BACKGROUND

All vehicle operators in the United States who operate vehicles designed with 16 or more seats (including the driver’s seat) are required to meet the training and licensing requirements established by the U.S. Commercial Vehicle Safety Act (1986) and acquire a commercial driver’s license (CDL). Public transportation operators' responsibilities differ from long-distance professional drivers, such as truck and tour bus drivers. Trained and licensed public transportation vehicle operators are required to safely negotiate mixed traffic at a reasonable speed, deal with unforeseen obstacles, assist riders (including people with disabilities), respond to inquiries and emergencies, and maintain order on buses. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is responsible for the CDL Program, which establishes national standards for training, testing, licensing, and disqualifying commercial drivers and ensures that only qualified drivers are eligible to receive and retain a CDL (FMCSA 2022). In February 2022, a new FMCSA requirement called Entry Level Driver Training (ELDT) went into effect, which sets a baseline training requirement for obtaining a CDL. CDL testing and licensing are administered by states, which must meet federal requirements and may add requirements, resulting in differences in testing and licensing requirements among states. 

Current FMCSA requirements for obtaining a CDL B license (i.e., the class of license required for vehicles larger than 26,001 lbs.), including ELDT, do not distinguish between the job requirements of truck drivers and public transportation vehicle operators; some job requirements for truck drivers may not be relevant to public transportation vehicle operators. 

The public transportation industry is currently facing the following challenges regarding vehicle operator licensing: 

• Public transportation agencies often pay to train new vehicle operators who leave their positions with transit agencies to become truck drivers with better salaries and benefits after they obtain their CDL.
• Some potential bus operators seek other full-time employment during the wait time for CDL-related training and testing. 
• Some trainees may not pass the CDL test because of limitations in English language proficiency.
• Some trainees do not obtain a CDL because they do not pass elements of the physical exam.
• Some public transportation providers have difficulty attracting qualified trainers for CDL licensing of vehicle operators.
• Paratransit and rural transit services may acquire smaller vehicles to avoid CDL requirements to expand the pool of prospective vehicle operators; however, this may increase capital and operating costs.
• Other factors, including state-specific requirements, may limit the availability of public transportation vehicle operators, such as age (for interstate operators) and prior criminal record.

Research is needed to address these and other related matters affecting public transportation services in the United States. 

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this project is to examine the positive and negative impacts of commercial licensing requirements for U.S. public transportation providers. This project should address the current CDL testing requirements and identify the key challenges public transportation agencies face. The key audiences for this project are state departments of transportation and U.S. public transportation providers in urbanized areas of all sizes, rural areas, and Tribal communities. The public transportation services addressed in this project include publicly available fixed route and demand response services.

RESEARCH PLAN 

The research plan will describe appropriate deliverables that include the following (which also represent key project milestones): 

• An amplified research plan that responds to comments made by the project panel during the contractor selection meeting.
• An interim report and panel meeting. The interim report should include the analyses and results of completed tasks, a plan for the remaining tasks, and a detailed outline of the final research product(s). The panel meeting will be virtual (e.g., Zoom) and will take place after the panel review of the interim report. The interim report should be submitted, and the panel meeting should occur after the expenditure of about 40 to 50 percent of the project budget.
• Final deliverables. The final deliverables should fully address this project’s objective.
• A technical memorandum titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products”.
• A slide deck that presents the research findings and conclusions that may be used in webinars. 

STATUS: Proposals have been received in response to the RFP. The project panel will meet to select a contractor to perform the work.