N.Y. Transportation Law § 73-c: Definitions

§ 73-c. Definitions. Whenever used in this article, the following

terms shall have the respective meanings:

1. "Department" shall mean the state department of transportation.

2. "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of transportation.

3. "Committee" shall refer to the New York state interagency

coordinating committee on rural public transportation as hereinafter set

forth.

4. "Transportation disadvantaged person" shall mean any person, who by

reason of physical, economic or other circumstances does not have access

to private personal transportation or is unable to use private personal

transportation, either permanently or temporarily such as frail,

elderly, physically or mentally handicapped, low-income, youth,

unemployed or underemployed, and other individuals who may need public

transportation services for gaining access to human or public services,

health care, educational, recreational, shopping or employment

opportunities. Identification of persons in this group shall not

preclude such persons from being considered "general public" in any

public transportation service criteria established pursuant to this

article.

5. "Public transportation service" shall mean a passenger

transportation service which, during its hours of operation, is

available on an equal opportunity basis to any person, without

preference for service availability, eligiblity or design being given to

any person or population sub-group because of age, gender, race,

national origin, creed or agency client status, and which is regularly

advertised and marketed as available to the general public. Nothing in

this article shall be deemed to mean that the transportation services

operated or provided by human or social service agencies solely for

their clients or programs constitute, in and of themselves, public

transportation services.

6-a. "Transportation provider" shall mean any public, private or

not-for-profit entity utilizing public funds to provide or contract for

public transportation services for the benefit of the general public or

specific client groups.

6-b. "Operator of passenger transportation service" shall mean the

municipal government or public transportation authority which assumes

full responsibility for the operation of the service or a common or

contract carrier under contract to said government or authority for the

purpose of assuming said responsibility.

7. a. "Coordinated transportation service" in a rural county shall

mean a passenger transportation service formed by the pooling or

sharing, by contract, of funds, facilities, vehicles, equipment and

other resources used for passenger transportation for the purpose of

improving the mobility of rural residents through increased service

levels, so that the coordinated service is under the direction and

control of a single operator of passenger transportation having the

authority for establishing the service's operating hours, routes,

schedules, dispatching and other operating features and when the

resulting transportation service serves more passengers for the same or

reduced amount of government expenditure than the previoulsy

uncoordinated services. A coordinated transportation service may include

an existing public transportation service operating within the rural

county. Nothing contained herein shall require a transportation provider

to contribute funds or services; current providers may participate in

whole or in part in the coordinated service.

b. "Coordinated public transportation service" shall mean a

coordinated transportation service which is predominately a public

transportation service as defined in this article. Such coordinated

public transportation service shall offer service to the general public

to at least the same extent and degree, in terms of service levels,

operating hours and geographic coverage, as service is offered for

clients of human service agency programs, and seeks to increase service

to transportation disadvantaged persons who do not receive

transportation from a human or social services agency program.

8. "Rural counties" shall mean those New York state counties having

populations of two hundred thousand or less.

9. "Services coordinator" shall mean the person, authority, agency or

corporation designated by resolution of a rural county's governing body

to undertake or oversee preparation and implementation of the rural

county's public transportation service plan in accordance with this

article. Such person, authority, agency or corporation shall be chosen

from among those who can fairly and equitably address the needs of all

transportation disadvantaged persons and the general public, without

preference to any one population sub-group or component of the

transportation disadvantaged population.