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Section 5309 (Section 3(j)) FTA New Starts Criteria
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: November 12, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 218)]
[Notices]
[Page 60755-60758]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12no97-134]
[[Page 60755]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part III
Department of Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
Federal Transit Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
Section 5309 (Section 3(j)) FTA New Starts Criteria; Notice
[[Page 60756]]
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Section 5309 (Section 3(j)) FTA New Starts Criteria
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT
ACTION: Amendment of notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is amending its
December 19, 1996 Notice describing the criteria it will use to
evaluate candidate projects for discretionary New Starts funding under
Title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 5309. Specifically, the
Notice is amended to reflect Departmental guidance issued on April 9,
1997 establishing a Department-wide standard for the value of travel
time; correct an editorial error regarding the application of travel
time savings to the criteria for mobility improvements; account for the
lack of standardized national assumptions regarding the unit value of
criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions; reflect a change in
the definition of ``boarding points associated with the proposed new
start'' for purposes of evaluating mobility improvements; and reflect a
change in the definition of ``new start service area'' for purposes of
evaluating operating efficiencies.
EFFECTIVE DATES: This Notice will be used to evaluate projects for
discretionary new start funding recommendations for the 1999 Fiscal
Year.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Day, Office of Policy
Development, FTA, Washington, D.C. 20590, (202) 366-4060.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On December 19, 1996, FTA issued a Notice describing the criteria
it will use to evaluate candidate projects for discretionary New Starts
funding under Title 49 United States Code (USC) Section 5309. These
criteria replaced those which had been in effect since the May 18, 1984
Statement of Policy on Major Urban Mass Transportation Capital
Investments, and incorporated the expanded range of factors implemented
by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991
(ISTEA).
Value of Travel Time Savings
The Notice established a measure for the statutory criteria of
``mobility improvements'' of ``[t]he projected value of aggregate
travel time savings per year (forecast year <SUP>1</SUP>) anticipated
from the new investment, compared with the no-build and TSM
(Transportation System Management) alternatives.'' It further
established the value of total travel time savings at 80 percent of the
average wage rate in the urbanized area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The original Notice established the forecast year as year 20
of the analysis period, and noted that an opening year forecast will
be used for financial analysis and as a check on initial ridership
projections.
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On April 19, 1997, the Secretary of Transportation issued ``The
Value of Travel Time: Departmental Guidance for Conducting Economic
Evaluations,'' which established department-wide guidance for
calculating the value of time saved or lost by users of the
transportation system. The values of time and procedures set forth in
the Departmental guidance are to be used for all DOT cost-benefit and
cost-effectiveness analyses that employ measures of the value of travel
time lost or saved. They replace mode-specific methods for valuing
travel time with a consistent set of monetary values applicable to all
modes.
The Departmental guidance establishes a common value of local
travel time for automobile drivers and passengers, public transit
passengers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Separate values are specified
for personal travel (including commuting, shopping, conducting personal
business, and social and recreational travel), business or work-related
travel, and travel by truck drivers.
Hourly wages were derived from several sources. For personal travel
by surface modes, the standard adopted is median household income, as
reported by the Bureau of the Census, divided by 2,000 hours. This
figure amounted to $17.00 in 1995. The standard for business travel is
derived from employee compensation figures supplied by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. For business travel by surface mode (except truck
drivers), the hourly wage figure was $18.80 including fringe benefits.
For truck drivers, the hourly wage was $16.50.
The values adopted by the Department for travel time are as
follows: 50 percent of the wage for all local personal travel,
regardless of mode; 70 percent of the wage for all intercity personal
travel; and 100 percent of the wage (plus fringe benefits) for all
local and intercity business travel, including travel by truck drivers.
In special cases where out-of-vehicle time (access, waiting, and
transfer time) on transit trips is isolated as an object of analysis,
time is valued at 100 percent of the wage.
Using these percentages and wage rates, the hourly value of travel
time for local travel on surface modes (transit's market) is as
follows: $8.50 for personal local travel by all (50 percent of the
median household income, divided by 2,000 hours); $18.80 for local
business travel, and $16.50 for truck drivers. The hourly value for
walking, waiting, and access time associated with transit improvements
is $17.00 (100 percent of the median household income, divided by 2,000
hours).
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy
will publish periodic updates of the values of travel time to be used
in DOT economic analyses. This updating will be performed using the
same data sources used to develop the initial values, including the
Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Air
Transport Association. The updating process will automatically index
the values to reflect increases in hourly earnings throughout the
nation's economy.
Application of Value of Travel Time Savings
In addition to the revised values for travel time, the December 19,
1996 Notice is being amended to correct an editorial error regarding
the application of travel time savings to the criteria for mobility
improvements. Specifically, in the summary of comments to the September
28, 1994 Policy Discussion Paper, the Notice indicated that travel time
increases ``should not be counted against overall travel time
improvements for new riders (Federal Register, Vol. 61, No. 245, p.
67100).'' This position was adopted because some people who switch to
transit can incur longer travel times, but are deriving other benefits
such as reduced travel under congested conditions, improved ride
quality, reduced commuting costs, etc. Lacking a reliable means for
placing a value on such benefits, the value of the travel time increase
would be used as a surrogate and not be deducted from overall travel
time savings.
However, section II(a)(1) of the policy statement itself notes
incorrectly that the projected value of aggregate travel time savings
per year ``is a net figure in the sense that travel time increases
should be explicitly considered and used to offset the time savings of
those people who experience savings (Federal Register, Vol. 61, No.
245, p. 67105).'' This statement is incorrect, and this amendment
removes the above sentence from the original Notice.
[[Page 60757]]
Valuation of Criteria Pollutant and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Notice established a measure for the statutory criteria of
``environmental benefits'' of ``the value per year (forecast year) of
the forecast change in criteria pollutant emissions and in greenhouse
gas emissions, ascribable to the proposed new investment, calculated
according to standardized national assumptions about the unit value of
each emission.'' These values were to have been determined by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, to date no values have
been set. This amendment strikes the requirement that a value be placed
on the forecast change in emissions.
Definition of ``Boarding Points'' for Evaluating Mobility Improvements
Section II(a)(1) of the Notice states that one of the factors for
rating the mobility improvements expected to be derived from a proposed
new start would be the absolute number of low income households
(households below the poverty level) located within \1/2\-mile of
boarding points associated with the proposed system increment (Federal
Register, Vol. 61, No. 245, p. 67105). This is still true. However, the
discussion for this measure found in the summary of comments (Federal
Register, Vol. 61, No. 245, p. 67100) defines ``boarding points
associated with the proposed system'' as ``not limited to stations that
are part of the proposed project,'' and including ``boarding points
that will feed into the new system.'' In practice, this would have
included bus stops on routes serving the new stations, as well as
existing rail stations on lines that intersect with the new system at
the new stations (such as when a new rapid rail line intersects with an
existing commuter rail line, and a new station is constructed).
In developing guidance for this measure, FTA concluded that
including all potential boarding points associated with a new system
would place an unnecessary and unfair burden on local agencies, would
lead to reporting inconsistencies, and lack comparability among
projects proposed for discretionary new starts funding. As a result,
this amendment revises this measure to include only those stations
located directly on the proposed new facility.
Definition of ``Service Area'' for Evaluating Operating Efficiencies
Section II(a)(3) of the December 19, 1996 Notice indicates that the
measure for ``operating efficiencies'' would be based on the ``forecast
change in operating cost per passenger mile'' for the new start service
area, defined as ``that part of the system that will be directly
affected by the proposed new investment.'' Though not specifically
stated, this measure would have included the change in operating cost
per passenger mile not only for the new facility, but also for
connecting bus routes and rail lines.
In developing guidance for the revised criteria, FTA concluded that
this measure as defined would place an unfair and unnecessary burden on
local agencies, would lead to reporting inconsistencies, and lack
comparability among projects proposed for discretionary new starts
funding. As a result, this amendment revises the definition of
``service area'' for this measure to include the entire transit system.
II. Incorporation of DOT Guidance Into FTA New Starts Criteria
The December 19, 1996 Federal Register Notice adopted aggregate
travel time savings as one of the measures for ``mobility
improvements.'' This aggregate includes travel time savings for all
travelers affected by the proposed transit investment; new and existing
transit riders as well as highway users, business travel as well as
personal. Given that the DOT Guidance establishes different values for
different trip purposes (plus additional values for wait time and truck
drivers), FTA has adopted a weighted average approach for valuing
travel time savings (or increases) associated with a proposed new
start, using distributions of travel by mode and by trip purpose.
The revised value of travel time consists of three components: out-
of-vehicle time for all modes; in-vehicle time for highway modes; and
in-vehicle time for transit modes.
Out-of-vehicle time (time spent accessing, waiting, and
transferring) is valued at 100 percent of the wage rate, as specified
in the DOT Guidance. Using the wage rates specified earlier, out-of-
vehicle time is valued at $17.00 per hour.
The value for in-vehicle travel time for transit modes is a
weighted average based on trip purpose, i.e., business or personal. The
DOT Guidance uses data from the 1990 Nationwide Personal Transportation
Survey for trip purpose information. For surface modes, the
distribution for local travel is 95.8 percent personal, 4.2 percent
business. This results in a weighted average value of in-vehicle time
for surface modes, for all purposes, of $8.90 per hour.
The value for in-vehicle highway time includes an additional
variable for vehicle mix, as the DOT Guidance establishes a separate
value of time for truck drivers. For this component, FTA calculated a
weighted average of highway travel time based on vehicle mix
information provided by the 1995 Highway Statistics report published by
the Federal Highway Administration. According to this report,
automobiles account for 92.4 percent of vehicle miles traveled (VMT),
and trucks account for the remaining 7.6 percent. Using these figures,
and applying the weighted average value of in-vehicle time for business
and personal travel as calculated above, the resulting value for in-
vehicle highway time is $9.50 per hour.
III. Amendments to Section 5309 FTA New Starts Criteria
The December 19, 1996 Federal Register Notice, ``Section 5309
(Section 3(j)) FTA New Starts Criteria,'' issued by the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA), is amended as follows:
The sentence reading, ``It is a net figure in the sense that travel
time increases should be explicitly considered and used to offset the
time savings of those people who experience savings,'' in regard to the
measure for ``mobility improvements,'' is stricken from the Notice.
The sentence reading, ``Total travel time savings will be valued at
80 percent of the average wage rate in the urbanized area,'' regarding
the measure for ``mobility improvements,'' is stricken and replaced
with the following:
``Travel time savings will be valued according to trip purpose,
using standardized values established by the Department of
Transportation, based on average national wage rates as reported in the
decennial Census. For transit riders, travel time will be valued at 50
percent of the wage rate for non-work travel (including commuting) and
100 percent of the wage rate for work-related travel. The total value
of travel time for transit riders will be calculated using a weighted
average by trip purpose. For highway users, the weighted average will
also include travel by truck drivers, based on vehicle mix. In
addition, time spent waiting for, accessing, and boarding transit
vehicles will be valued at 100 percent of the wage rate.''
The phrase reading, ``the value per year (forecast year) of the
forecast change in criteria pollutant emissions and in greenhouse gas
emissions, ascribable to the proposed new investment, calculated
according to standardized national assumptions
[[Page 60758]]
about the unit value of each emission,'' regarding the measure for
``environmental benefits,'' is stricken and replaced with the
following:
``[T]he annual forecast change in criteria pollutant emissions and
in greenhouse gas emissions, ascribable to the proposed new investment,
calculated in terms of tons for each criteria pollutant or gas.''
The sentence reading, ``This measure is not limited to stations
that are part of the proposed project, and includes boarding points
that will feed into the new system,'' contained in the discussion of
``mobility improvements'' with respect to the definition of ``boarding
points,'' is stricken and replaced with the following:
``Boarding points are defined as those transit stations located
directly on the proposed new start transit facility.''
In Section II(a)(3), the phrase ``for that part of the system that
will be directly affected by the proposed new investment'' is stricken
and replaced with the following:
``[F]or the entire transit system.''
Issue Date: November 5, 1997.
Gordon J. Linton,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-29718 Filed 11-10-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P