HB 1473 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Florida Public Transit Act;
3	amending s. 341.031, F.S.; defining "intercity bus
4	service," "eligible bus carrier" or "carrier," "eligible
5	intercity bus costs," and "intercity bus capital project";
6	amending s. 341.041, F.S.; revising responsibilities of
7	the Department of Transportation; requiring the department
8	to develop a statewide plan which provides for public
9	transit and intercity bus service, formulate a specific
10	program of projects and project financing, develop and
11	administer certain state measures concerning system
12	performance, provide technical and financial assistance to
13	intercity bus carriers, coordinate activities between
14	certain entities on matters relating to intercity bus
15	service, assist in the development and implementation of
16	marketing and passenger information programs for said
17	services, provide said service to support described
18	projects, and utilize certain federal funds to support a
19	statewide intercity bus network; amending s. 341.051,
20	F.S.; authorizing the department to receive federal grants
21	or apportionments for intercity bus service projects;
22	revising certain project eligibility requirements for the
23	expenditure of state funds to include described intercity
24	bus service projects; authorizing the department to fund
25	such projects; authorizing the department to fund up to
26	100 percent of the federal aid apportionment for intercity
27	bus service; amending s. 341.052, F.S.; providing for
28	public transit block grant program funds to be expended
29	for costs of intercity bus service development; requiring
30	the distribution of specified funds to intercity bus
31	service; reducing the distribution of such funds to
32	specified providers; amending s. 341.053, F.S.;
33	authorizing expenditure of Intermodal Development Program
34	funds for intercity bus service; providing an effective
35	date.
36
37	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39	Section 1. Subsections (11) through (14) are added to
40	section 341.031, Florida Statutes, to read:
41	341.031 Definitions relating to Florida Public Transit
42	Act.--As used in ss. 341.011-341.061, the term:
43	(11) "Intercity bus service" means regularly scheduled bus
44	service for the general public that:
45	(a) Operates with limited stops over fixed routes
46	connecting two or more urban areas not in close proximity.
47	(b) Has the capacity for transporting baggage carried by
48	passengers.
49	(c) Makes meaningful connections with scheduled intercity
50	bus service to more distant points, if such service is
51	available.
52	(d) Maintains scheduled information in the National
53	Official Bus Guide.
54	(e) Provides package express service incidental to
55	passenger transportation.
56	(12) "Eligible bus carrier" or "carrier" means a private
57	company that has operated defined intercity bus service in the
58	state, with formal authority in accordance with the rules and
59	regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
60	and the Surface Transportation Board of the United States
61	Department of Transportation, for a minimum of 2 years.
62	(13) "Eligible intercity bus costs" means the total costs
63	directly incident to the provision of intercity bus service,
64	including any depreciation or amortization of capital assets
65	purchased without public financial assistance.
66	(14) "Intercity bus capital project" means a capital
67	project undertaken by an intercity bus carrier to provide
68	intercity bus service and is limited to acquisition, design,
69	construction, reconstruction, or improvement of a privately
70	operated intercity bus service. Such projects may include that
71	portion of a government-owned or government-operated transit
72	system designed to support privately operated intercity bus
73	service.
74	Section 2. Section 341.041, Florida Statutes, is amended
75	to read:
76	341.041 Transit responsibilities of the department.--The
77	department shall, within the resources provided pursuant to
78	chapter 216:
79	(1) Develop a statewide plan which provides for public
80	transit and intercity bus serviceneeds at least 5 years in
81	advance. The plan shall be developed in a manner that will
82	assure maximum use of existing facilities, and optimum
83	integration and coordination of the various modes of
84	transportation, including both governmentally owned and
85	privately owned resources, in the most cost-effective manner
86	possible. The plan shall also incorporate plans adopted by local
87	and regional planning agencies which are consistent, to the
88	maximum extent feasible, with adopted strategic policy plans and
89	approved local government comprehensive plans for the region and
90	units of local government covered by the plan and shall, insofar
91	as practical, conform to federal planning requirements. The plan
92	shall be consistent with the goals of the Florida Transportation
93	Plan developed pursuant to s. 339.155.
94	(2) Formulate a specific program of projects and project
95	financing to respond to identified transit and intercity bus
96	serviceneeds as part of the work program.
97	(3) Develop, publish, and administer state measures
98	concerning system management, performance, productivity, cost
99	distribution, and safety of governmentally owned public transit
100	systems and privately owned or operated systems financed wholly
101	or in part by state funding. Such measures shall be developed
102	jointly with representatives of affected publicly owned transit
103	systems and in coordination with affected privately owned
104	systems, with full consideration given to nationwide industry
105	norms.
106	(4) Provide technical and financial assistance to units of
107	local government and intercity bus carriers, based on an
108	analysis of public transit and intercity bus serviceproblems
109	and needs, to assist in establishing and implementing effective
110	transit systems and related support programs. In providing such
111	assistance, the department may assist public agencies that
112	provide public transit and intercity bus carriers that provide
113	intercity bus servicesby making department-owned transit
114	vehicles and appurtenances available for lease to such agencies
115	for special needs of limited duration.
116	(5) Coordinate activities between the public entities and
117	private entities on matters relating to public transit and
118	intercity bus service.
119	(6) Assist in the development and implementation of
120	marketing and passenger information programs for public transit
121	and intercity busservices.
122	(7) Provide transit service through contracts with
123	existing publicly or privately owned transit systems, where such
124	service represents the transit element of a corridor project
125	designed to relieve urban traffic congestion.
126	(8) Provide intercity bus service to support projects that
127	serve to maintain and enhance statewide intercity bus service.
128	The department shall utilize and dedicate federal funds
129	apportioned to intercity bus service according to federal
130	requirements to support a statewide intercity bus network.
131	(9)(8)Provide new transit service and equipment where a
132	public need has been determined to exist pursuant to the
133	transportation planning process and where all of the following
134	conditions occur:
135	(a) No other governmental entity of appropriate
136	jurisdiction exists.
137	(b) The service cannot be reasonably provided by a
138	governmentally owned or privately owned public transit provider.
139	(c) The cost of providing the service does not exceed the
140	sum of revenues resulting from user fares, special transit
141	services such as charter operations, local fund participation,
142	and specific legislative appropriation for this purpose.
143
144	The department may buy, sell, own, lease, and otherwise encumber
145	facilities, transit vehicles, and appurtenances thereto, as
146	necessary to provide such service; or the department may provide
147	service by contracts with governmentally owned or privately
148	owned service providers.
149	(10)(9)Provide public transportation service where
150	emergency service is required, provided that no other private or
151	public transportation operation is available to provide needed
152	service and that such service is clearly in the best interests
153	of the people or communities being served. Such service shall be
154	provided by contractual services, actual operation of state-
155	owned transit equipment and facilities, or any other means
156	deemed appropriate by the department and shall be limited to a
157	period not to exceed 2 years.
158	(11)(10)Administer federal and state commuter assistance
159	programs and related federal-aid funds apportioned to the
160	department, which promote the use of ridesharing arrangements
161	and transportation demand management strategies, and the
162	creation of transportation management associations. Public
163	agencies, and private organizations established pursuant to
164	chapter 617 and approved by the local government and the
165	department as being consistent with local, regional, and state
166	transportation plans, are eligible to receive funds under this
167	program. The department shall establish adequate insurance
168	requirements based on passenger capacity for each vehicle used
169	in ridesharing.
170	(12)(11)Assist local governmental entities and other
171	transit operators in the planning and development of transit
172	programs and procedures and in the identification of
173	alternatives for achieving the most effective use of available
174	transportation resources and increasing revenue sources as
175	needed so that Florida's transit systems can move toward
176	becoming fiscally self-sufficient. The department may also
177	advance, on a matching basis, state funds for capital
178	improvements to transit properties in accordance with the
179	following:
180	(a) Candidate programs may include, but are not limited
181	to, the development of terminal facilities for lease by
182	interfacing modes, the acquisition and development of adjacent
183	land for lease or sale to public and private entities, and the
184	acquisition and development of air rights.
185	(b) The criteria to be utilized in determining whether or
186	not to advance such funds shall be adopted by rule and shall
187	include the demonstrated need of the transit system,
188	administrative capability, and a system financial plan as
189	approved by the department.
190	(13)(12)Assist local governmental entities in achieving a
191	condition wherein transit systems are operated at a service
192	level that is responsive to identified transit needs and in such
193	a manner as to promote maximum transit usage and achieve the
194	highest possible operating recovery ratio commensurate with the
195	local government's transit role and requirements.
196	(14)(13)Assist local governmental entities and other
197	transit operators in the planning, development, and coordination
198	of transit services for WAGES program participants as defined in
199	s. 414.0252.
200	(15)(14)Create and maintain a common self-retention
201	insurance fund to support fixed-guideway projects throughout the
202	state when there is a contractual obligation to have the fund in
203	existence in order to provide fixed-guideway services. The
204	maximum limit of the fund is as required by any contractual
205	obligation.
206	Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1), paragraph (a)
207	of subsection (4), and subsection (5) of section 341.051,
208	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
209	341.051 Administration and financing of public transit
210	programs and projects.--
211	(1) FEDERAL AID.--
212	(a) The department is authorized to receive federal grants
213	or apportionments for public transit and intercity bus service
214	projects in this state.
215	(4) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.--
216	(a) Any project that is necessary to meet the program
217	objectives enumerated in s. 341.041, that conforms to the
218	provisions of this section, and that is contained in the local
219	transportation improvement program and the adopted work program
220	of the department is eligible for the expenditure of state funds
221	for transit purposes.
222	1. The project shall be a project for service or
223	transportation facilities provided by the department under the
224	provisions of this act, a public transit capital project, a
225	commuter assistance project, a public transit service
226	development project, an intercity bus service capital project,
227	an intercity bus service project,or a transit corridor project.
228	2. The project must be approved by the department as being
229	consistent with the criteria established pursuant to the
230	provisions of this act.
231	(5) FUND PARTICIPATION; CAPITAL ASSISTANCE.--
232	(a) The department may fund up to 50 percent of the
233	nonfederal share of the costs, not to exceed the local share, of
234	any eligible public transit capital project or commuter
235	assistance project that is local in scope; except, however, that
236	departmental participation in the final design, right-of-way
237	acquisition, and construction phases of an individual fixed-
238	guideway project which is not approved for federal funding shall
239	not exceed an amount equal to 12.5 percent of the total cost of
240	each phase.
241	(b) The department is authorized to fund up to 100 percent
242	of the cost of any eligible transit capital project, intercity
243	bus service project,or commuter assistance project that is
244	statewide in scope or involves more than one county where no
245	other governmental entity or appropriate jurisdiction exists.
246	(c) The department is authorized to advance up to 80
247	percent of the capital cost of any eligible project that will
248	assist Florida's transit systems and intercity bus servicesin
249	becoming fiscally self-sufficient. Such advances shall be
250	reimbursed to the department on an appropriate schedule not to
251	exceed 5 years after the date of provision of the advances.
252	(d) The department is authorized to fund up to 100 percent
253	of the capital and net operating costs of statewide transit
254	service development projects or transit corridor projects. All
255	transit service development projects shall be specifically
256	identified by way of a departmental appropriation request, and
257	transit corridor projects shall be identified as part of the
258	planned improvements on each transportation corridor designated
259	by the department. The project objectives, the assigned
260	operational and financial responsibilities, the timeframe
261	required to develop the required service, and the criteria by
262	which the success of the project will be judged shall be
263	documented by the department for each such transit service
264	development project or transit corridor project.
265	(e) The department is authorized to fund up to 50 percent
266	of the capital and net operating costs of transit service
267	development projects that are local in scope and that will
268	improve system efficiencies, ridership, or revenues. All such
269	projects shall be identified in the appropriation request of the
270	department through a specific program of projects, as provided
271	for in s. 341.041, that is selectively applied in the following
272	functional areas and is subject to the specified times of
273	duration:
274	1. Improving system operations, including, but not limited
275	to, realigning route structures, increasing system average
276	speed, decreasing deadhead mileage, expanding area coverage, and
277	improving schedule adherence, for a period of up to 3 years;
278	2. Improving system maintenance procedures, including, but
279	not limited to, effective preventive maintenance programs,
280	improved mechanics training programs, decreasing service repair
281	calls, decreasing parts inventory requirements, and decreasing
282	equipment downtime, for a period of up to 3 years;
283	3. Improving marketing and consumer information programs,
284	including, but not limited to, automated information services,
285	organized advertising and promotion programs, and signing of
286	designated stops, for a period of up to 2 years; and
287	4. Improving technology involved in overall operations,
288	including, but not limited to, transit equipment, fare
289	collection techniques, electronic data processing applications,
290	and bus locators, for a period of up to 2 years.
291	(f) The department is authorized to fund up to 100 percent
292	of the federal aid apportionment for intercity bus service.
293
294	For purposes of this section, the term "net operating costs"
295	means all operating costs of a project less any federal funds,
296	fares, or other sources of income to the project.
297	Section 4. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (2) of
298	section 341.052, Florida Statutes, present subsections (6), (7),
299	and (8) are renumbered as subsections (7), (8), and (9),
300	respectively, and amended, and a new subsection (6) is added to
301	said section, to read:
302	341.052 Public transit block grant program;
303	administration; eligible projects; limitation.--
304	(2) Costs for which public transit block grant program
305	funds may be expended include:
306	(d) Costs of intercity bus service development.
307
308	All projects must be consistent, to the maximum extent feasible,
309	with the approved local government comprehensive plans of the
310	units of local government in which the project is located.
311	(6) The department shall distribute 1 percent of the funds
312	designated for the public transit block grant program for
313	intercity bus service.
314	(7)(6) The department shall distribute 8485percent of
315	the public transit block grant funds to "Section 9" and "Section
316	18" providers designated by the United States Department of
317	Transportation. The funds shall be distributed to "Section 9"
318	providers, and to "Section 18" providers that are not designated
319	as community transportation coordinators pursuant to chapter
320	427, according to the following formula, except that at least
321	$20,000 shall be distributed to each eligible provider if
322	application of the formula provides less than that amount for
323	any such provider:
324	(a) One-third shall be distributed according to the
325	percentage that an eligible provider's county population in the
326	most recent year for which those population figures are
327	available from the state census repository is of the total
328	population of all counties served by eligible providers.
329	(b) One-third shall be distributed according to the
330	percentage that the total revenue miles provided by an eligible
331	provider, as verified by the most recent "Section 15" report to
332	the Federal Transit Administration or a similar audited report
333	submitted to the department, is of the total revenue miles
334	provided by eligible providers in the state in that year.
335	(c) One-third shall be distributed according to the
336	percentage that the total passengers carried by an eligible
337	provider, as verified by the most recent "Section 15" report
338	submitted to the Federal Transit Administration or a similar
339	audited report submitted to the department, is of the total
340	number of passengers carried by eligible providers in the state
341	in that year.
342	(8)(7)(a) Any funds distributed to an eligible provider
343	pursuant to subsection (7)(6)which cannot be expended within
344	the limitations of the block grant program shall be returned to
345	the department for redistribution to other eligible providers
346	pursuant to that subsection.
347	(b) The department may consult with an eligible provider,
348	before distributing funds to that provider pursuant to
349	subsection (7)(6), to determine whether the provider can expend
350	its total block grant within the limitations of the block grant
351	program. If the department and the provider agree that the total
352	block grant cannot be expended, the provider may agree to accept
353	a block grant of less than the total amount, in which case the
354	funds that exceed such lesser agreed-upon amount shall be
355	redistributed to other eligible providers pursuant to subsection
356	(7)(6).
357	(c) If an audit reveals that an eligible provider expended
358	block grant funds on unauthorized uses, the provider must repay
359	to the department an amount equal to the funds expended for
360	unauthorized uses. The department shall redistribute such
361	repayments to other eligible providers pursuant to subsection
362	(7)(6).
363	(9)(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (5),
364	(7)(6), and (8)(7), the department may supplement an eligible
365	provider's block grant allocation if funds are available; if
366	requested by the M.P.O. or, if there is no M.P.O., by the county
367	with jurisdiction; and if the department concurs in the request.
368	Any supplement of a transit provider's block grant shall be
369	specifically identified in the tentative work program submitted
370	by the department to the Legislature. The provisions of
371	subsections (2) and (3) shall apply to total block grants as
372	supplemented by allocations made under this subsection.
373	Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and subsection
374	(6) of section 341.053, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
375	341.053 Intermodal Development Program; administration;
376	eligible projects; limitations.--
377	(2) In recognition of the department's role in the
378	economic development of this state, the department shall develop
379	a proposed intermodal development plan to connect Florida's
380	airports, deepwater seaports, rail systems serving both
381	passenger and freight, and major intermodal connectors to the
382	Florida Intrastate Highway System facilities as the primary
383	system for the movement of people and freight in this state in
384	order to make the intermodal development plan a fully integrated
385	and interconnected system. The intermodal development plan must:
386	(a) Define and assess the state's freight intermodal
387	network, including airports, seaports, rail lines and terminals,
388	intercity bus lines and terminals,and connecting highways.
389	(6) The department is authorized to fund projects within
390	the Intermodal Development Program, which are consistent, to the
391	maximum extent feasible, with approved local government
392	comprehensive plans of the units of local government in which
393	the project is located. Projects that are eligible for funding
394	under this program include major capital investments in public
395	rail and fixed-guideway transportation facilities and systems
396	which provide intermodal access; road, rail, intercity bus
397	service,or fixed-guideway access to, from, or between seaports,
398	airports, and other transportation terminals; construction of
399	intermodal or multimodal terminals; development and construction
400	of dedicated bus lanes; and projects which otherwise facilitate
401	the intermodal or multimodal movement of people and goods.
402	Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.