Transit agencies must use the National Transit Database (NTD) Internet Reporting system to provide their data via reports to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). NTD Internet Reporting is the online means for transit agencies to enter, save, review and revise data, and submit reports. It provides for timely and accurate reporting as all tasks and requirements for the NTD can be fulfilled via this system.
This section provides Internet Reporting information for the NTD Annual report.
New CEO Certification and correspondence templates have been developed.
Upon NTD’s receipt of CEO Certifications or Nine or Fewer Vehicle waivers the CEO will receive an automated acknowledgement from FTA that the correspondence has been logged and is being processed.
Numerous measures have been taken to ensure that all data entered into the Internet Reporting system are safe and available only to those with proper access. The NTD servers and network are secured behind a firewall. The website operates the secure web protocol, https, and the entire site is password protected. Additionally, multiple server and database protection layers protect the database files.
Internet Reporting is accessed from the NTD Home page.
To access Internet Reporting:
Use your Internet service provider (ISP) to connect to the Internet. Internet Reporting requires a web browser that is at least a 6.x version (Internet Explorer 6.0).
If you don’t have the latest version of the browser, go to Microsoft.com to download the latest version free of charge.
Verify that your browser is set to check for newer versions of stored pages with each visit to the page.
In Internet Explorer, this is done by accessing Tools / Internet Options / General / Temporary Internet Files Settings / Every Visit to Page.
The NTD Home Page offers the following information and data for reporters and others interested in the NTD:
Clicking the Internet Reporting Login link will open the Internet Reporting Logon page. Enter your User Name and Password to gain access to NTD Report Home.
Internet Reporting provides four levels of access to the Annual Report:
The system access level is determined by the user name. The first three characters of the user name define the access level and the last four digits represent the transit agency’s NTD ID. There are four types of user names corresponding to the four access levels available within the Annual Report:
Each transit agency is e-mailed this set of user names with a password for each. Transit agencies determine access within their organizations and distribute user names and passwords accordingly.
A user can change his / her password at any time. Refer to Sys Admin: Changing Your Password for additional information on this topic. Users should be aware that passwords expire every ninety days.
The
CEO and NTD contact person use the same password for both report areas. Beginning
with the 2006 report year, the CEO and NTD contact person may access all reporting
areas (Urbanized Area, Monthly Ridership and Safety and Security) from the Home
tab.
Annual Report includes the following tabs:
After completing the logon process you will be taken to the Annual Report Home page. Click the Home tab near the top of any screen to return to the Home tab from another area.
The e-File tab gives transit agencies a centralized area in which to compose, organize and track their correspondence with the NTD program.
All correspondence, waivers and other requests, as well as the CEO Certifications and Independent Auditor Statement for Financial Data (IAS – FD), are attached and submitted using the e-File tab. The e-File tab provides greater organization and tracking of all transactions:
E-mail responses are sent to the transit agency following requests through the e-File system. Examples of letters sent from FTA to transit agencies are:
The e-File tab is located between the Home tab and the Annual tab. The e-File Summary screen provides a snapshot of the status of the NTD Annual report:
This section lists the dates that the original report submission and each subsequent revision were sent to NTD and returned to the transit agency. Most of the information listed pertains to the current report year. However, some correspondence or requests may pertain to future years. These items will be displayed indicating the future report year. In most cases, correspondence spans two report years. You may now select up to two report years for the same request.
To view prior years’ e-File information, use the Report Drop-Down menu, located at the top of the e-File Summary screen, to select the year you wish to view. Note that e-File information is not available prior to RY2002.
To add correspondence for prior years’ e-File information, click the Add Correspondence button on the current year’s e-File Summary screen. Select the year for which you wish to add correspondence from the Add Correspondence screen.
This section contains the correspondence for any waiver requests as well as their current status. Waivers include:
This contains the declarations submitted to NTD via the e-File and their current status (Not Submitted, Received, Cancelled, Approved, Approved with Issues, and Denied). The declarations are:
Other Agency RequestsAll other correspondence between the transit agency and NTD is contained in Other Agency Requests. Examples of this type of correspondence are:
As reports are submitted, each report stage and the corresponding submittal date are auto-generated under the Report Stage section of the e-File Summary screen. The various stages that can be listed are:
Waivers and Other Agency Requests are all considered correspondence. The following discusses each type of request and describes the steps taken to create, edit and submit them. Some declarations are also submitted in the e-File.
On the e-File Summary screen buttons are available for each type of correspondence request and declaration (i.e. waivers, declarations and other agency requests). Click the appropriate button to initiate a specific request and display the Add Correspondence / File screen.
Once a request or declaration is initiated, users will be directed to the Add Correspondence / File screen. On this screen there are several specific pieces of information that are required, including:
Report Year: This is a required
field that identifies the report year for which the correspondence is made. In
most cases, transit agencies will be adding correspondence that will be applicable
to the current report year; however, correspondence pertaining to a future report
year may also be initiated. Both current and future report year correspondence
will appear on the e-File Summary screen by report year.
This is a required field. Use the Drop-Down menus
to identify the type of correspondence to be submitted. For example, if the user
arrived at this screen by clicking the Add Waiver button, the Drop-Down
menu will display the five waiver types. If the user clicked the Add Declaration
button, the four declaration types will be listed. 
The templates contain NTD standardized content for each correspondence type. From the Drop- Down menu, select the appropriate correspondence Type. A window will open and the text of the selected template will be displayed within the window.
Within the body of the templates there are a series of fields comprised of letters and short descriptions enclosed in square brackets throughout the text (i.e., [vehicle type]). These fields indicate required information necessary for NTD to process the request. These fields must be completed by the transit agency and should be reviewed carefully and updated as necessary prior to submission.
Read the text of the template carefully, complete all required data fields, make edits as necessary and when finished, click on the Save button. Once the content of the correspondence is reviewed, edited and approved, the request is submitted to the NTD by clicking on the Submit button. You may also print the correspondence on agency letterhead and attach it to the e-File tab under the Other Agency Requests heading.
If a template is not available for the type of request the transit agency needs to make, compose the request on transit agency letterhead, save the document and submit to the request to NTD following the guidelines below.
Appropriate transit agency personnel can edit the request at any time after the request is saved and prior to submission. To edit the request click on the link to the file you wish to edit (Data Waiver). The file will open allowing the user to edit the content as necessary; however, several of the fields used to identify the specific request are not editable. To edit the attachment:
Attaching
CorrespondenceOther types of correspondence may also be attached under the Other Agency Requests heading on the e-File tab. To attach the written request select the Letter Attachment radio button, then select the Browse button. A Windows Dialog box will appear. The appearance of the window may be different based on the operating system (Windows NT, 2000, 95/98, Apple Mac, etc…) being used. Navigate to the directory in which your file is stored and click Open. The file name will appear in the text area to the left of the Browse button.
The final step in creating correspondence (waiver, declaration or other agency request) is to save and / or submit the request or declaration by using one of the three buttons at the bottom of the screen.
Internet Reporting provides four levels of access:
These roles control the permission level of each user, allowing them to perform certain tasks within the system. While certain users can create, save, and submit requests others may only be able to create and save or simply view the request. This type of role-based security allows Internet Reporting to verify that the appropriate people are making the necessary requests. Based on a user’s role, they will see a Cancel, Save and / or Submit button. For example:
Clicking on the Submit button will save and send the correspondence to NTD.
Once the request is saved or submitted, the user is returned to the e-File Summary screen. The e-File Summary screen will display the request under the appropriate heading, followed by the identifying subject line, the year for which the request is relevant, the date the request was created, and the status of the request.
Upon receipt of CEO Certifications or Nine or Fewer Vehicle waivers at the NTD project site an e-mail will be sent back to the CEO and contact person acknowledging receipt of the correspondence. This acknowledgement will also be posted on the e-File tab. Should the agency identify problems with the original request, or if the CEO does not acknowledge that a CEO Certification was submitted, you should contact your Validation Analyst immediately upon receipt of the e-mail.
Once a request is submitted, NTD begins its processing the request or declaration. When the process is complete, it is given a final status that the transit agency is able to view.
The status column is intended to inform the transit agency about the progress of each request. Distinct statuses apply to the different request types. The following is a list of the potential statuses and their meanings:
Official notification from NTD is necessary for a request to be considered approved or denied. When such an action is taken by NTD, the status column will no longer appear as Received but will instead reflect the appropriate status. A status other than received indicates that NTD processed the request. Once the status changes, the user should review NTD's official response.
In order to view submitted requests, click on the hyperlink for the request you want to edit. The text of the request will be displayed for the Template, or there will be a link for the Letter Attachment (as there was when editing). However, since this request was already submitted, the Save and Submit buttons will no longer be available to the user.
When you access the e-File Summary screen, there may be two links for attached files. This occurs if you submitted an attached document to NTD. The submitted document will be the first link you see. The second link is the official response from NTD. To view the response, simply click on the link and select Open Document when prompted by the operating systems dialog box.
Failure to Report, Late Report, Incomplete Report and Failure to Respond letters are sent to transit agencies that do not comply with NTD reporting requirements. Electronic copies of the letters are submitted to transit agencies via the e-File tab.
At the end of the report year the e-File Summary screen provides a picture of an entire report year. The number of requests will vary by transit agency; however, all correspondence between the transit agency and NTD is captured. Most important, when the transit agency is closed out, under Report Stage the status Closeout appears, and a closeout letter is listed.
Click on the Annual tab to open the Forms Summary screen. The Forms Summary screen lists the 2006 NTD modules and provides links to the specific forms, within each module, that your transit agency is required to complete.
Initially, the Forms Summary screen only provides access to two forms within the Basic Information Module:
After the transit agency reviews, completes and saves the Identification form (B-10), Internet Reporting automatically generates the forms necessary to complete the NTD Annual report.
The forms generated are dependent upon the number of vehicles operated in annual maximum service by mode and type of service, the UZA size, whether a Nine or Fewer Vehicles Waiver request has been indicated and whether the seller in a purchased transportation agreement is filing a separate NTD Annual report. (All form-by-form instructions and reporting details are incorporated into the form specific sections of this manual.)
After the Identification form (B-10) has been saved the Forms Summary screen provides access to forms that your transit agency is required to complete. The mode and type of service, the update user and update date, and the number of issues for the each form are also displayed.
The Forms Summary screen also allows a transit agency to add a Contractual Relationship form (B-30). Currently a Contractual Relationship form (B-30) is automatically generated for purchased transportation agreements, i.e., contracts that existed in the transit agency’s previous year report if at least one mode designated on that form is also reported on the Identification form (B10) for the current reporting year.
If the transit agency needs to add a new contract, an additional form can be created by clicking the Add Form button at the bottom of the Forms Summary screen and selecting Contractual Relationship form (B-30) from the Drop-Down menu.
Click on the Monthly Ridership tab to open the Monthly Ridership screen. This screen provides access to the Monthly Ridership Module forms for editing and submitting your report to FTA.
Form-by-form instructions and reporting details for the Monthly Ridership Module are included in the Monthly Ridership Reporting Manual.
Click on the Safety and Security tab to open the Safety and Security screen. This screen provides access to the Safety and Security Module forms for editing and submitting your report to FTA.
Form-by-form instructions and reporting details for the Safety and Security Module are included in the Safety and Security Reporting Manual.
Click on the Notes tab to open the Notes Summary screen. Internet Reporting allows the transit agency to create a Form Note for information applicable to the overall form.
To create a Form Note click on the Add Form Note link at the top right of the form you are editing or viewing. Internet Reporting will take you to the Form Notes screen for the specific form. Internet Reporting will pre-fill the mode and type of service (if applicable) for which the note is created. The transit agency completes the note comment.
To save a Form Note, click on the Save button at the bottom of the screen. To return to the form being edited without saving the note, click on the Cancel button.
Click on the Form Notes tab to view the Form Notes screen. You can review the Form Notes associated with a specific form or all Form Notes for the report. While working in a form click on the Form Notes tab to display the Form Notes screen for the form. The form name and mode / type of service will be displayed just beneath the tabs.
While you are in Working Data you can edit a note after it has been created. Click on the Edit Note link in the far right column on the Form Notes screen. Once the NTD Annual report is submitted the notes are frozen and cannot be edited. Notes can only be edited while in the Working Data report data set.
Notes
are frozen with each submission. If the report is sent back to the transit agency
and notes are reviewed or added, the previously submitted notes will not be affected.
Form Notes are printed as part of each form’s report that is generated using the Print button at the bottom of each form. All Form Notes can be printed from the Reports tab by clicking the All Form Notes link. (Form Notes are not included in the All Portrait and All Landscape Forms reports listed on the Reports tab.)
The Issues screen, accessed by clicking the Issues tab, highlights potential problems with specific data items identified through the NTD validation process.
In support of the NTD validation process an NTD analyst is assigned to each transit agency. NTD analysts are available to assist transit agency personnel and may be contacted at the NTD Project Office. Refer to Exhibit 7 in the Introduction section of this manual for NTD contact information.
The NTD validation process ensures that NTD reporting requirements are met and that the reported data fall into reasonable ranges and make sense. Validation checks include:
NTD validation is an interactive, iterative process with two alternating phases:
Internet Reporting automatically performs issue checks after a form is saved allowing the transit agency to assess the completeness and reasonableness of its data prior to submission to FTA.
Since
some issues checks are performed using data items from more than one form, it
is best to respond to issues after all forms are completed.
Issues are classified by issue type according to severity and action required in order to submit the NTD Annual report:
The Forms Summary screen identifies the number of issues by each type for each form.
Issues are available for review on the Issues tab. Clicking on the Issues tab from the form provides a complete listing of the issues applicable to that form. Clicking on the Issues tab from the Annual Report Home page or the Forms Summary screen provides a complete listing of all issues on all forms.
Prior to the original submission, issues are deleted as the transit agency corrects data and resaves a form. Important issues that remain when the NTD Annual report is submitted will continue to be available for review on the Issues tab. Any corrections or explanations subsequent to the original submission will be recorded and available for review by the transit agency and the NTD staff.
As
with Form Notes, the issues will be frozen with each submission, and will
not be altered if the report is returned and issues are revised.
Remember to save after entering form notes and before submitting your report.
After the transit agency submits the NTD Annual report the report is frozen as the Original Submission report stage. At this point in the process the data cannot be edited by the transit agency. This is also true of each re-submission (revision).
The issues will undergo a series of reviews by NTD staff during which the issue status may be changed. At each stage, the transit agency should revise forms as necessary, review issues, respond to the issues, save and re-submit the report. The status of an issue is not considered to be final until the Closeout letter has been generated.
Exhibit 7 — Issue Status | |
|
Active | Issues that require review by the transit agency. |
|
Active with Comments | After a transit agency reviews and adds comments to an Active issue, the issue is assigned an Active with Comments status. |
|
Questionable | Issues may be included in a Closeout with Issues letter and pertinent data is indicated as Questionable in publications. |
|
Under Review | NTD analysts recommend that these issues have been sufficiently addressed by the transit agency. |
| Reviewed | Recommendation to FTA that no further action is necessary by the transit agency. |
| Fixed | Issues corrected by the transit agency by revising those data item(s) which caused the issue to be generated originally. No further action is required by the transit agency for these issues. |
As the report is moved through the validation process, the NTD analysts review the reported data and recommend to FTA to either accept the transit agency’s issue comments or designate the issue as Active for further review by the transit agency. Upon completion of their review the NTD analysts will once again make the report available to the transit agency as Working Data. Doing so allows the transit agency to further edit the report or provide more information. Review by both the transit agency (in working data stage) and NTD analysts (in revision stages) continues until all issues have been designated as Fixed, Questionable or Reviewed. The report will then move to the Closeout report stage.
The validation process ends with the generation of the Closeout letter for a transit agency:
These letters can be accessed from the e-File tab. Transit agencies should not to respond to a Closeout letter.
Click on the Reports tab to display the Reports screen. This screen provides access to several reports available to assist you in preparing your NTD Annual report.
Before a report can be successfully opened the Crystal Reports Viewer must be downloaded to your personal computer (PC). Please refer to the section on Printing for instructions on downloading this viewer and also for viewing, printing and exporting a report.
To open a report click the corresponding link on the Reports screen.
The following report links are available on the Reports screen:
Click on the All Portrait Forms and All Landscape Forms links to open all of the NTD Annual report forms. You will not need to alter your printer orientation settings as these will be set automatically.
The individual form reports included in the All Portrait Form reports include:
The individual form reports included in the All Landscape Form reports are:
The
reports for the Contractual Relationship (B-30), Fixed Guideway Segments (S-20),
and Federal Funding Allocation Statistics (FFA-10) reports are not included in
the All Landscape Reports at this time. To print these forms use the Print button
on each form screen.
The Form Notes and Issues associated with each form are not included in these reports. (They are, however, included on the individual form reports generated as a result of clicking the Print button on each form screen.)
Click on the All Form Notes Report link to print all of the Form Notes associated with the NTD Annual report as viewed on the Form Notes screen.
Click on the All Issues Report link to print all of the Issues associated with all of the NTD Annual report as viewed on the Issues screen.
For all of these reports, the default will be a five-year history. However, the user can change the report to show more years’ history using the drop-down list.
Click on the Service Characteristics link to view the Service Characteristics report. This report provides the number of vehicles operated in maximum service, the vehicle revenue hours and miles, the deadhead hours and miles, the total actual hours and miles, the number of unlinked passenger trips, the number of passenger miles and the total operating expense for each mode and type of service operated for the current reporting year and four years prior with the percentage of variation from year to year.
Click on the Performance Characteristics link to view the Performance Characteristics report. This report provides the trip length, load factor, revenue speed, deadhead speed, cost per hour, cost per mile and cost per passenger for each mode and type of service operated for the current reporting year and four years prior with the percentage of variation from year to year.
Click on the Revenue Vehicle Inventory – Prior Year’s History link to view the Revenue Vehicle Inventory – Prior Year’s History report. This report provides the total fleet, active fleet, ADA fleet, and average fleet age for each mode and type of service operated for the current reporting year and four years prior with the percentage of variation from year to year.
Click
on the Operating Expenses by Function and Hourly Wages – Prior Year’s History
link to view the Operating Expenses – Prior Year’s History report. This report
provides the vehicle operations expense, vehicle maintenance
expense, non-vehicle
maintenance expense, general administration expense, vehicle operations
hourly wage rate, vehicle maintenance hourly wage rate, non-vehicle maintenance
hourly wage rate and general administration hourly wage rate for each mode and
type of service operated for the current reporting year and four years prior with
the percentage of variation from year to year.
The Communications tab gives transit agencies a centralized area in which to view their past correspondence with the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) National Transit Database (NTD) program. In addition, the correspondence view can be filtered to show only certain processes or communication types.
The Sys Admin screen provides the ability to change your NTD password.
All passwords expire every ninety days. You can change your password at anytime on the Sys Admin screen by specifying your current and new password. To be valid, a password must be at least eight characters long and contain at least one letter and one number. It cannot contain spaces. Passwords are case-sensitive. If you do not update your password within the ninety-day term, you will be forced to update your password when you first access the system once the ninety-day period has expired. The screen is similar to the one available on the Sys Admin screen and the same password rules apply.
Click on the Help tab to display the Help screen. The Help screen provides access to the 2006 Urbanized Area Reporting Manual for additional help in completing the NTD Annual report forms. The Help screen displays the table of contents for the Reporting Manual with links to each section of the manual.
Do not use the browser Back and Forward buttons to navigate between screens. Instead, use the Internet Reporting system buttons, tabs and links.
A Save button is provided at the bottom of each Internet Reporting form. When entering information into a form it is strongly recommended that you save the form frequently. This will prevent the loss of data if your Internet connection is unexpectedly lost. Also, Internet Reporting has an automatic time-out feature which will log you off of the system after a period of inactivity. It is strongly recommended that you save your work every 15 minutes. Otherwise, there is a risk that the next action you take on the system will result in the closure of the screen displayed in your browser and the loss of any data that you had not saved.
Reports can be generated within the Internet Reporting system from either the Reports tab or from the individual form screens.
For trouble-shooting information refer to the Announcement section of the Annual Report Home page.
In order to facilitate viewing, printing and exporting of reports Internet Reporting utilizes the Crystal Reports downloadable viewer and writer. You will be prompted to download the Crystal Smart Viewer for Active X free of charge the first time the print functionality is accessed, (a report link is clicked on the Reports tab or the Print button is clicked on a form page.). This download occurs only once and is absolutely necessary to view or print a report.
Click on the Report link on the Reports tab to display the report within the Crystal Reports Viewer. Use the scroll bar or the following navigation buttons to scroll through the report:
.You
can also search for text within a report by clicking on the binoculars icon 
to display the Search dialogue box and then entering
the text or key word you wish to find in the Find What field. If the text
you entered is found within the report, it will be outlined in red.
Click
on the Report link to display the report within the Crystal Reports
Viewer. Click the Print Report button 
(printer icon) in the upper left corner of the viewer.
Then click the Print button on the resulting Print screen.
Click
on the Print button supplied at the bottom of the form screen to display
the report in the Crystal Reports Viewer. Click the Print Report
button 
(printer icon) in the upper left corner of the viewer.
Then click the Print button on the resulting Print screen.
From
the Reports screen, click on the link for the report you wish to export.
The report will display in the Crystal Reports Viewer. Select Export
Report 
(envelope icon) in the left corner of the viewer. The
Report Export Viewer window will be displayed.
In the Save In field, select the local or network drive where you would like your export file to be saved. From the Save As Type Drop-Down list field, select from one of the following export file formats:
Enter the name of the export file in the File Name field and click the Save button.