The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
  (1) Accountable executive--A single, identifiable individual who has:
    (A) ultimate responsibility for carrying out the public transportation agency safety plan of a public transportation agency;
    (B) responsibility for carrying out the agency's transit asset management plan; and
    (C) control or direction over the human and capital resources needed to develop and maintain both the agency's public transportation agency safety plan, in accordance with 49 U.S.C. §5329(d), and the agency's transit asset management plan in accordance with 49 U.S.C. §5326.
  (2) Administrative expenses--Include, but are not limited to, general administrative expenses such as salaries of the project director, secretary, and bookkeeper; insurance premiums or payments to a self-insurance reserve; office supplies; facilities and equipment rental; and standard overhead rates.
  (3) Allocation--A preliminary distribution of grant funds representing the maximum amount to be made available to an entity during the fiscal year, subject to the entity's completion of and compliance with all application requirements, rules, and regulations applicable to the specific funding program.
  (4) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)--The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §12101 et seq.), which provides a comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The ADA provides specific requirements related to public transportation.
  (5) Asset management plan--The transit asset management plan prepared in accordance with 49 U.S.C. §5326 and certified by the department. The plan includes at a minimum, capital asset inventories and condition assessments, decision support tools, and investment prioritization.
  (6) Authority--A metropolitan transit or regional transportation authority created under Transportation Code, Chapter 451 or 452; a city transit department created under Transportation Code, Chapter 453, by a municipality having a population of not less than 200,000 at the time of its creation; or a coordinated county authority created under Transportation Code, Chapter 460.
  (7) Average revenue vehicle capacity--The number of seats in all revenue vehicles divided by the number of revenue vehicles.
  (8) Capital expenses--Include the acquisition, construction, and improvement of public transit facilities and equipment needed for a safe, efficient, and coordinated public transportation system.
  (9) Chief safety officer--An adequately trained individual who has responsibility for safety and reports directly to a small public transportation provider agency's chief executive officer, general manager, president, or equivalent officer. A chief safety officer may not serve in other operational or maintenance capacities, unless the chief safety officer is employed by a transit agency that is a small public transportation provider or a public transportation provider that does not operate a rail fixed guideway public transportation system.
  (10) Clean Air Act--The federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. §7401 et seq.), which seeks to protect and enhance the quality of the nation's air resources by promoting and financing reasonable federal, state, and local governmental actions for pollution prevention.
  (11) Commission--The Texas Transportation Commission.
  (12) Contractor--A recipient of public transportation funds through a contract or grant agreement with the department.
  (13) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
  (14) Designated recipient--The state, an authority, a municipality that is not included in an authority, a local governmental body, another political subdivision, or a nonprofit entity providing rural public transportation services, that receives federal or state public transportation money through the department or the Federal Transit Administration, or its successor.
  (15) Director--The director of public transportation for the department.
  (16) Disability--Disability as defined in the ADA (42 U.S.C. §12102), which includes a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual.
  (17) District--One of the 25 districts of the department for a designated geographic area.
  (18) Employment-related transportation--Transportation to support services that assist individuals in job search or job preparation. Trips to daycare centers, one-stop workforce centers, jobs interviews, and vocational training are examples.
  (19) Equipment--Tangible, nonexpendable, personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit.
  (20) Equivalent authority--An entity that carries out duties similar to that of a board of directors, for a recipient or subrecipient of FTA funds under 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53, including sufficient authority to review and approve a recipient or subrecipient's public transportation agency safety plan.
  (21) Executive director--The executive director of the department.
  (22) Fare box revenues--Fares paid by riders, including those who are later reimbursed by a human service agency or other user-side subsidy arrangement. This definition includes subscription service fees, whether or not collected on-board a transit vehicle. Payments made directly to the transportation system by a human service agency are not considered to be fare box revenues.
  (23) Federal Transit Administration (FTA)--The Federal Transit Administration of the United States Department of Transportation.
  (24) Federally funded project--A public transportation project that is being funded in part under the provisions of the Federal Transit Act, as amended, 49 U.S.C. §5301 et seq., the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973, as amended, 23 U.S.C. §101 et seq., or any other federal program for funding public transportation.
  (25) Fiscal year--The state accounting period of 12 months that begins on September 1 of each calendar year and ends on August 31 of the following calendar year.
  (26) Good standing--A status indicating that the department's director of public transportation has not sent a letter to an entity signifying the entity is in noncompliance with any aspect of a program.
  (27) Incident--An intentional or unintentional act that occurs on or in association with transit-controlled property and that threatens or affects the safety or security of an individual or property.
  (28) Large urban transit district--A local governmental entity or a political subdivision of the state that provides and coordinates public transportation within an urbanized area with a population greater than or equal to 200,000 in accordance with Transportation Code, Chapter 458. This definition includes urban transportation providers under Transportation Code, Chapter 456, that received state money through the department on September 1, 1994. This definition excludes authorities.
  (29) Like-kind exchange--The trade-in or sale of a transit vehicle before the end of its useful life to acquire a replacement vehicle of like kind.
  (30) Local funds--Directly generated funds, as defined in the latest edition of the Federal Transit Administration National Transit Database Reporting Manual. Examples include, but are not limited to, passenger fares, special transit fares, purchased transportation fares, park and ride revenue, other transportation revenue, charter service revenue, freight tariffs, station and vehicle concessions, advertising revenue, funds dedicated to transit at their source, taxes, cash contributions, contract revenue, general revenue, and in-kind contributions.
  (31) Local governmental entity--Any local unit of government including a city, town, village, municipality, county, city transit department, or authority.
  (32) Local public entity--Includes a city, county, or other political subdivision of the state, a public agency, or an instrumentality of one or more states, municipalities, or political subdivisions of states.
  (33) Local share requirement--The amount of funds required and eligible to match federally funded projects for the improvement of public transportation.
  (34) Low-income individual--An individual whose family income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty line, as that term is defined in the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. §9902(2)), including any revision required by that section, for a family of the size involved, or as otherwise defined by 49 U.S.C. §5302 or 49 U.S.C. §5316, the Job Access and Reverse Commute program as established under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users.
Cont'd...