(a) Eligible applicants.--The following may apply for financial assistance for operating expenses under this section:
(1) The governing body of a municipality or an instrumentality of a municipality.
(2) A Commonwealth agency or instrumentality.
(3) A local transportation organization.
(b) Applications.--In addition to information required under section 1507 (relating to application and approval process), an application for financial assistance under this section shall include the applicant's reasonable estimates of operating revenue and government subsidies sufficient to cover all projected operating expenses.
(c) Distribution formula.--
(1) No later than 15 business days after the effective date of this section, the department shall forward to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin the base operating allocation for each local transportation organization.
(1.1) For purposes of determining the amount of assistance available for distribution under this subsection, in addition to the amounts allocated under section 1506(e)(1)(relating to fund), an amount equal to the revenue in the Public Transportation Assistance Fund dedicated pursuant to law shall be included.
(2) For fiscal year 2007-2008 and each fiscal year thereafter, each qualifying local transportation organization shall receive financial assistance which shall consist of the following:
(i) Its base operating allocation multiplied by 1.0506.
(ii) An additional amount which shall be allocated based on the following distribution formula:
(A) Twenty-five percent of the award amount shall be based on the number of passengers. The actual amount received by each local transportation organization under this clause shall be calculated as follows:
(I) Multiply the total amount of funding available for distribution under this paragraph by 0.25.
(II) Multiply the product under subclause (I) by the local transportation organization's number of passengers.
(III) Divide the product under subclause (II) by the total number of passengers for all local transportation organizations.
(B) Ten percent of the award amount shall be based on the number of senior passengers to offset free fares for senior passengers. The actual amount received by each local transportation organization under this clause shall be calculated as follows:
(I) Multiply the total amount of funding available for distribution under this paragraph by 0.10.
(II) Multiply the product under subclause (I) by the local transportation organization's number of senior passengers.
(III) Divide the product under subclause (II) by the total number of senior passengers for all local transportation organizations.
(C) Thirty-five percent of the award amount shall be based on the number of revenue vehicle hours. The actual amount received by each local transportation organization under this clause shall be calculated as follows:
(I) Multiply the total amount of funding available for distribution under this paragraph by 0.35.
(II) Multiply the product under subclause (I) by the local transportation organization's number of revenue vehicle hours.
(III) Divide the product under subclause (II) by the total of the revenue vehicle hours for all local transportation organizations.
(D) Thirty percent of the award amount shall be based on the number of revenue vehicle miles. The actual amount received by each local transportation organization under this clause shall be calculated as follows:
(I) Multiply the total amount of funding available for distribution under this paragraph by 0.30.
(II) Multiply the product under subclause (I) by the local transportation organization's number of revenue vehicle miles.
(III) Divide the product under subclause (II) by the total number of revenue vehicle miles for all local transportation organizations.
(3) For the 2007-2008 fiscal year, no local transportation organization shall receive total financial assistance under this subsection that would be more than 50% higher than the amount it receives under paragraph (2)(i). For each subsequent fiscal year, the increase in the total financial assistance provided to each local transportation organization shall not exceed 20% of the prior year allocation.
(c.1) Minimum.--No local transportation organization shall receive financial assistance under this section in an amount less than the amount received in the previous fiscal year.
(d) Local match requirements.--
(1) For fiscal year 2007-2008 and each fiscal year thereafter, except as provided under paragraph (2), financial assistance provided under this section shall be matched by local or private cash funding in an amount not less than the greater of:
(i) 15% of the amount of the financial assistance being provided; or
(ii) the amount required under former section 1311(d) (relating to use of funds distributed) for fiscal year 2006-2007.
(2) Beginning in fiscal year 2007-2008 and each fiscal year thereafter, if the local matching funds provided are less than 15% of the amount of financial assistance received, the local transportation organization's required local matching funds shall increase annually in order to meet the 15% requirement set forth under paragraph (1)(i). The local matching funds shall be increased annually by a minimum of 5% above the amount of local matching funds provided in the previous fiscal year unless a lesser amount is necessary to meet the 15% requirement set forth under paragraph (1)(i).
(3) Eligible local matching funds shall consist only of cash contributions provided by one or more municipalities or counties. The amount of the match and the time period during which the match must continue to be available shall be specified in the financial assistance agreement. Funding provided by local and private entities, including advertising or naming rights, may qualify as local matching funds to the extent they provide for the cost of transit service that is open to the public. The following shall not be considered local matching funds:
(i) Any form of transit operating revenue or other forms of transit income provided by the local transportation organization.
(ii) Funds used to replace fares.
(4) A municipality in a metropolitan area which is a member of a local transportation organization is authorized to provide annual financial assistance from current revenues to the local transportation organization of which it is a member or enter into a long-term agreement for payment of money to assist in defraying the costs of operation, maintenance and debt service of the local transportation organization or of a particular public transportation project of a local transportation organization. The obligation of a municipality under an agreement pursuant to this paragraph shall not be considered to be a part of the indebtedness of the municipality, nor shall the obligation be deemed to impair the status of any indebtedness of the municipality which would otherwise be considered self-sustaining.
(e) Performance reviews.--
(1) The department may conduct performance reviews of an award recipient under this section to determine the effectiveness of the financial assistance. Reviews shall be conducted at regular intervals as established by the department in consultation with the management of the award recipient. After completion of a review, the department shall issue a report that:
(i) highlights exceptional performance and identifies any problems that need to be resolved;
(ii) assesses performance, efficiency and effectiveness of the use of the financial assistance;
(iii) makes recommendations on follow-up actions required to remedy any problem identified; and
(iv) provides an action plan documenting who should perform the recommended actions and a time frame within which they should be performed.
(2) The department shall deliver the report to the Governor, to the chairman and minority chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Senate and to the chairman and minority chairman of the Transportation Committee of the House of Representatives. The department's regulations shall contain a description of the impact on both the amount of, and future eligibility for, financial assistance under this chapter based upon the degree to which the local transportation organization complies with the recommendations in the report. The department shall develop a list of best practices revealed by the reports issued under this subsection and shall post them on the department's Internet website.
(f) Performance criteria.--Criteria used for the reviews conducted under subsection (e) shall consist of passengers per revenue vehicle hour, operating costs per revenue vehicle hour, operating revenue per revenue vehicle hour, operating costs per passenger and other items as the department may establish. The department's regulations shall set forth the minimum system performance criteria based upon comparison of the award recipient to its past performance and to its peers that an award recipient must satisfy.
(g) Failure to satisfy minimum performance criteria.--
(1) If a performance review conducted under subsection (e) reveals that the performance of an award recipient's transportation system has decreased compared to performance determined through a prior review, the department may, upon the written request of an award recipient, waive any requirement for a reduction in the amount of financial assistance to be awarded under this section for a reasonable time period to allow the award recipient to bring the system back to the required performance level. The award recipient shall provide written justification for providing a time period longer than two years. In order to obtain the waiver for the period requested, the award recipient must do all of the following:
(i) Develop an action plan to improve system performance that contains key measurable milestones. The action plan must be acceptable to the department and must be approved by the department in writing.
(ii) Submit quarterly progress reports on the action plan to the department.
(2) The department shall review and evaluate the award recipient's progress to determine if the system has improved. If the system has improved, the award recipient will remain eligible for full formula funding as determined under subsection (c). If the system has not improved by the end of the waiver period, the waiver will be withdrawn. Expenses incurred by the award recipient as a result of the failure of the award recipient's system to meet the minimum performance criteria shall be borne by the award recipient.
(h) Adjustments to minimum performance criteria.--Upon written request of an award recipient, the department may adjust the minimum performance criteria described in subsection (g) in a given year if the performance of the award recipient's system is adversely affected by circumstances which are beyond the award recipient's control. Examples are labor strikes, infrastructure failures and natural disasters. The request must include the award recipient's reasons for seeking the adjustment.