Sec. 975.15. Alternate allocation of service payments to operators

Any public transportation system that proposes to take any of the following actions:

(1) allocate service payments and/or matching payments as required by section 18-b of the State Transportation Law to operators on a basis other than on the calculated amounts (or a uniform percentage) of the service payment formula attributable to each operator;

(2) use a portion of service payments and/or state-mandated matching payments for system expenses not directly incurred by the operators, except for reasonable audit expenses as permitted under section 975.21 of this Part;

(3) want its profit cap under section 975.17 to be calculated as a system rather than on an individual operator basis shall be required to submit annually to the Commissioner of Transportation for review and approval, an alternate distribution plan that describes the proposed method of distributing Federal, State, and local operating aid no later than one month prior to the start of the system's fiscal year.

Such alternate distribution plan shall be prepared in accordance with a format prescribed by the Commissioner of Transportation, and shall include:

For public transportation systems submitting a plan under (1) above, the ADP shall describe (i) the nature of the service, passengers serviced, other public transit modes available, cost structure, and/or fare policy that results in adequate service to the public from operators that do not receive their full formula allocation, and (ii) the need for those operators to receive more than their full allocation.

For public transportation systems submitting a plan under (2) above, the ADP shall describe the nature and amount of expenses provided outside the operating company and supporting reasons for the proposed provision of these services. Only expenses directly supporting transit operations as defined in 975.4(d) are eligible expenses.

For public transportation systems submitting a plan under (3) above, the ADP shall describe the basis for determining the level of profit for those companies that will exceed the profit level that would be established under section 975.17 including the consideration given, if any, to alternative providers of service.

In addition, the plan shall include a table, a narrative description consistent with the table containing a pro forma of expenses, revenues, profits, and all subsidies by source and by operator (and for the government sponsor, if appropriate, under (2) above). If the profit level is contingent on the performance of the operator, those factors shall be described in the plan.

For ADP's submitted under criteria (3) above, the Department will issue conditional approval subject to local government meeting the criteria in section 975.17 based on actual certified data.