12874 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices

Performance Standards for 406 MHz

ELT’s; d. Report on Inclusion of HIRF

‘‘Pass-Fail’’ Criteria in DO–160D,

Environmental Conditions and Test

Procedures for Airborne Equipment; e.

Proposed Letter to the FAA on NAS

Architectural Issues Pertaining to

Communication, Navigation, and

Surveillance; f. Technical Management

Committee Systems Management

Working Group Report; (5) Other

Business (RTCA Annual Membership

Meeting and Awards Luncheon); (6)

Date and Place of Next Meeting.

Attendance is open to the interested

public but limited to space availability.

With the approval of the chairman,

members of the public may present oral

statements at the meeting. Persons

wishing to present statements or obtain

information should contact the RTCA

Secretariat, 1140 Connecticut Avenue,

NW., Suite 1020, Washington, DC

20036; (202) 833–9339 (phone); (202)

833–9434 (fax); or http://www.rtca.org

(web site). Members of the public may

present a written statement to the

committee at any time.

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 12,

1997.

Janice L. Peters,

Designated Official.

[FR Doc. 97–6806 Filed 3–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–13–M

Intent To Rule on Application To

Impose a Passenger Facility Charge

(PFC) at Pellston Regional Airport of

Emmet County, Pellston, MI

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to rule on

application.

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to rule and

invites public comment on the

application to impose a PFC at Pellston

Regional Airport of Emmet County,

Pellston, Michigan, under the

provisions of the Aviation Safety and

Capacity Expansion Act of 1990 (Title

IX of the Omnibus Budget

Reconciliation Act of 1990) (Pub. L.

101–508) and part 158 of the Federal

Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 158).

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before April 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this

application may be mailed or delivered

in triplicate to the FAA at the following

address: Federal Aviation

Administration, Detroit Airports District

Office, Willow Run Airport, East, 8820

Beck Road Belleville, Michigan 48111.

In addition, one copy of any

comments submitted to the FAA must

be mailed or delivered to Mr. Raymond

Thompson, Airport Manager, of the

County of Emmet, at the following

address: Pellston Regional Airport of

Emmet County, U.S. 31 North, Pellston,

Michigan 49769.

Air carriers and foreign air carriers

may submit copies of written comments

previously provided to the County of

Emmet under § 158.23 of part 158.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Jon B. Gilbert, Program Manager,

Federal Aviation Administration,

Detroit Airports District Office, Willow

Run Airport, East, 8820 Beck Road,

Belleville, Michigan 48111 (313–487–

7281). The application may be reviewed

in person at this same location.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA

proposes to rule and invites public

comment on the application to impose

a PFC at Pellston Regional Airport of

Emmet County under the provisions of

the Aviation Safety and Capacity

Expansion Act of 1990 (Title IX of the

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of

1990) (Pub. L. 101–508) and part 158 of

the Federal Aviation Regulations (14

CFR part 158).

On February 27, 1997, the FAA

determined that the application to

impose a PFC submitted by the County

of Emmet was substantially complete

within the requirements of § 158.25 of

part 158. The FAA will approve or

disapprove the application, in whole or

in part, no later than June 10, 1997.

The following is a brief overview of

the application.

PFC Application No.: 97–05–I–00–

PLN.

Level of the proposed PFC: $3.00.

Proposed charge effective date:

January 1, 1998.

Proposed charge expiration date:

April 1, 1998.

Total estimated PFC revenue:

$17,500.00.

Brief description of proposed project:

Replace Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting

Vehicle.

Class or classes of air carriers which

the public agency has requested not be

required to collect PFC’s: FAR Part 135

operators who file FAA Form 1800–31.

Any person may inspect the

application in person at the FAA Office

listed above under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

In addition, any person may, upon

request, inspect the application, notice,

and other documents germane to the

application in person at the County of

Emmet.

Issued in Des Plaines, IL, on March 11,

1997.

Benito De Leon,

Manager, Planning/Programming Branch,

Airports Division, Great Lakes Region.

[FR Doc. 97–6807 Filed 3–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

Federal Highway Administration

Advanced Rural Transportation

Systems Strategic Plan; Request for

Information

AGENCY: Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for information.

SUMMARY: The Federal Highway

Administration is seeking comments

from all sources (public, private,

governmental, academia, professional

groups, public interest groups, etc.) on

the Strategic Plan for Advanced Rural

Transportation Systems (ARTS) portion

of the Intelligent Transportation

Systems (ITS) Program. The ARTS

Strategic Plan defines the vision,

mission and goals from the Federal

perspective for achieving the benefits of

the ITS program in rural areas. This is

not a request for proposals or an

invitation for bids.

DATES: Your comments on this

announcement should be submitted no

later than April 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Your comment on these

important issues are greatly appreciated,

but responses will not be acknowledged.

Responses should be mailed to FHWA,

Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint

Program Office, HVH–1, Rm 3400,

Washington, DC 20590. However, Email responses are encouraged, and

should be addressed to

raymond.resendes@fhwa.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Ray Resendes, ITS Joint Program Office,

(202)366–2182, Department of

Transportation, 400 Seventh Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office

hours are from 7:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.,

e.t., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: ITS uses

advanced communications, computer

and surveillance technologies to address

surface transportation problems. When

effectively deployed, ITS services can

provide safer and more secure travel,

improve traffic flow in congested areas,

reduce the harmful environmental

impacts of traffic congestion, and help

travelers and businesses achieve

improved levels of productivity. The

national ITS program is being advanced

as a partnership between the private

sector, academia and all levels of State
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices 12875

1 These ‘‘Few Good Measures’’ include measures

to meet goals in the following categories: Time

savings; Reductions in crashes; Reductions in

fatalities; Increased throughput; Cost savings; and

Improved customer satisfaction. (‘‘Implementation

of the National Intelligent Transportation System

Program: 1996 Report to Congress’’).

and local government. A complete

description of the ITS program is

contained in the March 1995, National

ITS Program Plan, developed jointly by

the US DOT and ITS AMERICA. The

National ITS Program Plan is available

from ITS AMERICA, 400 Virginia

Avenue SW., Suite 800, Washington,

DC. 20024–2730, phone (202) 484–4847.

This is a request for comment on the

Strategic Plan for Advanced Rural

Transportation Systems portion of the

ITS program. The ARTS Strategic Plan

defines the vision, mission and goals

from the federal perspective for

achieving the benefits of the ITS

program in rural areas.

Advanced Rural Transportation

Systems (ARTS) Strategic Plan

1. Executive Summary

The U.S. Department of

Transportation (U.S. DOT) created the

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

Joint Program Office (JPO) to manage the

ITS program. JPO is housed within the

FHWA, but has liaisons with each

modal Administration (except the

Federal Aviation Administration)

within the U.S. DOT. The JPO also

receives policy guidance directly from

the ITS Management Council which is

chaired by the Deputy Secretary of

Transportation. Although this document

will be issued by the FHWA, that

agency will hereinafter be referred to as

the U.S. DOT in order to reflect the

variant roles of each modal

Administration in the ITS program.

This Strategic Plan has been

developed for the Advanced Rural

Transportation Systems (ARTS) portion

of the ITS Program. The plan focuses on

the Federal Government’s role in

developing rural ITS options and

prudently managing emerging ITS

technologies within rural settings from

conception to viable options for

implementation. The Strategic Plan

meets the needs of the US DOT by

providing a basis for sound decisionmaking for program development, as

well as being consistent with the

Government Performance and Results

Act of 1993 (GPRA). Items in italics are

references from, ‘‘Strategic Planning, An

Overview for Complying with GPRA,’’

by Philip Blackerby.

The plan also looks at the ARTS

program’s role in developing and

fostering the application of ITS in rural

areas over the next twelve years. It

describes the program’s vision, mission,

goals, objectives, and measures. Because

of the diversity of needs and varied

settings in rural America, this plan also

developed seven critical program areas

(clusters) which provide areas of

common interest and focus within the

overall program. A companion program

plan (which will be available in

February 1997), sets the strategic

priorities, and lays out the program

projects by year for the next five years.

Together, both plans provide the road

map for the ARTS Program.

Note: For Purposes of this report, rural

America is defined as communities or areas

with less than 50,000 residents.

2. Introduction

The GPRA requires each Federal

agency to prepare:

(1) Strategic plans that define an

agency’s mission and long-term goals;

(2) annual performance plans containing

specific targets; and (3) annual reports

comparing actual performance to the

targets set in the annual performance

plans.

US DOT has already put forth

significant efforts to assure that the

overall ITS program is consistent with

the GPRA, including the preparation of

the ITS Strategic Plan and the

development of a set of measures for

evaluating the program’s progress 1.

While every element in the ITS program

should respond to the overall goals and

objectives provided in the overall ITS

program, it is recognized that conditions

and needs vary greatly across the United

States and, as a result, the focus of the

ITS program and its elements may vary

from area to area. Accordingly, the ITS

Architecture identified the following

three separate scenarios to aid in

thinking about and analyzing the

different needs and required focus:

1. Urban;

2. Inter-Urban;

3. Rural.

Each has its own set of needs,

priorities and concerns. For example,

the major initiative for urban areas

focuses on the mitigation of congestion

and improvement in traffic flow that ITS

technologies can offer.

On the other hand, the ARTS Program

is concerned with travel within and

through rural America. The conditions

found in rural travel (including interurban travel through rural areas), the

characteristics of the travelers, and the

costs of maintaining the rural system all

point to the need for a focused program

for developing advanced technology

solutions for transportation in rural

America. Some of the attributes found

in rural environments that make this

need critical are:

1. Mix of users (rural and urban

travelers);

2. Secondary roads with less frequent

maintenance;

3. Steep grades/blind corners/curves/

few passing lanes;

4. Large variance in travel speeds

(frequent passing);

5. Long distance travel;

6. Fewer convenient detour options;

7. Adverse road surface and weather

conditions;

8. Few navigational signs;

9. Less existing infrastructure (per

square mile);

10. Light usage/large geographical

areas impeding rapid emergency

detection and response;

11. More motor vehicle deaths with

higher frequency of accidents/vehicle

mile traveled and more severe accidents

than found in urban areas;

12. Recreational travelers needing

traveler information services;

13. Limited or non-existent public

transportation services;

14. Many, often uncoordinated,

providers of transportation services to

meet health and human services needs;

and

15. Very dispersed systems with high

unit costs for service delivery,

maintenance, and operations.

This document is the Strategic Plan

for the US ARTS Program. It is

important to note that this Strategic Plan

represents the US DOT perspective on

rural ITS, and the US DOT’s roles and

responsibilities for improving the rural

transportation system through advanced

technologies. In this role, the US DOT

program will work to bring rural ITS

technologies to maturity and examine

institutional arrangements for their

deployment, providing feasible options

to rural areas. In this context, the role

of the ARTS Program is not to provide

long term operational funding to rural

ITS systems (though Federal funds may

be available from other programs).

Rather, the role of the ARTS Program is

to work in partnership with those

responsible for the implementation of

ITS in rural areas—States and local

agencies, and the private sector—to

provide appropriate and sustainable

(i.e., Can be operated using existing and

projected funding and resources) ITS

solutions to rural problems and needs.

Consequently, others will need to

develop their own plans to compliment

and coincide with this one.

The latter portion of this document

identifies the goals and objectives that

are the priority of the ARTS Program. It

outlines the Federal role in advanced

rural transportation systems and is
12876 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices

2Compiled from Various tables in Highway

Statistics 1994. Federal Highway Administration,

October 1995.

consistent with the guidelines provided

by the GPRA.

The companion ARTS Program Plan

is also under development as described

in the final section of this document.

The program plan includes the setting of

strategic priorities, another key follow

up element in strategic planning, as well

as specifying candidate projects by year

to address the uncertainties and

ultimately lead to the deployment of

rural ITS.

3. Potential Barriers

There are three potential barriers to

the development and acceptance of the

ARTS Strategic Plan. These are:

1. Acceptance of the role of the US

DOT and participation by others critical

to the process;

2. The focus of the Strategic Plan on

the US DOT role in rural ITS in lieu of

a ‘‘National’’ plan; and

3. The degree of variability within the

rural transportation system.

The development and implementation

of the Strategic Plan depends upon its

acceptance by the key partners required

for its implementation. Throughout the

strategic planning process, a critical

guidance has been provided from the

field offices of the US DOT as well as

representatives of State and local

agencies directly responsible for

implementing rural ITS in their areas

and independent consultants. However,

there may also be some dissatisfaction

with the ARTS program’s focus on

finding the answers to what is not

known about rural ITS through research,

development, field tests, and targeted

deployments at the expense of direct

funding of deployment alone. This may

become an issue during the comment

period prior to the final version of the

plan. Given this, it is important to

emphasize that reducing the gaps in

knowledge is the focus of the ARTS

program. Funds for transit operations

and other activities may still be

provided through traditional Federal

funding sources not part of the ARTS

program.

The second issue concerns the

Strategic Plan’s focus on the US DOT’s

roles and responsibilities, rather than

the development of an all encompassing

National Plan. As stated in the

Introduction, the US DOT is only one

partner in the ultimate development and

implementation of a sustainable mix of

ITS Services in rural America. Other

participants include the State and local

agencies and other providers of ITS, the

private sector, and the public. A

concerted effort was made to ensure that

the ARTS Program incorporate the

interests of all of the participants;

however, the Strategic and Program

Plans are still designed to reflect the US

DOT role and activities in advanced

rural transportation systems. Given the

diverse nature of the participants and

interests across rural America, it was

not feasible to develop a ‘‘National’’

plan encompassing the views, roles, and

responsibilities of each participant.

Development of a National rural ITS

vision and plan may, however, be a

worthy exercise to carry out in the

future in coordination with ITS

America’s ARTS Committee and other

organizations.

The last issue is a more difficult

problem to solve. The wide variety of

needs found in rural settings across the

US has made it difficult for participants

to recognize similarities and agree to

program goals, objectives, or program

elements. For example, at first glance,

people often perceive few similarities

between the very disparate rural areas of

Death Valley, The Upper Peninsula in

Michigan, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, or

Cape Cod. It was found, however, that

many of the perceived differences are

really associated with the differences in

the mix of needs within each rural area.

Thus, US DOT has spent substantial

effort in developing a set of Critical

Program Areas, or Clusters, to provide a

common identifiable set of views of

rural America, its needs, and how ITS

can respond. These Critical Programs

Areas have become key elements in

developing the specific approaches for

the rural ITS program described later,

and in minimizing the debate and

confusion over ‘‘What is Rural?’’

4. Vision and Mission

The Vision statement describes a

future that management envisions. It

provides a description of what rural

America will be like when the rural ITS

program is fulfilled. The Mission

describes the organization’s purpose or

changes that the organization intends to

directly effect. These two statements

provide the direction and purpose upon

which the ARTS program is based.

Vision

An enhanced quality of life for rural

residents through safer, more secure,

available and efficient movement of

people and goods in rural America

through the judicious application of

advanced ITS technologies.

Rural America accounts for a small

and dispersed portion of our nation’s

population, yet it encompasses a

significant portion of the transportation

system. Rural areas account for 80

percent of the total US road mileage and

40 percent of the vehicle miles traveled,

and they have a unique set of

characteristics associated with the travel

upon them and their operations and

maintenance. Consequently, the rural

traveler has a different set of priorities

and needs than does his/her urban

counterpart. These differences reflect

the rural environment of long distances,

relatively low traffic volumes, relatively

rare traffic congestion, travelers

unfamiliar with the surroundings, and

rugged terrain in remote areas.

Furthermore, rural characteristics that

solicit ITS solutions include an over

representation of fatal crashes (About 60

percent of traffic fatalities and 55

percent of work zone fatalities occur in

rural areas), safety problems related to

high speeds on non-interstate rural

roads and increased response time for

Emergency Medical Services. Many

rural communities now have excellent

all-weather road systems, but many

rural residents remain isolated because

of their inability to travel. Presently, 38

percent of the nation’s rural residents

live in areas without any public transit

service and another 28 percent live in

areas in which the level of transit

service is negligible 2.

The vision aims to improve the safety

and security of the rural traveler,

especially given the differences with the

urban environment. Similarly, isolation

is a factor that impacts both the

transportation disadvantaged and the

economic vitality of the communities in

rural America; therefore, reducing

isolation is important. Additionally, as

resources continue to become more

scarce, using advanced technologies to

improve the efficiency and productivity

of operating and maintaining

transportation services is crucial,

especially given the high costs

associated with rural transportation

operations and maintenance.

Mission

To ensure the development and

application of Advanced Rural

Transportation Systems through

research, demonstrations, evaluations,

and the promotion of cost-effective

technologies ready for implementation,

and including the provision of training

and technical assistance to

transportation providers planning or

implementing ITS technologies.

The US DOT will work with a wide

range of constituents to identify

potential technological solutions to

rural problems, and to study these

potential solutions to determine costeffective ways to implement them. As

stated earlier, the role of the ARTS

Program is to develop rural ITS options
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices 12877

and husband emerging ITS technologies

within rural settings from conception to

viable options for implementation. This

effort will focus on developing the

options for ITS in rural America and

reducing the uncertainty surrounding

their implementation. It includes

examining technological, political/

institutional, and planning issues. Note,

that the program may entail research,

field operations tests, or targeted model

deployments designed to reduce the

uncertainty associated with particular

rural ITS services. The specific elements

in the program will be described in the

companion ARTS Program Plan.

Initially they may be stand-alone

subsystems, however in later years,

these subsystems may be coordinated

and integrated as necessary. Once these

systems and subsystems are defined, the

US DOT will assist others in the

implementation of these solutions

through a variety of outreach activities.

Ultimately, these systems will be

mainstreamed into participating

agencies’ long-range plans and capital

improvement programs.

4. Values and Philosophies

The Values describe things that are

important to an organization that will

impact how the Vision and Mission are

fulfilled, and yet may not be directly

addressed in their statements. These are

the underlying principles of the

organization. The Philosophy

Statements either describe the

underlying philosophy that governs the

organization, or state management

commitments describing the promises

management may make to its customers,

employees, or other stakeholders. It is

the values and philosophies that

provide the underlying assumptions

upon which the program is built to meet

the vision and mission.

Values

Building upon the values each

administration may have already

defined, the values that are considered

important to the organization in

developing successful Advanced Rural

Transportation Systems are:

Equity—The improvements made via

this program will be distributed in a fair

and non-discriminatory manner;

Decision making—Balanced and

appropriate decisions should be made

reflecting the issues and concerns of

those impacted and considering all

feasible alternatives (their costs,

benefits, and outcomes);

Collaboration—Achieving the vision

requires many people from a variety of

disciplines to work together. This value

is at the heart of the US DOT staff, and

has been clearly demonstrated through

the cross-cutting Rural Action Team;

and

Leadership—A strong and

enthusiastic proponent is needed to lead

the program.

Philosophies

The following philosophies, or

guiding principles, underlie the

Strategic Plan for Advanced Rural

Transportation Systems. Collectively,

they provide the assumptions and

foundation for the goals, objectives, and

program elements.

The Federal role for rural ITS is one

of support and fostering the

implementation of advanced ITS

technologies in rural America by others.

It is an enabling program designed to

bring rural ITS technologies to maturity

and explore institutional arrangements

that provide feasible options to rural

areas wanting to implement ITS.

The ARTS must be sustainable.

They must be developed through

public/public and public/private

partnering initiatives involving both the

highway community and the public

transportation community, business

interests, etc. They must be seamlessly

connected to the rest of ITS (i.e., urban,

suburban-rural connectivity, and

highway-transit-ridesharing

connectivity) and also compatible with

non-ITS facilities and systems and

should employ innovative financing

principles.

5. Goals and Strategic Objectives

The Goals describe the general results

or outcomes the organization intends to

achieve. They are measurable but

usually not measured. For each goal,

strategic objectives are defined. Strategic

Objectives are written statements that

describe an intended outcome. Strategic

Objectives clearly describe measurable

targets of achievement.

As opposed to the abstract nature of

the vision and mission, the goals and

strategic objectives are definable in real

and measurable terms. The six

characteristics of Strategic Objectives

include: (1) An external focus, (2)

measurable, (3) achievable, (4) clear, (5)

comprehensive, and (6) supporting the

mission and goal statements. Strategic

objectives can also be defined for both

outputs of the program and outcomes of

the program. Outputs are the services

and products that the program provides.

Outcomes are measures of their impact

in the rural environments.

The goals for the ARTS Program and

their strategic objectives are provided

below.

There are three types of objectives:

Administrative outputs, program

outputs and outcomes. The

administrative output objectives

describe measurable internal or

administrative actions that the US DOT

will take, hence they are not externally

focused. Program output objectives

measure the extent to which the US

DOT has achieved its role as

facilitator—including the extent to

which others have been made aware of

the solutions, and the extent to which

these systems have been deployed.

Outcome objectives are measures of the

impact that the implementation of the

rural ITS systems has on rural America.

Outcomes capture the achievement of

the overall goals. For example,

developing and providing rural ITS

awareness seminars would meet an

administrative objective. Deploying a

safety information system would be an

achievement of a program output

objective, and reducing the rate and

frequency of crashes due to the

implementation of this system would be

an achievement of an outcome objective.

The long-term outcome objectives are

shown as part of this Strategic Plan. The

administrative and program objectives

are by necessity tied to the specific

elements of the companion Program

Plan. Therefore, they will be specified

as part of that document.

Goals

The goals of the Rural ARTS Program

are closely tied to those of the overall

ITS program. Priority is given to those

goals that will meet the more critical

needs of travelers and transporters of

goods in rural areas. Consequently, the

primary goals of the ARTS program are

safety and efficient mobility, versus

those of urban systems which are

congestion relief and increased

throughput. The five goals of the

program are: (1) Safety and security; (2)

mobility, convenience and comfort; (3)

efficiency, economic vitality and

productivity; and and environmental

conservation.

Safety and Security—Improve the

safety and security of users of the rural

transportation system.

Improving safety and security are

continually identified as critical goals

for rural transportation and ITS. Rural

crashes tend to be more severe, and

have longer response times due to the

long distances and isolated settings. The

characteristics of rural crashes mirror

the diverse nature of the system, having

a wide variety of causal factors. In some

cases, trip fatigue takes its toll, while in

other cases poor visibility or unsafe road

conditions lead to crashes. ITS can play

a major role in reducing the rate and

frequency of crashes through a wide

variety of safety advisory systems. ITS

can also help reduce the consequences
12878 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices

3Understanding Rural America, Economic

Research Service, US Department of Agriculture,

Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 710,

Washington, DC, February 1995.

of the crashes once they occur by

enabling emergency responders to

reduce response time and provide

improved care. Automatic vehicle

location systems can expedite the

response to emergency situations on

board transit vehicles. ITS can also

create a more secure rural transportation

system by reducing the exposure to

unsafe situations. This consists of

systems that provide immediate

assistance to travelers in rural areas that

experience problems, such as, getting

lost or having a car breakdown. In

addition, law enforcement agencies can

apply advanced technologies to meet

their needs, including enhanced officer

safety, improved dispatching, and

simplified reporting.

Safety and Security Strategic Objectives.

1. Reduce the frequency of crashes

(via pre-crash warning systems);

2. Reduce the rate of crashes (via precrash warning and advisory systems);

3. Reduce the severity and fatality

level per incident from current levels

(via improved response time and care);

and

4. Reduce exposure to unsafe

situations (e.g., getting lost, car breaking

down, etc.) (via emergency notification

system).

Mobility and Convenience—Enhance

personal mobility and accessibility to

services, and enhance the convenience

and comfort of all users of the

transportation system.

One of the major characteristics across

all of rural America is isolation and the

relatively fewer available transportation

options. People should have access to

transportation, especially to enable

them to meet basic life needs such as

getting health care or buying staples.

This goal consists of reducing isolation

by increasing accessibility to services.

This is especially true given the aging of

America, and the increasing likelihood

that rural Americans will be older with

additional transportation needs in the

years ahead. In some cases, there may be

opportunities to implement

technologies that enable older drivers to

extend the period that they are able to

drive. For those unable to drive, this

increase in accessibility consists of

advanced rural transit systems. Another

important aspect of this goal includes

providing alternative means of

transportation to tourists in areas that

cannot accommodate a large number of

vehicles. It also addresses the need for

convenient and comfortable travel

through the development of information

systems that help people get the services

they need (gas stations, lodging,

restaurants, hospitals, etc.).

The advances in communications and

computing have created an alternative

to transportation. Improving the ability

of rural America to carry out their

desired activities through

telecommuting and remote computing is

also an important aspect of enhancing

mobility. Therefore, this goal must also

address the evaluation and

advancement of communications

options for rural America as substitutes

for desired travel. Examples of how

transportation and ITS may help

improve the connectivity of rural areas

include: providing connectivity through

sharing communications trunk lines

used for ITS services; and making

public right of ways available for

communications link installation.

Mobility and Convenience Strategic

Objectives

1. Increase the percentage of

population with available and

convenient transportation services to

meet its mobility needs;

2. Improve access to services and

tourist areas, and expand the

availability of information about

services; and

3. Improve the communications

connectivity of rural areas and the

ability to trade off communications with

desired travel.

Efficiency—Increase operational

efficiency and productivity of the

transportation system, focusing on

system providers.

In rural America this goal addresses

the needs of rural transportation system

providers, enabling them to carry out

their services in a safe, efficient and

productive manner. To some extent, this

is a shift from the metropolitan ITS

program whose primary goal is to

reduce congestion. The long distances

and sparse network often make

operations and maintenance very

expensive on a cost per unit basis, and

the seasonally harsh nature of the rural

environment can put providers, such as

snow plow and transit operators, at risk.

Also, the manpower and equipment per

road mile, or transit vehicle is often

much higher than in urban settings.

Finally, weekend or seasonal peaks in

traffic, severe weather conditions,

backups due to crashes, or road

construction with limited alternate

routing all create congestion problems.

Thus, improving the safety, efficiency,

and productivity of operations and

maintenance activities of the

transportation providers, meet critical

needs, especially through the

application of coordinated advanced

wide-area traffic management and traffic

signal systems.

Efficiency Strategic Objectives

1. Reduce congestion and delay (e.g.,

in work zones, at events and tourist

areas, etc.);

2. Improve incident management and

response time;

3. Improve vehicle routing and

diversion (e.g. trip coordination, pre-trip

route selection, en-route delay and road

condition information, and en-route

notification of detour options); and

4. Improve operations and

maintenance resource management and

allocation.

Economic Vitality and Productivity—

Enhance economic productivity of

individuals, businesses, and

organizations.

Many rural areas are economically

depressed and their economic viability

is limited by their isolation.3 Rural ITS

can improve their ability to compete by

reducing their isolation, improving the

efficiency of transportation services to

businesses in the area, and letting the

public know of their attributes.

Likewise, tourist areas need to be able

to provide information to their visitors

and provide them mobility if they are to

continue to attract visitors. The focus of

rural ITS in meeting this goal is

therefore, to keep rural areas viable and

helping to provide the services needed

to function competitively. Another

aspect of this goal addresses the desires

of small communities that want to

maintain their communities as they are,

and limit the amount of growth (e.g.,

Aspen, CO). The rural ITS program will

identify opportunities to address their

transportation needs, while also

respecting their desire to control

growth.

As discussed within the Mobility and

Convenience Goal, isolation can also be

reduced by improving the

communications connectivity of an area.

As rural areas become more connected,

they become more viable areas for living

and working. This goal, therefore, also

addresses the evaluation and

advancement of telecommuting from

rural America as a means of reducing

isolation and making the rural

environment more livable.

Economic Vitality and Productivity

Strategic Objectives

1. Improve access to and from rural

communities for travel, goods and

services, and information;

2. Improve knowledge of goods,

services, and opportunities in rural

communities (e.g. en-route information,
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices 12879

transportation service information, etc.);

and

3. Improve transportation and

communication facilities in and around

rural communities.

Environmental Conservation—Reduce

energy consumption and environmental

costs and negative impacts.

While rural areas may not have air

quality problems of the same magnitude

as urban areas, there are still areas

where there is a need to maintain good

air quality and address other

environmental problems. Consequently,

opportunities to reduce the number of

single occupant vehicles, vehicle miles

traveled (VMT), and increase public

transportation and ridesharing

alternatives are essential. Many tourist

attractions, such as National Parks, also

suffer from the negative environmental

impacts of large numbers of visitors.

This goal includes opportunities to

minimize the effects of large influxes of

people into these sensitive areas. In

addition, in rural areas there is a need

to address the impacts of the

transportation infrastructure,

operations, and maintenance on the

environment, including the reduction of

impacts due to hazardous material

spills, and the tracking of hazardous

materials through the rural

transportation system.

Environmental Conservation Strategic

Objectives

1. Reduce Single Occupant Vehicles;

2. Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled;

3. Improve hazardous material

response (minimize environmental

impacts); and

4. Reduce emissions per trip.

External Factors Assessment

External factors are key outside forces

that may influence the success of the

rural ITS program in achieving the

above mission and goals; or have other

impacts on the delivery of the program,

and yet are outside the control of the

agency.

One set of external factors with a

focus on changes in legislation and the

environment in Washington, D.C. can

have a profound effect on the delivery

of a long-term program. Of particular

interest are the current hearings

concerning Intermodal Surface

Transportation Efficiency Act and its reauthorization in the next year. If the

major priorities or funding mechanisms

change as a result of the new legislation,

the strategic plan may have to be

modified and updated accordingly.

Likewise, shifts in the Federal and

State Departments of Transportation

roles and responsibilities may impact

the fulfillment of the program. However,

these shifts may not be due to specific

changes in legislation, but can also be

caused by changes in administration.

Another important set of external

factors are changes in the economy, fuel

prices, or concerns of the nation brought

about by unique events. Terrorist acts

can raise the importance of security

throughout the transportation system.

Another energy crisis will impact the

amount and type of rural travel.

Equally important are watershed

changes in technology that can totally

change the costs and potential

applications within the rural

environment. Twenty years ago, no one

could have predicted the rapid adoption

of facsimile machines throughout the

business world, or even the use of

cellular phone technology that now

makes many ITS applications possible.

Significant developments of new

communications systems by private

industry, such as satellite

communications networks, could

greatly impact the cost-effectiveness of

advanced rural transportation systems.

Yet, the US DOT has little control over

these types of developments.

The last factor is the ability of local

rural communities to adopt new

technologies and systems. However, the

rapid infusion of new technologies in

rural settings is hampered in a number

of ways. First, rural areas are often some

of the most fiscally constrained in

America. There are large resource

requirements for maintaining the

current systems, and little additional

funds for implementing new systems

over the miles of rural network.

Likewise, the staff resources are often

limited in rural environments with one

person taking on the roles and

responsibilities typically filled by many

specialists in denser areas, or even

whole departments. ‘‘Mainstreaming’’

the consideration and evaluation of ITS

strategies into multimodal

transportation planning processes is

also important if transportation planners

and decision makers are to understand

the costs and benefits of implementing

certain technologies, particularly in

comparison with more traditional or

conventional improvements. Staffs must

have the time and energy to plan and

adopt the new systems to their current

environments.

Recognizing these external factors and

updating the strategic plan as conditions

change over the life of the program will

keep it aligned with the overall mission

and goals described above.

7. Strategies

A Strategy is an approach, or an

implementation methodology, that will

lead to achieving a specific objective. It

includes a description of how the goals

and objectives are to be achieved,

including a description of the

operational processes, skills and

technology, and the human, capital,

information, and other resources

required to meet those goals and

objectives.

Achieving the strategic objectives of

the program means recognizing the

extremely diverse nature of the rural

transportation system. Diversity is

exhibited in the system’s wide range of

motorists, managers, maintenance staff,

operators, road types, terrain, climates,

jurisdictions, land use, and seasonal

characteristics. These diverse

characteristics translate into a wide

variety of needs, problems, and

opportunities for improvement.

Consequently, the ARTS solutions, i.e.,

the application of advanced

technologies to meet these disparate

needs, problems and opportunities,

must be diverse as well. The strategies

to identify these solutions must also

recognize this diversity.

Given this diversity of the rural

transportation system, and the wide

breadth of the program (i.e.,

encompassing a large number of needs

of a large number of users), the ARTS

program has been organized into seven

Critical Program Areas (CPA’s). A major

effort of the Rural Action Team during

the development of the Strategic Plan,

was the investigation of different cluster

concepts and ways to find common

areas of interest across rural America. It

was found that while rural settings

differ greatly (Jackson Hole, WY, vs.

Death Valley, CA, vs. Cape Cod, MA),

there was general agreement on the

classes of needs that exist within each

setting and the principal users of ITS.

The clusters were therefore developed

around major needs and service

groupings. They are:

1. Traveler Safety and Security;

2. Emergency Services;

3. Tourism and Traveler Information

Services;

4. Public Traveler Services and Public

Mobility Services;

5. Infrastructure Operations and

Maintenance;

6. Fleet Operations and Maintenance;

and

7. Commercial Vehicle Operations.

The above division is the primary

dimension for this cluster concept and

focuses on identifiable needs and

services categories. The Tourism and

Traveler Information Services CPA, for

example, refers to the needs and

services that a visitor (both driver and

passenger) unfamiliar with a rural area

may require, as well as the Visitors and

Tourism Bureaus, transit service
12880 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices

providers, information providers, etc.,

that provide the services to meet their

needs. In a tourist resort area, this may

be the main focus of the ITS program.

In other areas, it may exist but plays a

smaller role. Likewise, the Public

Traveler and Public Mobility Services

focus on reducing the isolation of the

transportation disadvantaged and

increasing the mobility for all of the

public. Its constituents also include

both the potential travelers and service

providers. The maintenance and

operations activities may also form their

own divisions because of the costs of

the provision of these services in rural

areas. As ITS services are shown to

reduce their costs, improve their

efficiency, etc., these areas and the

organizations responsible for them

become natural constituents and

advocates for the programs.

The clusters are not necessarily

mutually exclusive and will overlap in

their deployment in a specific region or

rural setting. For example, services

developed around a ‘‘safety information

cluster’’ may also exist in the same area

with services developed to meet the

mobility needs. Similarly, clusters are

‘‘fuzzy’’ and the boundary between two

related clusters may be difficult to

discern at times (infrastructure versus

fleet operations and maintenance).

Each rural area will have its own

environmental conditions and

constraints, frequency of needs,

institutional settings, etc. These factors

determine the importance and priority

placed upon each cluster within an area,

and the mix of ITS services that may be

considered for implementation.

The clusters provide common areas of

understanding and focus and, thus,

make the ARTS Plan implementation

more manageable. The Program Plan

describes the user services, functional

requirements, and knowledge gaps that

apply to each CPA. Aspects of a

program element may address more

than one CPA. Consequently, The

activities associated with some CPA’s

may consist of a number of research and

field test activities, while activities

associated with another will focus on

deployment.

Though much needs to be done to

determine exactly which projects will

be initiated within each CPA, some

generalizations can still be made. The

research and field testing efforts that

take place within this program will be

building upon the wealth of knowledge

and proven solutions that have been

developed under other parts of the ITS

program. It is not expected that the rural

advanced technologies will be

significantly different from their urban

counterparts, rather the difference

between the two will be characterized

through the implementation methods.

Consequently, the bulk of the program

will probably not consist of basic

research, but rather will focus on

overcoming the rural barriers that

hamper cost-effective implementation.

While such a focus will ensure that the

seamless connectivity between urban

and rural systems is achieved, care must

be taken to avoid attempts to fit urban

solutions into rural problems.

Traveler Safety and Security

The rates and severity of accidents

have been repeatedly identified as one

of the most serious problems associated

with rural transportation. Accidents pervehicle-mile traveled are higher than in

urban areas, and tend to be more sever

due to higher operating speeds. Once an

accident occurs, the time to notify and

respond are also on the average longer,

and trauma centers are located further

away. Consequently, improving safety

and security has been identified as a key

cluster or critical program area.

The needs in this cluster center

around improving the driver’s ability to

operate the vehicle in a safe and

responsible way and in reducing the

influence of other factors that may help

cause an accident, such as, poor road

conditions, visibility, etc. This cluster

focuses on the prevention of accidents

before they occur and in reducing the

severity of the accident if it does take

place.

Another aspect of this cluster is

increasing the security (both actual and

perceived) of the traveler along his/her

trip. Providers of transportation services

have a responsibility to provide a safe

and secure environment in which to

travel. A traveler may be injured while

traveling even though he/she has not

been involved in a vehicular accident

(i.e., a transit patron is assaulted while

waiting for a vehicle, or someone using

a rural rest stop is robbed). Thus,

providing a secure environment through

remote monitoring, silent alarms, etc., is

an important ITS function within this

cluster.

Some of the advanced systems that

may be explored and developed under

this cluster are:

1. Wide area information

dissemination systems (via radio,

computer, TV, etc.) both pre-trip and enroute of safety information, such as

weather and road conditions;

2. Site-specific safety advisories and

warnings (e.g., the enhanced radar

detector for hazard warning, visibility

sensors, variable speed limits, collision

avoidance, work zone detection/

intrusion alarms, rail crossing alerts,

shoulder detection, etc.) to alert

motorists of imminent problems;

3. Safety surveillance and monitoring

(e.g., on transit vehicles (for malcontents

and for ill riders), at park-and-ride lots,

rest areas, etc.); and

4. In-Vehicle monitoring and

detection systems including such items

as driver monitoring (alertness, status),

vision enhancement, perimeter

detection, shoulder detection, etc.

Emergency Services

Once an incident (accident or

emergency situation) occurs, there is a

need for emergency services. These can

be in the form of ambulances and

medical care, police, fire, tow trucks,

and other vehicle assistance, etc. The

isolation of rural areas, extensive time

from the incident to detection, and

response once the incident is detected

all contribute to notifications and

response times much longer than found

in denser areas, often of an hour or

more. This leads to much more severe

consequences than would occur with

rapid response. Given an incident, the

Emergency Management Team must be

notified, a decision on how to address

the emergency must be made, services

dispatched and the location of the

incident found and reached. In addition,

the care givers are constantly having to

make critical decisions about the type

and extent of care to provide, both on

the scene and at the hospital or trauma

center.

This cluster focuses on the ITS

services required to provide this

emergency assistance. It includes both

the provision of communications, the

management of the emergency services

fleets, and the transmission of critical

information to better prepare the care

givers, both at the scene and in the

hospital or trauma center. Assisting the

emergency vehicle in reaching the

incident through vehicle routing,

identification, and warning systems, is

also an important aspect. A large

number of this cluster’s needs also deals

with the coordination of different

services and the need to share the

critical and appropriate information on

the emergency as rapidly as possible in

real time.

Some of the advanced systems that

may be explored and developed under

this cluster are:

1. Mayday systems to alert dispatchers

of location and nature and extent of a

problem (e.g., crash, breakdown, etc.);

and

2. Advanced dispatching and vehiclebased response systems (e.g., on

emergency medical services & law

enforcement vehicles, tow trucks, etc.)

to get to the scene quickly, and provide
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices 12881

appropriate care (perhaps for the

judicious enforcement of traffic laws as

well).

Tourism and Traveler Information

Services

This cluster focuses on the needs of

a visitor or traveler that is unfamiliar

with the rural area they are in or

traveling through. It includes both

information services and the unique

aspects of providing mobility services to

tourists and resorts, since many times

visitors have little choice of mode (no

auto) and require special services. It

addresses aspects of both the ‘‘Mobility

and Convenience’’ and ‘‘Economic

Vitality and Productivity’’ goals for the

ARTS program. Knowing where desired

destinations are, how to get to them, and

conditions along the way adds to the

mobility and convenience of an area.

Likewise, travelers must be aware of

destinations before they can visit them

and providing services to tourists and

others unfamiliar with the rural

surroundings enhances the economic

vitality of the area.

The needs and services that may be

bundled in this cluster include such

activities as electronic yellow pages,

weather and condition forecasting, route

advisory information, information

dissemination in hotels, roadside, wide

band radio, etc. Once in a resort area,

tourists often are hindered due to lack

of a vehicle, or knowledge of the area.

Providing mobility through transit,

paratransit, and Global Positioning

Systems (for rental cars) may also be an

important function. This cluster would

also be of primary interest to the

Tourism and Visitors Centers, Economic

Development Bureaus, as well as the

local service providers (departments of

street and traffic, transit authorities,

State Department of Transportation, and

Park Agencies).

Tourism may also be a concern in any

rural setting during major events and

festivals. At these events the traffic,

local population, and transportation

problems of the participants, local

residents, and emergency services swell

to many times their average levels.

Event logistics, traffic and parking

management, provision of emergency

communications, etc., are crucial to the

success of these events and yet must be

temporary in nature, and in most cases

understandable to volunteers.

Some of the advanced systems that

may be explored and developed under

this cluster are:

1. Information services (electronic

yellow pages, route guidance, etc.)

provided at fixed locations (e.g., in

hotels, at rest areas, at modal transfer

stations, etc.), and en-route;

2. Mobility services (transit,

paratransit, parking systems, etc.);

3. Smart card payment/transaction

systems for transit and tourist

transactions; and

4. Portable event management

systems that include such services as

traffic management, variable message

signs, hotel and service availability and

directions on how to reach services

when they are available.

Public Traveler Services/Public

Mobility Services

Isolation and accessibility to key

services are critical concerns to many

rural inhabitants. Providing transit,

paratransit, rural addressing, and other

services associated with ability to make

a desired trip fall within the Mobility

Services cluster. As the nation ages, and

becomes more transportation

disadvantaged the need for Mobility

Services and the safety net of

accessibility will become more extreme.

This is especially true for rural areas

where neighbors are often miles apart,

trip distances are long, and travel to

common origins and destinations

infrequent. All rural residents, visitors

to tourist areas, and human service

providers are constituents of this

cluster.

The first major need associated with

this cluster is finding those who need

services and providing the mobility

safety net to them. Secondly,

determining how to provide the services

in an efficient and effective manner,

since often those providing the service

have very high operating expenses. This

includes the sharing of information

among providers which can be used to

help optimize routing, coordinate

delivery, and reduce fraud in claiming

subsidies from service providers. Lastly,

addressing the need for coordination

and communication between the many

providers of services that may be

involved including transit agencies and

social service providers. The cluster

includes not only providing mobility to

the travelers from their homes and

origins and destinations, but also

increasing the ability of people to reach

them in provision of other services

(nursing, meals on wheels, hospital out

patient, etc.).

Some of the advanced systems that

may be explored and developed under

this cluster are:

1. Advanced transit, paratransit

systems, etc., using AVL and improved

dispatching (e.g., taking advantage of

improved rural addressing (i.e., using

Global Positioning Satellites), etc.);

2. Smart card payment/transaction

systems for rider payment and tracking

(beat fraud); and

3. Advanced ride sharing and ride

matching systems.

Infrastructure Operations and

Maintenance

Due to the isolation, distances, and

sheer amount of rural road miles the

provision of infra-structure maintenance

and operation services are both costly,

and often inefficient. Low volumes on

the roads make the detection of

problems and conditions a concern.

This cluster’s focus is on improving the

efficiency of the maintenance and

operations activities for the

transportation systems within rural

areas. Improving and automating the

highway pavement management

systems, providing early detection and

deployment of services to meet severe

conditions (snow removal, salting, etc.),

maintaining, operating, and linking

local and statewide traffic operations

centers, managing work zones are

examples of the ITS elements that

would fall in this cluster. It is closely

related to the next cluster which focuses

on the fleet operations in rural areas.

The maintenance of roads and the

road system for safe operation falls

under the maintenance organization

activities. Because of the nature of rural

settings, the cost per mile, and simply

knowing the condition of the system

that is out there, is very high and often

inefficient. This cluster would focus on

the provision of services to help

maintenance organizations perform

their functions more efficiently and

safely. Pavement management, and

normal road condition detection to

reduce the costs of tracking and

planning the system upkeep is critical.

Some of the other needs and services

that fall within this cluster include:

Management of road crews and work

zone location; road striping systems;

weather information systems, detection

of road conditions; coordination of

maintenance activities; and flood

control and detection.

Also general operations of the

physical infrastructure has a set of

needs that can be met by rural ITS.

These include traffic management,

traffic signal systems, tracking of use of

the system, assisting in the safety and

management of work zone areas, etc.

This cluster would also focus on how

the needs and desires of the operation

managers of the road and other

infrastructure systems can be provided

for using ITS. Again, the overall focus

would be to provide services to help

reduce the costs of operations and

maintenance activities and improve the

performance and efficiency in rural

settings.
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Some of the advanced systems that

may be explored and developed under

this cluster are:

1. Appropriate traffic signal and

traffic management systems for small

urban areas, ultimately linked together

(as well as with large metropolitan

TMCs) as part of a statewide, distributed

information system;

2. Automated management systems

(e.g., bridge, pavement, roadside

hardware, etc.); and

3. Advanced work zone management

and traffic control.

Fleet Operations and Maintenance

The cost of providing services for

mobility and managing the fleets used

in rural settings is often extremely high

for the same reasons as found in the last

cluster. The distances are long, and the

ability to combine destinations and

provide efficient routing often poor. The

potential for ITS to improve the

coordination of fleets, routing, and

communications is especially high in

rural areas.

Fleet operations of both transit and

other rural fleets has a different focus

than infrastructure operations. The

vehicles must be scheduled, routed,

located, and maintained. Management

of rural fleets takes on new significance

due to the cost and low use per mile of

operations. This cluster would focus on

the coordination and provision of

services for rural fleet operations and

management. It includes services to

transit operators and paratransit

providers, as well as the fleets of

maintenance and other areas. Vehicle

location and routing, maintenance

scheduling, rural addressing,

coordination of services and billing

between providers, etc. all would fall

within this cluster.

Some of the advanced systems that

may be explored and developed under

this cluster are:

1. Advanced dispatching and routing

systems (e.g., for snow plows, transit

operators, etc.) (includes central

processing systems and vehicle-based

systems such as Automatic Vehicle

Location);

2. Advanced vehicle tracking systems

(e.g., guidance for snow plow operators

to track through dangerous areas

covered in snow); and

3. Fleet maintenance and

management systems.

Commercial Vehicle Operations

Commercial Vehicle Operations

(CVO) and ITS development and

support is carried out through the

parallel ITS CVO program under the

direction of the FHWA Office of Motor

Carriers. The Vision Statement for the

ITS CVO program is stated as ‘‘Assisted

by technology, trucks and buses will

move safely and freely throughout North

America.’’ It is a voluntary effort

consisting of public and private

organizations working together to

improve highway safety and motor

carrier productivity through the

development and application of the

CVO User Services (Commercial Vehicle

Electronic Clearance, Automated

Roadside Safety Inspections, On-board

Safety Monitoring, Commercial Vehicle

Administrative Processes, Hazardous

Materials Incident Response, and

Freight Mobility).

Since many of the activities

associated with commercial vehicle

operations take place in rural

environments there are a number of

topics and services of mutual interest

between the Rural and CVO ITS

programs. The rural ITS program

focuses on the overall ITS services and

general users found throughout rural

America which may impact, but not be

tailored to, CVO operations. Many of

these, such as, emergency response and

Mayday systems, may fall into other

clusters. The Rural CVO cluster’s

primary function would be to provide a

CVO perspective to these other clusters

to ensure that CVO needs and

requirements are also considered in the

development of the overall ITS

applications. The Rural CVO cluster

may also supplement the main CVO ITS

Program in uniquely rural commercial

operations such as services to

agricultural harvesting and migration

operations or small rural commercial

activities.

As stated, an important aspect of this

cluster would be to ensure that systems

designed to meet the other critical

program areas also included the

elements and perspectives of the

commercial vehicle operators (collecting

and tracking CVO specific data,

monitoring and tracking specific

vehicles, meeting unique CVO

information needs, etc.). How can CVO

operations take advantage of these

clusters? Can CVO and general

backbone systems be combined? What

additional requirements are necessary to

meet CVO needs? These are questions

that may be addressed in fulfilling this

aspect of the CVO cluster.

Another major component of this

cluster centers around the agricultural

harvesting and roundups found in rural

areas. The annual migration of the

harvesting combines in the Midwest, the

sugar beet harvest in Minnesota, the

roundups in ranch and sheep country,

etc. all require focused transportation

activities in often a very narrow window

of opportunity. People need to know the

location of the combines. Logistics and

the movement of the trucks in and out

of the area is critical; The road

maintenance organizations may have

special requirements before and after

the event. All of these concerns point to

a unique set of needs possibly

overlooked under the provision of

normal day-to-day services.

Some of the advanced systems that

may be explored and developed under

this cluster are:

1. CVO-specific requirements/needs

within the other critical program areas

(e.g., rural addressing, logistics, vehicle

and driver monitoring), vehicle location

systems for alerts to other travelers as

well as for other tracking needs,

assistance for agricultural harvesting,

collecting and tracking CVO specific

information needs (e.g., CVO-enhanced

weather advisories);

2. Services to assist Agricultural

Harvesting and Migration; and

3. Other services in support of small

rural commercial enterprises. On the

road communications and paging, low

cost vehicle location for employees in

the field, etc., to help make rural

commercial activities more viable and

cost-effective.

8. Next Steps: The Program Plan

This Strategic Plan for the ARTS

program has described the vision,

mission, objectives, and measures upon

which the ARTS program is built.

Because of the diversity of needs and

settings in rural America, it also

developed seven critical program areas,

or clusters, which provide areas of

common interest and focus within the

overall program. The ARTS Program

Plan has been defined using the

Strategic Plan and its critical program

areas as a foundation. Strategic Planning

is also a continuing process. As the

implementation of the program moves

forward, a key element is the ongoing

evaluation and adjustment of the plan to

account for new knowledge gained by

the early research, shifting priorities,

etc. This ‘‘Performance Feed Forward’’

step of strategic planning will be carried

out as part of each budget cycle.

As stated, the ARTS Program Plan

will be developed around the clusters,

or critical program areas. The tasks

associated with the development of the

Program Plan are underway and

include:

1. Continue assessment and

evaluation of current rural ITS projects;

2. Determine what is known and not

known for each cluster;

3. Identify potential projects and costs

associated with answering the

unknowns within each cluster;
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 52 / Tuesday, March 18, 1997 / Notices 12883

4. Set strategic priorities within and

between each cluster;

5. Select projects (research, field

operational tests, targeted model

deployments) to reduce the unknowns

within each cluster, meet the goals,

objectives and strategic priorities, and

stay within budget allocations for each

fiscal year; and

6. Evaluate progress and update both

the Strategic Plan and Program Plan

during each budget cycle (Performance

Feed Forward).

(23 U.S.C. 315; 49 CFR 1.48)

Issued on: March 7, 1997.

Jane F. Garvey,

Acting Administrator, Federal Highway

Administration.

[FR Doc. 97–6738 Filed 3–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB–433X]

Idaho Northern & Pacific Railroad

Company; Abandonment Exemption in

Wallowa and Union Counties, OR

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board—

DOT.

ACTION: Notice of exemption.

SUMMARY: The ICC Termination Act of

1995, Pub. L. No. 104–88, 109 Stat. 803

(the ICCTA), which was enacted on

December 29, 1995, and took effect on

January 1, 1996, abolished the Interstate

Commerce Commission (ICC) and

transferred certain functions and

proceedings to the Surface

Transportation Board (Board). Section

204(b)(1) of the ICCTA provides, in

general, that proceedings pending before

the ICC on the effective date of that

legislation shall be decided under the

law in effect prior to January 1, 1996,

insofar as they involve functions

retained by the ICCTA. This decision

relates to a proceeding that was pending

with the ICC prior to January 1, 1996,

and to functions that are subject to

Board jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C.

10903. Therefore, this decision applies

the law in effect prior to the ICCTA, and

citations are to the former sections of

the statute, unless otherwise indicated.

The Board, under 49 U.S.C. 10505

exempts from the prior approval

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10903–04, the

abandonment by Idaho Northern &

Pacific Railroad Company of a 60.58-

mile portion of its Joseph Branch line,

in Wallowa and Union Counties, OR,

subject to standard labor protective

conditions and environmental

conditions.

DATES: Provided no formal expression of

intent to file an offer of financial

assistance (OFA) has been received, this

exemption will be effective April 17,

1997. Formal expressions of intent to

file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)

must be filed by March 28, 1997;

petitions to stay must be filed April 2,

1997; requests for a public use condition

in conformity with 49 CFR 1152.28(a)(2)

must be filed by April 7, 1997; and

petitions to reopen must be filed by

April 14, 1997.

ADDRESSES: An original and 10 copies of

all pleadings referring to Docket No.

AB–433X must be filed with: Surface

Transportation Board, Office of the

Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of all

pleadings must be served on petitioner’s

representative: Robert A. Wimbish, 1920

N Street, NW., Washington, DC 20036.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Beryl Gordon, (202) 565–1600. [TDD for

the hearing impared: (202) 565–1695.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Additional information is contained in

the Board’s decision. To purchase a

copy of the full decision, write to, call

or pick up in person from: DC News &

Data, Inc., 1925 K Street, NW., Suite

210, Washington, DC 20006 [Telephone:

(202) 289–4357]. [Assistance for the

hearing impaired is available through

TDD services (202) 565–1695.]

Decided: March 12, 1997.

By the Board, Chairman Morgan and Vice

Chairman Owen.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–6741 Filed 3–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Submission to OMB for Review;

Comment Request

March 10, 1997.

The Department of Treasury has

submitted the following public

information collection requirement(s) to

OMB for review and clearance under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13. Copies of the

submission(s) may be obtained by

calling the Treasury Bureau Clearance

Officer listed. Comments regarding this

information collection should be

addressed to the OMB reviewer listed

and to the Treasury Department

Clearance Officer, Department of the

Treasury, Room 2110, 1425 New York

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20220.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

OMB Number: 1545–1380.

Regulation ID Number: IA–17–90

(Final).

Type of Review: Extension.

Title: Reporting Requirements for

Recipients of Points Paid on Residential

Mortgages.

Description: To encourage compliance

with the tax laws relating to the

mortgage interest deduction, the

regulations require the reporting on

Form 1098 of points paid on residential

mortgages. Only businesses that receive

mortgage interest in the course of a trade

or business are affected by this reporting

requirement.

Respondents: Business or other forprofit.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

37,644.

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Respondent: 7 hours, 31 minutes.

Frequency of Response: Annually.

Estimated Total Reporting Burden:

283,056 hours.

Clearance Officer: Garrick Shear,

(202) 622–3869, Internal Revenue

Service, Room 5571, 1111 Constitution

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224.

OMB Reviewer: Alexander T. Hunt,

(202) 395–7860, Office of Management

and Budget, Room 10226, New

Executive Office Building, Washington,

DC 20503.

Dale A. Morgan,

Departmental Reports Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–6791 Filed 3–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P

Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency

[Docket No. 97–01]

Preemption Determination

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency, Treasury.

ACTION: Reopening of comment period.

SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller

of the Currency (OCC) is reopening the

public comment period on the OCC’s

notice and request for comment

regarding a request it has received for a

preemption determination regarding

certain provisions of the Rhode Island

Financial Institution Insurance Sales

Act.

DATES: Comments must be received by

May 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

the Communications Division, 250 E

Street, SW, Third Floor, Washington,

DC 20219. Attention Docket No. 97–01.

In addition, comments may be sent by

facsimile transmission to FAX number