[Federal Register: November 16, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 220)] [Notices] [Page 67203-67205] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16no04-119] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Transit Administration Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program Announcement of Project Selections AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded under Fiscal Year 2004 appropriations for the Over-the-Road Bus (OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The OTRB Accessibility Program makes funds [[Page 67204]] available to private operators of over-the-road buses to help finance the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT's over-the-road bus accessibility rule, published in the Federal Register on September 24, 1998. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The appropriate FTA Regional Administrator for grant-specific issues; or Blenda Younger, Office of Program Management, (202) 366-2053, for general information about the OTRB Program. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A total of $6.9 million was made available for the program in FY 2004: $5.2 million for intercity fixed-route providers and $1.7 million for all other providers, such as commuter, charter, and tour operators. A total of 96 applicants requested $23.9 million: $11.2 million was requested by intercity fixed-route providers, and $12.7 million was requested by all other providers. Project selections were made on a discretionary basis, based on each applicant's responsiveness to statutory project selection criteria, fleet size, and level of funding received in previous years. Because of the high demand for the funds available, most applicants received less funding than they requested, but almost all qualified applicants received some funding. The selected projects will provide funding for the incremental cost of adding lifts to 79 new vehicles, retrofitting 110 vehicles, and $172,839 for training. Each of the following 74 awardees, as well as the 22 applicants who were not selected for funding, will receive a letter that explains how funding decisions were made. Award Amount ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Intercity Operator City/state fixed-route Other Total ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Region I ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonanza Bus Lines..................... Providence, RI.......... $104,784 .............. $104,784 Bristol Tours, Inc.................... Bristol, VT............. .............. $30,659 30,659 Cavalier Coach Corp................... Boston, MA.............. .............. 36,000 36,000 Concord Coach Lines, Inc.............. Concord, NH............. 49,800 .............. 49,800 Dartmouth Transportation Co. Inc...... Concord, NH............. .............. 22,400 22,400 Lamoille Valley Transportation........ Morrisville, VT......... .............. 25,192 25,192 Peter Pan Bus Lines................... Springfield, MA......... 264,650 .............. 264,650 Premier Coach Company, Inc............ Colchester, VT.......... .............. 30,240 30,240 Vermont Transit Co.................... Burlington, VT.......... 132,606 .............. 132,606 VIP Tour and Charter Bus Co........... Portland, ME............ .............. 40,492 40,492 --------------------------------------- Region II ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adirondack Trailways.................. Hurley, NY.............. 290,500 .............. 290,500 Allen AME Transportation Corp......... Jamaica, NY............. .............. 71,000 71,000 Blue Bird Coach Lines................. N. Tonawanda, NY........ .............. 45,000 45,000 Brown Coach Inc....................... Amsterdam, NY........... .............. 35,429 35,429 Coach USA/Cape Transit................ Pleasantville, NJ....... .............. 39,150 39,150 Hampton Jitney, Inc................... Southampton, NY......... 31,827 .............. 31,827 Paradise Travel, Inc.................. W. Hempstead, NY........ .............. 40,000 40,000 Private One of New York, LLC.......... Brooklyn, NY............ .............. 22,500 22,500 Shortline (Hudson Transit)............ Mahwah, NJ.............. 150,039 .............. 150,039 Stout's Charter Service, Inc.......... Trenton, NJ............. .............. 25,650 25,650 Suburban Trails, Inc.................. New Brunswick, NJ....... .............. 22,500 22,500 Syracuse and Oswego Motor Lines....... E. Syracuse, NY......... .............. 40,500 40,500 Trans Express, Inc.................... Brooklyn, NY............ .............. 59,420 59,420 Trolley Tours, Inc.................... Forked River, NJ........ .............. 22,950 22,950 Utica Rome Bus Company................ Clinton, NY............. .............. 40,500 40,500 --------------------------------------- Region III ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abbott Bus Lines, Inc................. Roanoke, VA............. .............. 39,600 39,600 Bieber Tourways....................... Kutztown, PA............ 113,000 .............. 113,000 Butler Motor Transit.................. Butler, PA.............. .............. 45,000 45,000 Elegance Bus Tours, Inc............... Suitland, MD............ .............. 27,000 27,000 Eyre Bus Service, Inc................. Glenelg, MD............. .............. 26,105 26,105 Lenzer Tour and Travel................ Sewickley, PA........... .............. 45,000 45,000 Martz Trailways....................... Wilkes-Barre, PA........ 148,000 .............. 148,000 Morgan & Sons Week-End Tours.......... Greensboro, NC.......... .............. 33,300 33,300 Scenic America, Inc................... Broad Run, VA........... .............. 39,600 39,600 Sun Coach Lines, LLC.................. McKeesport, PA.......... .............. 28,000 28,000 Trans-Bridge Lines.................... Bethlehem, PA........... 90,000 .............. 90,000 Wilson's Luxury Tours, Inc............ District Hgts., MD...... .............. 39,600 39,600 --------------------------------------- Region IV ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Americoach Tours...................... Memphis, TN............. .............. 38,250 38,250 Angelic Tours and Shuttles............ Fayetteville, NC........ .............. 40,000 40,000 Carolina Trailways.................... Raleigh, NC............. 198,909 .............. 198,909 Lancaster Tours Inc................... Lancaster, SC........... .............. 40,000 40,000 --------------------------------------- [[Page 67205]] Region V ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Colonial Coach Lines.................. Mt. Prospect, IL........ .............. 27,000 27,000 Croswell Bus Lines Inc................ Williamsburg, OH........ .............. 24,416 24,416 Jefferson Lines....................... Minneapolis, MN......... .............. 50,400 50,400 Lakefront Lines Inc................... Brook Park, OH.......... 27,900 .............. 27,900 Lamers Bus Lines Inc.................. Green Bay, WI........... 47,000 .............. 47,000 Pioneer Coach Lines, Inc.............. Chicago, IL............. .............. 27,000 27,000 Ready Bus Line........................ La Crescent, MN......... .............. 25,200 25,200 Riteway Bus Service, Inc.............. Richfield, WI........... .............. 29,250 29,250 Robinson Coach........................ Evanston, IL............ .............. 28,875 28,875 Seniors Unlimited Inc................. Pontiac, MI............. .............. 26,550 26,550 Van Galder Bus Company................ Janesville, WI.......... 95,000 .............. 95,000 Wisconsin Coach....................... Waukesha, WI............ 74,250 .............. 74,250 --------------------------------------- Region VI ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Central Texas Trails Inc.............. Waco, TX................ .............. 12,600 12,600 El Expresso........................... Houston, TX............. 78,000 .............. 78,000 Franklin Motorcoach Charters.......... Sapulpa, OK............. .............. 39,600 39,600 Greyhound............................. Dallas, TX.............. 2,609,512 .............. 2,609,512 Gulf Coast Transit.................... Houston, TX............. .............. 36,000 36,000 Hotard Motor Coach Services........... New Orleans, LA......... .............. 36,000 36,000 Kerrville Bus Co...................... San Antonio, TX......... 87,800 .............. 87,800 San Antonio City Tours................ San Antonio, TX......... .............. 36,000 36,000 Si Texas Tours........................ Bandera, TX............. .............. 44,345 44,345 TNM&O................................. Lubbock, TX............. 99,453 .............. 99,453 Valley Transit........................ Harlingen, TX........... 99,453 .............. 99,453 --------------------------------------- Region VII ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Burlington Trailways.................. W. Burlington, IA....... 89,283 .............. 89,283 --------------------------------------- Region VIII ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No Applications....................... ........................ .............. .............. .............. --------------------------------------- Region IX ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All Aboard America.................... Mesa, AZ................ .............. 20,715 20,715 Antelope Valley Bus................... Long Beach, CA.......... 180,540 .............. 180,540 Arrow Stage Lines..................... Phoenix, AZ............. .............. 35,955 35,955 K-T Contract Services................. Las Vegas, NV........... 71,910 .............. 71,910 Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours....... Anaheim, CA............. .............. 39,780 39,780 Ryan's Express........................ Las Vegas, NV........... .............. 23,337 23,337 Showtime Tours........................ Las Vegas, NV........... .............. 35,910 35,910 --------------------------------------- Region X ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Northwestern Stage Lines.............. Spokane, WA............. 40,050 .............. 40,050 Wickkiser International Co............ Ferndale, WA............ 44,759 .............. 44,759 --------------------------- Total............................. ........................ 5,219,025 1,689,970 6,908,995 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eligible project costs may be incurred by awardees prior to final grant approval. The incremental capital cost for adding wheelchair lift equipment to any new vehicles delivered on or after June 9, 1998, the effective date of TEA-21, is eligible for funding under the OTRB Accessibility Program. Applicants selected for funding may be contacted by FTA regional offices if additional information is needed before grants are made. The grant applications will be sent to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for certification under labor protection requirements pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5333(b). After referring applications to affected employees represented by a labor organization, DOL will issue a certification to FTA. Terms and conditions of the certification will be incorporated in the FTA grant agreement under the new guidelines replacing those in 29 CFR part 215. Please see Amendment to Section 5333(b), Guidelines To Carry Out New Programs Authorized by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21); Final Rule (64 FR 40990, July 28, 1999). Issued on: November 9, 2004. Jennifer L. Dorn, Administrator. [FR Doc. 04-25419 Filed 11-15-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-57-P