Glossary of Transit Terms
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A.M. peak period
Period of time in the morning when additional services are provided to handle higher passenger volumes. The period begins when normal, scheduled headways are reduced and ends when headways return to normal.
AAA
Area Agency on Aging. The local entity that plans senior services and advocates for the elderly within their communities, administering provisions of the Older Americans Act (see OAA). Also the American Automobile Association.
AASHTO
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
ABA
American Bus Association
Access Board
Common name for the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, an independent Federal agency whose mission is to develop guidelines for accessible facilities and services and to provide technical assistance to help public and private entities understand and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Access to Jobs
Federal funding for programs to increase work-related transportation available to low-income individuals. Authorized in TEA-21. Non-profit organizations and municipalities can apply to FTA for funding.
Accessibility
The extent to which facilities are barrier- free and usable by people with disabilities, including those using wheelchairs.
Accessible station
A public transportation passenger station that provides ready access, is useable and does not have physical barriers that prohibit and/or restrict access by people with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs.
Accessible vehicle
Public transportation revenue vehicles that do not restrict access, are useable and provide allocated space and/or priority seating for people who use wheelchairs.
Accessory Dwelling Units
Spaces above garages, finished basements, and attics with separate entrances are potential homes for elderly people, single adults, or small families. When converted into dwellings, these spaces become accessory dwelling units (ADUs) - also called "granny flats" or "mother-in-law" apartments.
Account servicing
Monitoring the status of accounts of indebtedness, monitoring records of current debts, billing for amounts due, collecting amounts due, handling debtor correspondence, performing follow-up functions, and providing accurate reporting of debt portfolios.
Accrue
Process of increasing account value, usually associated with interest or other time-related increases in account value.
Acid deposition or acid rain
A complex chemical and atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and other substances are transformed by natural chemical processes in the atmosphere -often occuring in areas that are great distances from the location of the emission- and then are deposited on earth in either a liquid or dry form. Liquid forms, sometimes called "acid rain," may fall to earth as rain, ice, snow or fog. The dry forms are called acidic gases or particulates.
Active vehicle
Transit passenger vehicle that is licensed, where required, and maintained for regular use, including spares and vehicles out of service for maintenance purposes, but excluding vehicles in "dead" storage, leased to other operators, in energy contingency reserve status, permanently not usable for transit service and new vehicles not yet outfitted for active service.
Active vehicles in fleet
The vehicles in the year-end fleet that are available to operate in revenue service, including vehicles temporarily out of service for routine maintenance and minor repairs.
Activity center
Locations within urban areas where there are a concentration of business, commercial and other uses that draw a large number of people from the region on a daily basis.
Activity generator
A land use that regularly attracts large numbers of people into an area.
Activity level
Refers to the intensity of land use in a given area and is associated with the density of residential and nonresidential development.
Actual service
Total service operated during each time period. Actual service excludes missed trips and service interruptions (e.g. strikes, emergency shut-downs), but includes deadheading. Actual service is measured by vehicles in service, miles and/or hours.
Actual vehicle miles/hours
The miles/hours a vehicle travels while in revenue service (actual vehicle revenue miles/hours) plus deadhead miles/hours. For rail vehicles, vehicle miles/hours refer to passenger car miles/hours. Actual vehicle miles/hours exclude miles and hours for charter services, school bus service, operator training and maintenance testing.
ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991
Adaptive reuse
Conversion of outmoded buildings can provide the opportunity for new residential uses within a community. Buildings being converted are often large and vacant and were used for institutional or other nonresidential activities. Adaptive reuse projects have involved old school buildings, train stations, hospitals, and other public buildings; inns and hotels; and warehouses factories and other industrial buildings. These buildings have been converted into apartments, condominiums, co-housing projects and live-work spaces.
Adequate public facilities requirement
An adequate public facilities requirement or ordinance (APFR or APFO) is a regulation that makes project approval contingent on evidence that existing public facilities have the capacity to support proposed new development. When facility capacity is inadequate, developers may either postpone development or contribute funds and/or facilities to meet local requirements. Also known as concurrency requirements.
Administrative costs/charges
Additional costs incurred in processing and handling a debt because it has become delinquent. Costs should be based on actual costs incurred or cost analyses which estimate the average of actual additional costs incurred for particular types of debt at similar stages of delinquency. Administrative costs should be accrued and assessed from the date of delinquency.
Administrative offset
Withholding money payable by the federal government to a person or held by the government for a person or entity in order to satisfy a debt that the person or entity owes the government.
Advance construction
States or local governments independently raise upfront capital required for a federally approved project and preserve eligibility for future federal-aid reimbursement for that project. At a later date, the state can obligate federal-aid highway funds for reimbursement of the federal share. This tool allows states to take advantage of access to a variety of capital sources, including its own funds, local funds, anticipation notes, revenue bonds, bank loans, etc., to speed project completion.
Advanced public transportation systems (APTS)
Intelligent Vehilce Highway Systems, or IVHS, technology that is designed to improve transit services through advanced vehicle operations, communications, customer service and market development.
Aerial tramway
An electric system of aerial cables with suspended unpowered passenger vehicles. The vehicles are propelled by separate cables attached to the vehicle suspension system and powered by engines or motors at a central location not on board the vehicle.
AFV
Alternatively fueled vehicle
Agricultural District Program
Agricultural district programs allow farmers to form special areas where commercial agriculture is encouraged and protected. Programs are authorized by state legislatures and implemented at the local level. Enrollment in agricultural districts is voluntary. In exchange for enrollment, farmers typically receive a package of benefits, such as tax credits, differential taxation, or property tax relief. Benefits vary from state to state as do minimum acreage requirements and initial terms of enrollment.
Air brake
A brake in which the mechanism is actuated by manipulation of air pressure. The term often is used to describe brakes that employ air under pressure above atmospheric, in contrast to vacuum brakes, which employ pressure below atmospheric.
Air pollutants
Any substance in the air that could, if present in high enough concentration, harm humans, animals, vegetation or material. Pollutants may include almost any natural or artificial composition of matter that is capable of becoming airborne. The composition may be in the form of solid particles, liquid droplets, gases or in combinations of these forms. Generally, air pollutants are divided into two major groups: 1)those emitted directly from identifiable sources and 2) those produced in the air by interaction among two or more primary pollutants or reaction with normal atmospheric constituents, with or without photoactivation of the sun. Exclusive of pollen, fog and dust, which are of natural origin, nearly 100 contaminants are identified in these categories: solids, sulfur compounds, volatile organic chemicals, nitrogen compounds, oxygen compounds, halogen compounds, radioactive compounds and odors.
Air quality control region
An area, designated by the federal government, where communities share a common air pollution problem. Several states may be involved in a single area.
Air quality standards
The level of pollutants, prescribed by regulations, which may not be exceeded during a specific time in a defined area.
Air rights development
Allows for building above existing low-intensity land uses such as parking lots or new public garages.
Allocation
The administrative distribution of funds that do not have prescribed statutory distribution formulas.
Allowance for uncollectible accounts
Account established to reduce receivables for estimates of uncollectible amounts to reflect the assets at their net realizable value.
Alternative fuels
Low-polluting fuels which are used to propel a vehicle instead of high-sulfur diesel or gasoline. Examples include methanol, ethanol, propane or compressed natural gas (CNG), liquid natural gas (LNG), low-sulfur or "clean" diesel and electricity.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Federal legislation passed in 1991 defining the responsibilities of and requirements for transportation providers to make transportation accessible to people with disabilities. This law assures that people with disabilities have full access to all public facilities throughout the United States. Standards for improvements such as wheelchair ramps have been established in accordance with the act. All new development and redevelopment plans must be in compliance with the requirements set forth by the act.
AMFA
Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988
Amortization
Provision made in advance for the gradual reduction of an amount owed over time.
Amtrak
Rail passenger system operated by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Washington, D.C., created by the Nixon Administration in 1970. Given the responsibility for the operation of intercity, as distinct from suburban, passenger trains between points designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
Ancillary unit
A second building unit on a single-family residential property that may be part of the primary dwelling or located above a detached garage.
Annexation
The act of incorporating an area into the domain of a city.
Annual element
Transportation improvement projects contained in an area's transportation improvement program, or TIP, that are proposed for implementation during the current year. The annual element is submitted to the U.S. Department of Trasportation as part of the required planning process.
AoA
Administration on Aging. The agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that oversees the implementation of the Older Americans Act, including senior nutrition programs, senior centers and supportive services for elders.
Apportionment
A law that refers to a statutorily prescribed division or assignment of funds. An apportionment is based on prescribed formulas in the law and consists of dividing authorized obligation authority for a specific program.
Appraisal
Formal valuation of property, made by a competent authority.
Appropriation
A law passed by the Congress and signed by the President, which makes funds available for expenditures with specific limitations as to amount, purpose, and duration. In most cases, it permits money previously authorized to be obligated and payments to be made.
Arbitration
Method of settling disputes by which labor and management present their cases to an impartial third party, called an arbitrator, who has the responsibility of deciding the case.
Arterial street
A major thoroughfare, used primarily for through traffic rather than for access to adjacent land, that is characterized by high vehicular capacity. Typically these roadways have limited access and connect with smaller collector streets and are designed to move large volumes of traffic between various points within a region.
Articulated bus
A bus usually 55 feet or more in length with two connected passenger compartments, that bends at the connecting point when the bus turns a corner.
Asset
Any item of economic value, either physical in nature (such as land) or a right to ownership, expressed in cost or some other value, which an individual or entity owns.
Authorization (Act)
Basic substantive legislation or other action that empowers an agency to implement a particular program and also establishes an upper limit on the amount of funds which can be appropriated for that program.
Automated guideway transit
Guided transit vehicles operating singly or in multi-car trains with a fully automated system (no crew on transit units). Service may be on a fixed schedule or in response to a passenger-activated call button. Automated guideway transit includes personal rapid transit, group rapid transit and people-mover systems.
Automatic fare collection system (AFC)
A system of controls and equipment that automatically admits passengers following insertion of the correct fare in coins, tokens, tickets or farecards. It also may include special equipment for transporting and counting revenues.
Automatic vehicle location (AVL)
A system that senses, at intervals, the location of vehicles carrying special electronic equipment that communicates a signal back to a central control facility.
Automatic vehicle monitoring
A system in which electronic equipment on a vehicle sends signals back to a central control facility, locating the vehicle and providing other information about its operations or about its mechanical condition.
Automobile
Passenger cars, up to and including station wagons in size.
Auto-oriented development
Development that is designed with an emphasis on access and parking by personal vehicles. This type of development is characterized by large surface parking lots, wide streets, few or no sidewalks and long distances between buildings. Auto-oriented sites typically are designed with such that buildings are sufficiently "set back" away from streets and property boundaries in order to allow parking to surround the buildings, thereby discouraging pedestrian access. Building entrances often open on to parking areas rather than streets, making pedestrian access less desirable.
Auto-restricted zone (ARZ)
An area in which normal automobile traffic is prohibited or limited to certain times, and vehicular traffic is restricted to public transit, emergency vehicles, taxicabs and, in some cases, delivery of goods.
Auxilary equipment
Any particular item of equipment added to a vehicle to aid or contribute to the vehicle's operation and/or mission.
AVAS
Automated voice annunciator system
Average vehicle occupancy (AVO)
The number of people in vehicles arriving at a work site divided by the number of vehicles arriving at the work site.
Average vehicle ridership (AVR)
The number of employees scheduled to start work during a specified time period divided by the number of vehicles arriving to the work site during the same time period.
AVI
Automated vehicle identification
AVM
Automatic vehicle monitoring
AVO
Available vehicle occupancy
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