 

the NTD a corresponding link or file 

containing their GTFS dataset. FTA 

requires that the GTFS file contain six 

underlying text files at a minimum, 

including trips.txt and stops.txt. A 

seventh set of files (shapes.txt and feed_

info.txt) is optional under current 

requirements. GTFS ensures data 

consistency by establishing minimum 


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requirements within each file; some 

fields are noted as ‘‘optional.’’ FTA 

recommends reporting some optional 

fields (as described below) to improve 

the usefulness of the datasets for data 

users. However, these fields currently 

are not required. 

In this notice, FTA proposes to further 

improve the utility of the GTFS data it 

collects by collecting additional data 

according to the GTFS specification. 

Align agency_id and NTD ID Within 

GTFS File 

The agency_id field in GTFS is a 

unique, numeric identifier that is used 

to identify a transit agency or specific 

service. FTA adopted GTFS standards 

using the May 9, 2022 version of GTFS, 

including the current definition of 

‘‘agency_id’’, which is published here: 

https://gtfs.org/reference/static#fielddefinitions. This definition does not 

specify a naming convention for the 

agency_id field or a requirement to use 

this field in all GTFS text files. 

To improve the usefulness of the 

datasets, FTA proposes two changes to 

the agency_id data field. First, FTA 

proposes to require agencies to align the 

agency_id field to the agency’s National 

Transit Database Identification Number 

(NTDID). FTA assigns each reporter a 

unique five-digit NTDID number, which 

is used in all NTD reports and 

correspondence. Please note that rural 

subrecipient reporters should not 

include the four-digit ID associated with 

the State. 

Second, FTA proposes to make the 

agency_id data field a non-conditional 

requirement—that is, a required field for 

all GTFS submissions—in agency.txt, 

routes.txt, fare_attributes.txt (if used), 

and attributions.txt (if used). Currently, 

this field is conditionally required in 

the agency.txt, route.txt, and fare_

attributes.txt files when multiple 

agencies are defined in the agency.txt 

file. While this change primarily affects 

agencies with only one reportable 

service in their GTFS feed, FTA would 

like to reiterate the existing policy when 

a GTFS feed contains multiple services. 

In the case where multiple NTD 

reporting agencies share a single GTFS 

feed, the routes.txt file must reflect the 

respective NTDID associated with each 

route. For example, if a reporter uses 

one URL for Agency X and Agency Y, 

each route that is operated by Agency X 

must have Agency X’s NTDID in the 

agency_id field, and likewise for Agency 

Y. In the event that the GTFS feed 

includes non-reportable service (such as 

intercity bus service), the agency may 

leave the agency_id field blank for those 

routes or may assign whatever agency_

id is convenient, provided it is not a 

five-digit number. 

FTA proposes that these new 

requirements apply to all agencies that 

must already supply a GTFS feed: Full 

Reporters, Reduced Reporters, Tribal 

Reporters, and Rural Reporters. The 

requirement would apply only to 

reporters that operate a fixed route 

mode. The requirement would take 

effect beginning in NTD Report Year 

2025. 

Shapes.txt File (Geospatial Drawing of 

Routes) as Part of GTFS Submission 

FTA proposes to collect the shapes.txt 

file as part of the GTFS submission for 

each mode. This file is optional in the 

existing GTFS specification. Under this 

proposal, NTD reporters operating one 

or more fixed route modes would be 

required to include in their static GTFS 

zip (i.e., the file hosted by the agency) 

a shapes.txt file for each route. The 

purpose of this file is to provide shapes, 

which, according to the GTFS 

specification, ‘‘describe the path that a 

vehicle travels along a route alignment’’ 

which may also be ‘‘associated with 

trips (the data from the presently 

required trips.txt file).’’ These shapes 

‘‘consist of a sequence of points through 

which the vehicle passes in order.’’ 

FTA proposes that the requirement 

become effective upon the original 

submission of the annual report in RY 

2025 for Full Reporters and in RY 2026 

for Reduced, Rural, and Tribal 

Reporters. FTA estimates that over onethird of all reporters already maintain 

the shapes.txt file. Collecting the data 

included in shapes.txt would benefit 

transit users by allowing for improved 

trip planning. In addition, this 

collection would improve future FTA 

performance measures and strategic 

planning. 

The National Rural Transit Assistance 

Program (RTAP) provides resources to 

help transit agencies generate GTFS 

data. A resource guide for creating a 

GTFS dataset is available at https://

www.nationalrtap.org/TechnologyTools/GTFS-Builder. This includes 

Excel templates that will allow users to 

build GTFS data from existing transit 

schedules and stop information with 

little-to-no additional technical 

expertise. The shapes.txt file can be 

generated using the GTFS builder 

approach described in the guide linked 

above (see the ‘‘14. Optional—Complete 

shapes Tab’’). 

C. Changes to Passenger Stations and 

Maintenance Facilities Reporting 

Historically, FTA has collected 

information on passenger stations on 

two forms in the NTD Asset Module: the 

A–10 (Stations and Maintenance 

Facilities) form and the A–15 (Transit 

Asset Management Facilities Inventory) 

form. However, due to differences in 

how the two forms define a ‘‘station,’’ 

there have been discrepancies between 

the count of stations as reported in the 

A–10 and the count of stations in the A– 

15. 

The current A–10 form captures data 

for both passenger stations and 

maintenance facilities, regardless of 

capital responsibility. Agencies 

currently must report the following 

information for passenger stations and 

maintenance facilities, separated by 

mode and Type of Service (Directly 

Operated (DO) and Purchased 

Transportation (PT)): 

1. The number of passenger stations, 

both accessible and inaccessible, in 

accordance with the Americans with 

Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and 

USDOT’s implementing regulations at 

49 CFR part 37. 

2. The number of elevators and 

escalators within passenger stations. 

3. The number of maintenance 

facilities, tallied by size and ownership 

categories. 

To improve and standardize the 

reporting of passenger stations and 

facilities in the NTD asset module, FTA 

proposes to eliminate the A–10 Stations 

and Maintenance Facilities form, which 

currently collects a count of ADAaccessible and non-accessible stations. 

All station information would be 

reported through a single, consolidated 

Transit Asset Management Facilities (A– 

15) form. This form would contain all 

data collection related to accessibility 

that is currently captured on the A–10 

form. Agencies must indicate which 

stations are ADA accessible and 

inaccessible. For ADA accessibility 

requirements, please reference 49 CFR 

part 37. 

In addition to passenger stations, FTA 

proposes that agencies inventory all 

maintenance facilities on the expanded 

A–15 form, regardless of capital 

responsibility. Under current A–15 

reporting requirements, agencies only 

inventory administrative and 

maintenance facilities if the agency has 

capital responsibility for the facility and 

the transit use is greater than incidental. 

With the new consolidated form, FTA 

proposes to include facilities without 

capital responsibility, but maintain the 

exception for incidental use. 

Maintenance facilities with less than 

full capital responsibility, which 

previously would have been reportable 

on the A–10 and not the A–15, would 

be reportable on the new, consolidated 

A–15 form. Facilities whose transit use 

is incidental would not be reportable, 


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consistent with existing requirements. 

Use is considered incidental when 50 

percent or less of the facility’s physical 

space is dedicated to the provision of 

public transportation service. 

The intent of this change is both to (a) 

standardize reporting of transit 

passenger stations and facilities across 

forms, and (b) lessen the burden on 

reporters. By combining these forms 

into a single form, FTA intends to 

capture station information through a 

single source and reduce the effort 

needed to complete the annual NTD 

asset module reporting. 

All facilities that are currently 

reportable on the A–15 would continue 

to be reported on the new consolidated 

form. In addition to facilities already 

collected, the expanded A–15 data 

collection would include the following: 

1. Each passenger station’s 

accessibility, expressed as either ‘‘ADA 

accessible’’ or ‘‘ADA inaccessible,’’ in 

accordance with 49 CFR part 37. An 

accessible station complies with part 37 

and is fully accessible to individuals 

with disabilities, including individuals 

who use wheelchairs. Inaccessible 

stations do not meet the requirements of 

part 37. 

2. The number of elevators and 

escalators within passenger stations for 

each applicable station. 

3. The number of passenger facilities 

(for fixed-route modes) and 

maintenance facilities (for all modes 

and types of service other than Taxi 

(TX) or Transportation Network 

Company (TN)) by size and ownership 

categories. Data on maintenance 

facilities would be collected in a 

manner similar to the chart below. 

Facility type Owned 

Leased from 

another public 

agency 

Leased from a 

private entity Total 

General Maintenance Facilities < 200 Vehicles).

General Maintenance Facilities with 200–300 

Vehicles.

General Maintenance Facilities > 300 Vehicles.

Heavy Maintenance Facilities .........................

Total ......................................................... (This total will be the count of facilities with > 

0 percent capital replacement responsibility).

FTA is also seeking feedback on the 

definition of a ‘‘passenger station’’ for 

the purpose of uniform inventorying on 

the expanded A–15 form. On the 

expanded form, FTA proposes to retain 

all facilities that are currently reported 

to the NTD as passenger stations, which 

means that agencies should continue to 

inventory all passenger stations as 

defined in the NTD reporting manual 

(2024 NTD Reporting Policy Manual, 

https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/2024- 

ntd-reporting-policy-manual, page 160). 

FTA proposes to retain the current 

guidance that for any station that 

operates in mixed traffic, a significant 

structure must be present. This does not 

include bus shelters. Significant 

structures are structures that are 

enclosed or, if partially enclosed, have 

a minimum roof square footage of 150 

feet. Examples may include larger 

canopies or coverings to serve 

passengers. 

In previous report years, reporters 

have expressed some confusion as to 

whether certain facilities, particularly 

those with multiple platforms, should 

be reported as a single facility or as two 

separate facilities. To address this 

concern and clarify facility reporting, 

FTA proposes that passenger stations 

serving rail modes and bus rapid transit 

modes that span both sides of the rightof-way must be inventoried as a single 

facility if all of the following criteria are 

met. 

a. Condition assessments are 

conducted comprehensively, where all 

subcomponents are assessed in the same 

procedure/assessment, 

b. Passengers can access the facility 

on both sides of the right-of-way 

without leaving the facility or 

designated pedestrian crossing areas, 

and 

c. The ownership, size, and other 

attributes reported on the expanded A– 

15 form are the same across the facility. 

These changes would take effect for 

all asset module reporting beginning in 

NTD Report Year (RY) 2025. 

D. A–20 NTD/TERM Alignment 

FTA seeks to improve data collection 

categories on the A–20 Transit Way 

Mileage Form to align with FTA’s 

Transit Economics Requirement Model 

(TERM) categories. (For more 

information on TERM, please see: 

https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulationsand-programs/asset-management/ 

transit-economic-requirements-modelsterm-federal-user.) The goal of this 

proposed change is to create consistency 

between NTD data collection and the 

TERM model, both of which are used in 

the Department of Transportation’s 

Conditions and Performance report to 

Congress. The proposed changes 

include three new categories on the A– 

20 Form: ‘‘Track—Turntable,’’ ‘‘Power 

and Signal—Pump Rooms,’’ and ‘‘Power 

and Signal—Fan Plants.’’ For each of 

these new categories, agencies would 

report a count of each applicable asset, 

similar to existing data collection 

categories on the form. 

FTA proposes that under the ‘‘Track’’ 

section of the A–20 form, agencies 

would report the count of turntables by 

mode under the ‘‘Special Track’’ 

section. A turntable is a track element 

used to turn train cars in a different 

direction. This count should include 

turntables located in rail yards or other 

locations. To be consistent with other 

special track categories, agencies would 

report the Expected Service Years When 

New, Percent Agency Capital 

Responsibility, Decade Built, and 

Agency with Shared Responsibility 

(when applicable). 

FTA proposes that the ‘‘Power and 

Signal’’ section would include a count 

of Pump Rooms and Fan Plants by 

mode. Pump Rooms are assets 

throughout rail operations that help 

control water in underground systems. 

Fan Plants refer to assets that assist with 

ventilation in underground systems. 

Similar to existing ‘‘Power and Signal’’ 

elements on the A–20 form, agencies 

would provide the Expected Service 

Years When New, Percent Agency 

Capital Responsibility, and Agency with 

Shared Responsibility (when applicable) 

for these new categories. Agencies also 

would report the decade of original 

construction or rebuild (when rebuilt as 

new). For further detail on these 


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existing fields, please refer to the latest 

NTD reporting manual. 

In addition to these new categories, 

FTA aims to clarify the data collected 

for all assets on the ‘‘Construction’’ 

section on the A–20 form. Currently, the 

form collects the decade of construction 

for a specific asset category. While this 

information is accurate to the original 

build date, it fails to capture when 

transit assets are fully rebuilt, which 

significantly extends the useful life of 

the asset. Similar to other data collected 

related to asset age, FTA is proposing 

that the decade of construction should 

reflect the original construction date, or 

the decade rebuilt as new, if applicable. 

If an element is reconstructed as new or 

has been renovated to the degree that its 

expected useful life is equivalent to the 

condition and useful life of a new 

element, the agency should report the 

decade in which this renovation was 

completed. This information would 

allow for more accurate modelling of the 

expected life and condition of the asset, 

which in turn would generate more 

accurate estimates of the state of good 

repair needs of these assets in TERM. 

FTA proposes that these changes 

would take effect beginning in NTD 

Report Year (RY) 2025. 

E. Safety and Security—Cyber Security 

Event Reporting 

FTA seeks to update cyber security 

NTD reporting requirements. Under 

current FTA guidance, reportable cyber 

security events may not capture the 

prevalence or risks posed by cyber 

events. For purposes of NTD reporting, 

a cyber event is ‘‘an event that targets 

transit facilities, personnel, information, 

or computer or telecommunications 

systems associated with transit 

agencies.’’ (‘‘System Security Event 

Details Key Descriptions’’ in the 

National Transit Database Safety & 

Security Policy Manual, page 69, 

https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/ 

fta.dot.gov/files/2024-02/2024-Safetyand-Security-Policy-Manual_1-0.pdf). 

Cyber security events are reportable to 

the NTD if they meet a major event 

threshold; the most common threshold 

met is property damage. Between 2014 

and June 2024, there have been four 

cybersecurity events reported to NTD; 

however, based on an analysis of media 

coverage, FTA has reason to believe that 

there have been dozens of breaches, 

ransomware, and other cyber events on 

transit agencies during the same period. 

To address this issue, FTA proposes 

clarifications to cyber security event 

reporting applicable to Full Reporters 

(reporting via the S&S–40 major event 

form). Specifically, FTA proposes 

clarifications in the following areas: 

1. Reporting Threshold and IT as 

Infrastructure 

2. Selecting a Mode when Reporting 

Cyber Security Events 

3. Substantial Damage for Rail Modes 

The proposed clarifications would 

give reporters clear guidance on cyber 

event reporting and would improve data 

collection, strengthening FTA’s policy 

development, safety oversight, and 

safety risk mitigation programs, and 

providing NTD data users (such as 

transit agencies and other Federal 

agencies concerned with cyber security) 

greater insight into cyber security events 

within public transit. 

Reporting Threshold and IT as 

Infrastructure 

A cyber security event is an event that 

targets transit facilities, personnel, 

information, or computer or 

telecommunications systems associated 

with transit agencies. (National Transit 

Database Safety and Security Reporting 

Manual, https://www.transit.dot.gov/ 

sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2024-02/2024- 

Safety-and-Security-Policy-Manual_1- 

0.pdf). Cyber security events include: 

• Denial or disruption of computer or 

telecommunications services, especially 

train control systems, 

• Unauthorized monitoring of 

computer or telecommunications 

systems, 

• Unauthorized disclosure of 

proprietary or classified information 

stored within or communicated through 

computer or telecommunications 

systems, 

• Unauthorized modification or 

destruction of computer programming 

codes, computer network databases, 

stored information, or computer 

capabilities; or 

• Manipulation of computer or 

telecommunications services resulting 

from fraud, financial loss, or other 

criminal violations. 

(See National Transit Database 

Glossary, https://www.transit.dot.gov/ 

ntd/national-transit-database-ntdglossary). 

In many cases, a cyber security event 

would be reportable as a major event. 

Under current NTD reporting 

requirements, an event is reportable as 

a major event when any major event 

threshold is met and the event: 

• Occurs at a transit revenue facility, 

maintenance facility, or rail yard; 

• Occurs on transit right-of-way or 

infrastructure (the underlying 

framework or structures that support a 

public transportation system); 

• Occurs during a transit-related 

maintenance activity; or 

• Involves a transit revenue vehicle. 

(See ‘‘When to Report a Major Event’’ 

in the National Transit Database Safety 

& Security Policy Manual, page 20. 

https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/ 

fta.dot.gov/files/2024-02/2024-Safetyand-Security-Policy-Manual_1-0.pdf). 

FTA historically has interpreted 

‘‘infrastructure’’ to include only 

physical assets for both cyber security 

and other safety and security events. 

However, FTA believes this 

interpretation does not adequately 

encompass impacts to transit IT 

infrastructure, particularly as it pertains 

to cyber security events. To address this 

issue, FTA proposes that 

‘‘infrastructure’’ also should include 

information, computer, and 

telecommunications systems that exist 

in any transit facilities (i.e., in the 

facilities reported on annual form A– 

15). In addition to providing clarity for 

cyber security event reporting, FTA’s 

clarification with regards to 

‘infrastructure’ would apply to other 

system security events, such as sabotage 

or vandalism, provided they meet all 

other major event thresholds. Similarly, 

because they involve ‘disruptions to 

telecommunications services’, major 

power failures which result in damage 

to these systems would be reportable if 

they meet a major event threshold. 

Thus, cyber security events occurring on 

this type of infrastructure that meet an 

NTD major event reporting threshold 

would be reportable to the NTD on the 

S&S–40 form. 

Selecting a Mode When Reporting Cyber 

Security Events 

Reportable cyber security events are 

by definition system events that affect 

‘‘a transit system as a whole.’’ (‘‘System 

Security Events’’ in the National Transit 

Database Safety & Security Policy 

Manual, page 68. https://

www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/ 

files/2024-02/2024-Safety-and-SecurityPolicy-Manual_1-0.pdf). For this reason, 

FTA proposes that agencies would 

consistently select a single designated 

mode for reporting cyber security events 

in their system, regardless of the 

specific infrastructure that is targeted. 

FTA currently uses the Appian system 

to collect major events, and a user may 

select only one mode on the safety and 

security major event form (S&S–40). 

Because of this constraint, it is not 

possible to file an S&S–40 report for 

multiple modes simultaneously. This 

results in reporters filing multiple S&S– 

40 reports for different modes arising 

from the same cyber event. For this 

reason, and given the nature of cyber 

security events as system events, FTA is 

proposing a hierarchy for S&S–40 cyber 

security events where reporters would 


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select a single designated mode as 

detailed below. Among other benefits, 

this approach would result in reduced 

reporting burden due to the elimination 

of multiple (duplicative) reports 

resulting from a single cyber security 

event. 

FTA proposes that all Rail Transit 

Agencies (RTAs) (any entity that 

provides services on a rail fixed 

guideway public transportation system) 

would select a rail mode for reporting 

all cyber security events, regardless of 

the specific infrastructure that is 

targeted. If an agency operates more 

than one rail mode—for example, Heavy 

Rail (HR) and Light Rail (LR)—they 

would follow the Predominant Use Rule 

to determine the appropriate mode to 

associate with the event. 

Agencies that operate fixed route bus 

modes, but do not operate fixed 

guideway rail, would select a bus mode 

for reporting all cyber security events. If 

an agency operates more than one bus 

mode—for example, Motorbus (MB) and 

Bus Rapid Transit (RB)—they would 

follow the Predominant Use Rule to 

determine the appropriate mode to 

associate with the event. 

Agencies that operate demand 

response service and do not operate 

fixed guideway rail nor fixed route bus 

would select the demand response 

mode for reporting all cyber security 

events. 

Agencies that operate only ferryboat 

service would select the ferryboat mode 

for reporting all cyber security events. 

FTA proposes that this clarification 

would take effect for Full Reporters in 

calendar year 2025 as soon as 

practicable following publication of the 

Federal Register notice finalizing the 

NTD reporting changes. 

Substantial Damage for Rail Modes 

One of the major event thresholds on 

the S&S–40 form for rail modes is 

‘‘substantial damage.’’ While FTA is 

proposing changes to this reporting 

threshold for safety and personal 

security events in this Federal Register 

notice (see below), the threshold would 

remain unchanged for system security 

events, which includes cyber security 

events. Per the current NTD S&S 

reporting requirements, the definition of 

‘‘substantial damage’’ for rail modes 

includes damage to any involved 

vehicles, facilities, equipment, rolling 

stock, or infrastructure that: (1) disrupts 

the operations of the rail transit agency 

and (2) adversely affects the structural 

strength, performance, or operating 

characteristics of the asset, such that it 

requires towing, rescue, on-site 

maintenance, or immediate removal 

prior to safe operation. (See ‘‘Exhibit 5: 

Reporting Thresholds’’ in the National 

Transit Database Safety & Security 

Policy Manual, page 22. https://

www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/ 

files/2024-02/2024-Safety-and-SecurityPolicy-Manual_1-0.pdf). 

FTA proposes to clarify how to apply 

the substantial damage threshold to 

cyber security events. Regarding the 

‘‘disruption of operations’’ element of 

the threshold, FTA proposes that for 

cyber security events, disruption of 

operations would include the 

disruptions of the normal operations of 

transit facilities, personnel, information, 

or computer or telecommunications 

systems associated with transit agencies. 

Examples include (this is not an 

exhaustive list): 

• Ransomware, if it disrupts operations 

• Denial of service attack if it disrupts 

operations 

• Communications disruption (e.g., 

phone lines, website, digital signs, 

applications) 

• Shutting down systems to protect 

personal data 

• Severing connections to other systems 

• Inability to collect fares 

• Inability to assign routes or make 

pull-out 

The ‘‘disruption of operations’’ 

element would not be met for events 

where an actor did not target transit 

facilities, personnel, information, or 

computer or telecommunications 

systems associated with transit agencies, 

such as (this is not an exhaustive list): 

• A user installing an unapproved 

software utility to perform maintenance 

activities or updates to fix a bug or 

deploy enhancements; 

• Deployed software or logic changes 

that are not malicious; 

• Accidents that do not involve 

malicious actors. 

Regarding the second element of the 

‘‘substantial damage’’ threshold, FTA 

proposes that a cyber security event 

automatically would be presumed to 

adversely affect the operating 

characteristics of the asset or 

infrastructure that is targeted such that 

it would require maintenance to 

remedy. This is based on FTA’s analysis 

of cyber events and research, which 

indicates that cyber events disrupting 

operations adversely affect performance 

or operations such that they require 

maintenance to remedy while services 

are assessed, modified, or halted before 

being reestablished. (See e.g., National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce, 

https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework/ 

recover) In effect, this means that cyber 

security events only need to meet the 

first element of the ‘‘substantial 

damage’’ threshold. 

FTA clarifies that events are 

reportable as cyber security events when 

they are caused by the actions of a third 

party. If the actions are caused by a 

transit employee, the event would be 

reported as sabotage. 

The proposed changes would take 

effect for safety and security reporting 

beginning in calendar year 2025 

following the publication of the final 

notice. 

F. Safety and Security—Disabling 

Damage 

Section 5329 of Title 49, United States 

Code, requires FTA to establish a 

comprehensive public transportation 

safety program, the elements of which 

include a National Public 

Transportation Safety Plan; a safety 

training and certification program for 

Federal, State, and local transportation 

agency employees with safety 

responsibilities; Public Transportation 

Agency Safety Plans; and a strengthened 

State Safety Oversight Program. 

Pursuant to that authority, in on October 

16, 2024, FTA published a final rule (89 

FR 83956) updating the State Safety 

Oversight (SSO) requirements at 49 CFR 

part 674. This final rule includes a new 

safety event category titled ‘‘disabling 

damage’’ for purposes of the SSO 

notification and investigation thresholds 

in 49 CFR 674.33 and 674.35. The final 

rule defines ‘‘disabling damage’’ as 

‘‘damage to a rail transit vehicle 

resulting from a collision and 

preventing the vehicle from operating 

under its own power.’’ 49 CFR 674.7. 

As discussed in Section E above, at 

present, one of the major event reporting 

thresholds for rail modes on the NTD 

Safety and Security Major Event (S&S– 

40) form is ‘‘substantial damage.’’ 

Substantial damage is defined as 

follows: 

‘‘Substantial damage is damage to any 

involved vehicles, facilities, equipment, 

rolling stock, or infrastructure that: 

• Disrupts the operations of the rail 

transit agency, and 

• Adversely affects the structural 

strength, performance, or operating 

characteristics of the asset, such that it 

requires towing, rescue, on-site 

maintenance, or immediate removal 

prior to safe operation.’’ 

(National Transit Database Safety and 

Security Reporting Manual, https://

www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/ 

files/2024-02/2024-Safety-and-SecurityPolicy-Manual_1-0.pdf) 

Because the substantial damage and 

disabling damage thresholds capture 

different information, FTA is proposing 

to revise the NTD major event reporting 

requirements to capture the new 


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‘‘disabling damage’’ event category 

defined in the SSO final rule. 

FTA is seeking comments on two 

proposed alternatives to collect this new 

information. The first option is a 

wholesale replacement of the 

substantial damage major event 

threshold with a disabling damage 

threshold for safety events. The second 

option is to maintain the substantial 

damage threshold and include disabling 

damage events as a subset of substantial 

damage events. 

Substantial damage is currently a 

reporting threshold on the S&S–40 form, 

which is only completed by NTD Full 

Reporters, and this reporting threshold 

pertains only to rail modes. As such, 

either proposed alternative only would 

affect Full Reporters who operate rail 

fixed guideway modes. For all other 

reporters, there would be no impact to 

safety and security reporting. The 

changes discussed below would apply 

only to NTD reporting of major events 

on the S&S–40 form, and would not 

alter other program requirements, 

including the two-hour notification or 

investigation requirements under 49 

CFR part 674. 

FTA proposes that under either 

alternative, FTA would begin collecting 

disabling damage information in 

calendar year 2025 as soon as 

practicable following publication of the 

Federal Register notice finalizing the 

NTD reporting changes. Each alternative 

is described below, including impacts to 

data collection and data users. 

1. Replacing ‘‘Substantial Damage’’ 

Threshold With ‘‘Disabling Damage’’ for 

Major Safety Events 

The first alternative that FTA is 

considering is to eliminate the 

‘‘substantial damage’’ major event 

threshold for safety events and personal 

security events and replace it with a 

‘‘disabling damage’’ threshold. Under 

this alternative, only property damage 

events which result in disabling damage 

(i.e., damage to a rail transit vehicle 

resulting from a collision and 

preventing the vehicle from operating 

under its own power) or that meet 

another major event threshold would be 

reportable on the S&S–40 for rail modes. 

This would eliminate major event 

reporting requirements for events that 

meet the current substantial damage 

threshold but do not meet the definition 

of disabling damage or another major 

event threshold. All other reporting 

thresholds, such as injuries, fatalities, 

and evacuations, would be unchanged. 

In addition, the substantial damage 

threshold would be retained for system 

security events. 

Under this proposed revision, for all 

rail collision safety and security events, 

the National Transit Database would ask 

reporters to indicate if the event meets 

the threshold of ‘‘disabling damage’’ (as 

defined in part 674). Safety and 

personal security events that do not 

meet the disabling damage threshold (or 

another threshold such as injury, 

fatality, or evacuation) no longer would 

be reportable on the S&S–40 form, even 

if they would have been reportable as 

substantial damage previously. System 

security events still would be reportable 

if they meet the substantial damage 

threshold, including cyber security 

events as discussed in this notice. The 

breakdown by event type is summarized 

below. 

This alternative would reduce burden 

by reducing the number of reportable 

major safety and personal security 

events. For example, electrical 

malfunctions that disrupt operations but 

do not involve a collision, injury, 

fatality, or evacuation no longer would 

be reportable on the S&S–40. FTA 

believes that the number of events that 

result in substantial damage but not 

disabling damage, and which do not 

meet another threshold, is minimal 

compared to the overall number of 

safety and security events reported to 

the NTD. 

In 2023, the NTD recorded 398 events 

that were classified as involving 

‘‘substantial damage’’ (see NTD Major 

Safety Events file, at https://

data.transportation.gov/Public-Transit/ 

Major-Safety-Events/9ivb-8ae9/explore). 

Of these, 22 events would not meet the 

definition of disabling damage and did 

not meet another major event threshold 

(injury, fatality, etc.)—such as events 

where a pantograph was damaged, 

disrupting service but not damaging the 

rail transit vehicle. Under this proposal, 

these events would not be reportable on 

the S&S–40. 

For clarity, the following are all safety 

and security event types currently in the 

NTD reporting system, and how they 

would be affected by this proposed 

reporting change: 

• Collision: substantial damage 

question removed and replaced with 

disabling damage. 

• Derailment (including yard 

derailments and non-revenue vehicles): 

Substantial damage question removed 

entirely. Because derailment is a 

separate reporting threshold, the 

number of reportable events would be 

unchanged. 

• Fire: Substantial damage question 

removed entirely. If an injury, fatality, 

or evacuation occurs, the fire would still 

be reportable. Based on 2023 NTD safety 

reports, there were no events which met 

the substantial damage threshold that 

did not meet another threshold. 

• Hazardous material spill: 

Substantial damage question removed 

entirely. If an injury, fatality, or 

evacuation occurs, the hazardous 

material spill would still be reportable. 

Based on 2023 NTD safety reports, there 

were no events which met the 

substantial damage threshold that did 

not meet another threshold. 

• An earthquake/flood/hurricane/ 

tornado/other high winds/snowstorm/ 

ice storm, etc. (Act of God): Substantial 

damage question removed entirely. If an 

injury, fatality, or evacuation occurs, the 

event would still be reportable. 

However, damage resulting from Act of 

God events that do not meet one of these 

other thresholds would no longer be 

reportable. 

• System Security Event: bomb 

threat/bombing/chemical/biological/ 

nuclear/radiological/arson/hijacking/ 

sabotage/burglary/vandalism/suspicious 

package/cyber security event/other 

system security event: Substantial 

damage question would be maintained. 

This includes cyber security events. 

• Personal Security Event: assault/ 

robbery/rape/suicide/attempted suicide/ 

larceny or theft (including vehicle theft 

from a parking lot)/homicide/other 

personal security event: Substantial 

damage question removed entirely. If an 

injury, fatality, or evacuation occurs, the 

event would still be reportable. 

However, personal security events 

where no other thresholds are met 

would no longer be reportable. 

• Other Safety Event (e.g., fall, 

electric shock, smoke, slip/fall, power 

failure, runaway train, other): 

Substantial damage question removed 

entirely. If an injury, fatality, or 

evacuation occurs, the safety event 

would still be reportable. However, 

other safety events where no other 

thresholds are met would no longer be 

reportable. 

FTA recognizes that the data on 

substantial damage may be useful to 

NTD data users. FTA welcomes public 

comments on existing and future use 

cases using substantial damage events 

that do not involve disabling damage 

and do not meet another S&S–40 

reporting threshold (e.g., no injuries, no 

fatalities, and where only agency 

equipment, other than a rail transit 

vehicle, or other property experience 

substantial damage). 

2. Adding Disabling Damage as a Subset 

of Substantial Damage Collision Events 

The second alternative that FTA is 

considering is adding a question to the 

S&S–40 form to allow agencies to report 

events that cause disabling damage as a 


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distinct subset of events that cause 

substantial damage. One of the reasons 

for proposing a new category of 

disabling damage is to allow FTA to 

identify collision events involving a rail 

transit vehicle more easily that prevent 

the vehicle from operating under its 

own power. This proposed option 

would allow FTA’s systems to identify 

such events more accurately (e.g., sub 

setting substantial damage events to the 

State Safety Oversight Reporting (SSOR) 

system if they involve disabling 

damage). Moreover, it would preserve 

the broader set of data FTA collects 

involving substantial damage events 

that do not involve disabling damage for 

FTA data analysis and other NTD data 

users. 

This change would apply to the 

roughly 320 collision events annually 

that are reported as substantial damage. 

FTA anticipates that nearly all of the 

events reported as substantial damage 

would be marked ‘‘Yes’’ for disabling 

damage; only a small number would be 

marked as ‘‘No.’’ Examples of events 

that are substantial but not disabling 

include events where rail rolling stock 

strikes a personal vehicle, with no 

disabling damage to the rail rolling 

stock, but the personal vehicle is 

rendered inoperable. Other examples 

include events where rail transit 

property other than a rail transit vehicle 

experiences substantial damage (e.g., 

equipment is struck by an object and is 

substantially damaged), and there is a 

disruption to service. 

Under this proposed option, FTA 

would retain substantial damage as a 

reporting threshold. All of the events 

described above therefore would require 

major event reports, given that 

substantial damage occurred. Disabling 

damage would be recorded as a subset 

of substantial damage. 

FTA would operationalize this 

requirement by adding a question to the 

S&S–40 Report. NTD reporters would be 

first asked to indicate if the collision 

event caused substantial damage— 

consistent with current reporting 

requirements. If the reporter indicates 

that the event caused substantial 

damage, the system would prompt the 

reporter to indicate if the event resulted 

in disabling damage. If the event did not 

result in disabling damage, the reporter 

would simply indicate that no disabling 

damage occurred. 

This option would not expand the set 

of events that are currently reported. 

However, it would increase the data 

collected for each rail collision event 

involving substantial damage. In 

calendar year 2023, there were 398 such 

events—if FTA implements this change, 

each of these events would require this 

additional field to establish whether or 

not the event involved disabling 

damage. 

FTA seeks comment on both proposed 

alternatives. The proposed changes 

would take effect in calendar year 2025, 

approximately three months after the 

publication of the final notice. 

G. Reduced Reporter Exemption for 

Operators Predominantly Serving Rural 

Areas 

FTA recognizes that there are unique 

rural operators who provide service over 

large geographic regions in the United 

States that partially contain one or more 

small urbanized areas (UZAs). Although 

these operators predominantly serve 

rural areas, they currently report to the 

NTD as Full Reporters if they operate 

more than 30 vehicles in maximum 

service. FTA believes that data reporting 

requirements should be reduced for 

these operators to align with the Rural 

Module reporting requirements of the 

NTD. This proposal stems from changes 

to urbanized zone areas from the 2020 

Census, which resulted in many 

agencies that had traditionally been 

rural reporters suddenly becoming 

urban reporters, some of whom still 

predominantly serve rural areas. As a 

result of this Census change, some 

transit agencies have requested a waiver 

from full reporting requirements. In the 

interest of reducing reporting burden 

and given that these reporters still 

predominantly serve rural areas, FTA is 

proposing to extend waivers to this set 

of reporters whose service contributes a 

small proportion towards urban transit 

service. 

Accordingly, FTA proposes a waiver 

process in which reporters that 

predominantly serve rural areas may 

request an exemption from filing as a 

Full Reporter. Effectively, this would 

mean that operators receiving the 

waiver would report as Reduced 

Reporters instead. 

Under this proposal, FTA would grant 

the waiver if the agency predominantly 

serves a rural area, as determined by the 

following criteria: 

• Receives funding under 49 U.S.C. 

5311, 

• Reports one or more primary or 

secondary UZAs on their Federal 

Funding Allocation form (FFA–10), 

• Operates more than 30 Vehicles 

Operated in Maximum Service (VOMS), 

• Operates fewer total VOMS in 

urbanized areas (UZAs) than rural (nonUZA) areas, and 

• Allocates more total Vehicle 

Revenue Miles (VRM) to non-UZAs than 

UZAs. 

FTA believes these criteria would 

positively identify reporters who 

predominantly serve rural areas without 

carving out too broad an exemption. 

Upon publication of the final notice, 

FTA would review and validate NTD 

data to assess the above criteria. FTA 

proposes to use data from the most 

recent year’s validated and accepted 

data to evaluate eligibility for this 

waiver, and FTA would grant the waiver 

if each of the above criteria are met. 

Based on current available data, FTA 

estimates that approximately 10–15 

agencies would be eligible for this 

waiver. 

FTA would automatically identify 

agencies that qualify for this waiver 

based on the prior year’s validated and 

accepted data submitted to the NTD. All 

eligible reporters then would be 

presented with the option to request the 

waiver annually during the Report Year 

Kick-Off (RYKO) process, which 

confirms an agency’s basic information 

and operational data listed above that 

would affect reporter type selection. 

This process would use the ratio of 

Section 5307 to total Federal funding 

expended to estimate VOMS in 

urbanized areas versus rural areas, 

because these data are not directly 

collected on the Federal Funding 

Allocation form (FFA–10). 

If an agency is reporting to the NTD 

for the first time and wishes to request 

this waiver, they would be prompted to 

provide the relevant information for 

determining eligibility as a part of the 

‘‘New ID Request’’ process. 

FTA proposes that agencies granted 

this waiver would certify that they 

continue to meet the eligibility 

requirements each year. This 

certification would be verified through 

FTA’s normal validation of an agency’s 

annual RYKO. However, if an agency’s 

operations change significantly and they 

no longer meet eligibility requirements, 

agencies could request a one-year 

extension of the waiver to allow the 

agency time to implement data 

collection changes that would facilitate 

a Full Reporter submission the 

following year. 

FTA notes that agencies that receive 

this waiver would report as Reduced 

Reporters going forward. They therefore 

would no longer submit Passenger Miles 

Traveled (PMT) data to the NTD. FTA 

uses PMT data as part of the calculation 

of Urbanized Area formula 

apportionments under 49 U.S.C. 5307 

(Section 5307). Agencies considering 

this waiver would coordinate with the 

local planning agency in the UZA in 

which they operate, and the State DOT 

receiving Section 5311 funding which 

may impact apportionment to the UZA. 

These data would otherwise be used in 


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the incentive tier of the Section 5307 

formula apportionment. 

Under this proposal, FTA would 

continue to automatically grant a Full 

Reporting waiver for agencies that 

report that they operate in a primary or 

secondary UZA and report 30 or fewer 

VOMS in the NTD annual report 

(assuming all figures have been 

validated). Agencies that neither operate 

in a UZA nor receive or benefit from 

Section 5307 funding would not need to 

apply for this waiver. 

FTA proposes that this waiver would 

be available beginning in NTD Report 

Year (RY) 2025. 

H. Voluntary Reporter Tag 

Recipients and beneficiaries of FTA 

funding under either the Urbanized 

Area Formula Program (49 U.S.C. 5307) 

or Rural Area Formula Program (49 

U.S.C. 5311) are required by law to 

report to the NTD. FTA funding 

recipients that own, operate, or manage 

public transportation capital assets are 

required to provide more limited reports 

to the NTD regarding Transit Asset 

Management. However, while most 

transit agencies report to the NTD 

because they are required to do so by 

Federal statute, some transit agencies do 

not receive or benefit from FTA funds 

but submit NTD reports on a voluntary 

basis. The service reported by these 

agencies generate funding for the state 

or urbanized area(s) where they report 

their service. The term ‘‘transit agency’’ 

refers to an entity providing public 

transportation as defined in 49 U.S.C. 

5302. 

The term ‘‘Voluntary Reporter’’ refers 

to public or private transit agencies that 

are not obligated by Federal statute to 

report to the NTD, but voluntarily 

comply with all NTD reporting 

requirements under the NTD regulation 

(49 CFR part 630) and the Uniform 

System of Accounts (USOA). Voluntary 

Reporters might report data to the NTD 

with the intention of future inclusion in 

FTA’s Federal funding awards. 

Currently, FTA does not collect data 

that specifically designates an agency’s 

‘‘required’’ versus ‘‘voluntary’’ reporting 

status in the NTD reporting system. 

While an agency’s reported financial 

and revenue vehicle inventory data can 

indicate their reporting obligations, FTA 

does not require agencies to directly 

attest to their reporting status each 

report year. 

To improve data collection from 

transit agencies, FTA proposes an 

update to the annual reporting system 

that would require agencies to identify 

whether they are Voluntary Reporters. 

Adding this signifier to the NTD 

platform would streamline and simplify 

the process of identifying required 

versus Voluntary Reporters through a 

single question, which agencies would 

answer each report year. 

Under this proposal, each unique, 

active NTD ID would answer a question 

on the ‘‘Identification’’ (B–10) form in 

their annual NTD report packages that 

would ask them to attest to their 

Voluntary Reporter status. Agencies 

would respond to the question by 

selecting ‘‘Yes’’ or ‘‘No’’ in the report 

form. Agencies that are Section 5307 or 

5311 recipients or beneficiaries, or that 

have continuing grant requirements 

under either of these programs, would 

select ‘‘No’’ to indicate they are not 

Voluntary Reporters and are required to 

report to the NTD. Agencies who have 

no Federal requirement to report to the 

NTD, including not being held to the 

continuing grant requirements described 

above, would select ‘‘Yes’’ to indicate 

that they are Voluntary Reporters. 

FTA is proposing that this 

requirement apply to all reporter types, 

including Full and Reduced Urban 

Reporters, Tribes, State DOTs, Rural 

General Public Transit Reporters, and 

Capital Asset Reporters. In cases where 

it is evident and uncontestable that the 

reporter is a recipient of FTA funding— 

for instance, a rural subrecipient of a 

State—this field could be automatically 

populated for them. 

Under this proposal, transit agencies 

must recertify their voluntary reporting 

status each report year. This would 

allow agencies to either verify that their 

previous reporting status is accurate in 

the current reporting period or update 

their reporting status if it has changed. 

The question would reset at the 

beginning of each report year so that 

agencies could select their responses for 

that particular year. For example, if an 

agency was a Voluntary Reporter in 

Report Year (RY) 2024, but received 

Section 5307 funds in RY 2025, the 

agency would no longer be considered 

a Voluntary Reporter, and must answer 

‘‘No’’ to the Voluntary Reporter question 

in the B–10 form in RY 2025. 

FTA would verify reporters’ responses 

in the B–10 form through the NTD data 

validation process. For example, if an 

agency answers that they are voluntarily 

reporting in a given report year, FTA 

would not expect that agency to report 

Section 5307 or 5311 funds expended 

on operations or capital in their annual 

NTD report. FTA also would not expect 

the agency to report revenue vehicles 

with the Urbanized Area Formula 

Program or Rural Area Formula Program 

funding codes on the Revenue Vehicle 

Inventory (A–30) forms; if an agency has 

existing revenue vehicles with either of 

these funding types already in their 

report, the agency’s validation analyst 

would ask the agency to confirm 

whether the vehicle(s) are still within 

their useful life periods. This 

verification ensures that the Voluntary 

Reporter status is consistent with the 

rest of the report and accurate in the 

NTD annual data publications. 

Please note that this change would 

not affect existing reporting 

requirements for mandatory reporters, 

nor affect the timing of when agencies 

become subject to mandatory reporting 

requirements. Agencies are required to 

report to the National Transit Database 

if they receive Federal funding, are 

applying for Federal funding in the 

coming year, or maintain capital assets 

purchased with Federal funds. This is 

unchanged from prior policy. For more 

information, please consult the NTD 

Reporting Manuals at https://

www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/manuals. 

FTA proposes that this change would 

take effect beginning in NTD Report 

Year (RY) 2025. 

Veronica Vanterpool, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2024–25341 Filed 10–30–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

Recruitment Notice for the Taxpayer 

Advocacy Panel 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Notice of open season for 

recruitment of IRS Taxpayer Advocacy 

Panel (TAP) Members. 

DATES: October 24, 2024, through 

November 14, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred 

N. Smith, Jr. at 202–317–3087 (not a 

toll-free call). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given that the Department of the 

Treasury and the Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS) are inviting individuals to 

help improve the nation’s tax agency by 

applying to be members of the Taxpayer 

Advocacy Panel (TAP). The mission of 

the TAP is to listen to taxpayers, 

identify issues that affect taxpayers, and 

make suggestions for improving IRS 

service and customer satisfaction. The 

TAP serves as an advisory body to the 

Secretary of the Treasury, the 

Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and 

the National Taxpayer Advocate. TAP 

members will participate in 

subcommittees that channel their 


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