ARC 0219D

ARC 0219D

TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT[761]

Adopted and Filed

Rulemaking related to coordination of public transit services

    The Transportation Department hereby rescinds Chapter 910, “Coordination of Public Transit Services,” Iowa Administrative Code, and adopts a new Chapter 910 with the same title.

Legal Authority for Rulemaking

    This rulemaking is adopted under the authority provided in Iowa Code section 324A.4.

State or Federal Law Implemented

    This rulemaking implements, in whole or in part, Iowa Code sections 324A.4, 324A.5 and 325A.1.

Purpose and Summary

    Chapter 910 describes the purpose, leadership, staffing, and duties of the statewide Transportation Coordination Advisory Council and the certification process for complying with the transportation coordination mandate in Iowa Code chapter 324A. The changes made to this chapter include removing unnecessarily restrictive terms, correcting the timing of Transportation Coordination Advisory Council meetings, and editorial changes for brevity and readability.

Public Comment and Changes to Rulemaking

    Notice of Intended Action for this rulemaking was published in the Iowa Administrative Bulletin on January 7, 2026, as ARC 9872C. Public hearings were held on the following date:

     ?   January 28, 2026

    No one attended the public hearings. No public comments were received. No changes from the Notice have been made.

Adoption of Rulemaking

    This rulemaking was adopted by the Department on March 10, 2026.

Fiscal Impact

     This rulemaking has no fiscal impact to the State of Iowa. This rulemaking explains how agencies receiving funds for transportation to the public should coordinate with the local public transit provider.

Jobs Impact

    This rulemaking explains how recipients of public funding for transportation for the public can comply with the mandate to coordinate public transportation services in the State. This rulemaking details the forms to fill out, timeline for compliance, and role of the Transportation Coordination Advisory Committee. No jobs are impacted by this rulemaking.

Waivers

    Any person who believes that the application of the discretionary provisions of this rulemaking would result in hardship or injustice to that person may petition the Department for a waiver of the discretionary provisions, if any, pursuant to 761—Chapter 11.

Review by Administrative Rules Review Committee

    The Administrative Rules Review Committee, a bipartisan legislative committee which oversees rulemaking by executive branch agencies, may, on its own motion or on written request by any individual or group, review this rulemaking at its regular monthly meeting or at a special meeting. The Committee’s meetings are open to the public, and interested persons may be heard as provided in Iowa Code section 17A.8(6).

Effective Date

    This rulemaking will become effective on May 20, 2026.

    The following rulemaking action is adopted:

    ITEM 1.  Rescind 761—Chapter 910 and adopt the following new chapter in lieu thereof:

CHAPTER 910

COORDINATION OF PUBLIC TRANSIT SERVICES

761—910.1(324A) Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply in addition to the definitions in Iowa Code section 324A.1:

    “Council” means the statewide transportation coordination advisory council formed in rule 761—910.3(324A).

    “Emergency transportation” means transportation provided when life, health or safety is in danger, such as ambulance or law enforcement transportation.

    “Incidental transportation” means the provision of transit rides when existing public transportation services cannot meet demand.

    “Provider” means any recipient of direct or indirect, state, federal or local funds, including a public transit system, that provides or contracts for public transit services.

    “Public school transportation” means passenger transportation provided by or for a legally organized Iowa public school district for school district purposes.

    “Public transit service” means any publicly funded passenger transportation for the general public or for specific client groups not including exclusive public school transportation, emergency transportation or incidental transportation or transportation provided by the department of health and human services or department of corrections on the grounds of the following institutions:

State training school, Eldora;

Cherokee mental health institute;

Independence mental health institute;

Woodward resource center;

Civil commitment unit for sexual offenders, Cherokee;

Iowa veterans home, Marshalltown;

Iowa state penitentiary, Fort Madison;

Anamosa state penitentiary;

Iowa correctional institution for women, Mitchellville;

Mount Pleasant correctional facility;

Newton correctional facility;

Iowa medical and classification center, Coralville;

North central correctional facility, Rockwell City;

Fort Dodge correctional facility;

Clarinda correctional facility.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 324A.1.

761—910.2(17A) Information and location. Forms or information about the coordination of public transit services are available from the Modal Transportation Bureau, Iowa Department of Transportation, 800 Lincoln Way, Ames, Iowa 50010; telephone 515.233.7870 or on the department’s website at iowadot.gov/modes-travel/transit.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 17A.3.

761—910.3(324A) Statewide transportation coordination advisory council.

    910.3(1) Purpose. An advisory council will be formed by the department to assist with implementation of the compliance reviews required by statute. The council will assist in the review of information concerning the transportation operations of providers and advise the department as to whether the provider should be found to be in compliance with the transportation coordination mandate of Iowa Code chapter 324A.

    910.3(2) Advisory council.

    a.  Membership. Membership in the council shall at minimum include one representative from the department of health and human services and one from the department. Other state, federal and private agencies funding local transportation services may also be granted membership.

    b.  Chairperson. The director of transportation or the director’s representative shall serve as chairperson of the council.

    c.  Staff. Staff support for council activities will be provided by the department.

    d.  Meetings. Meetings will be held at least once each quarter and may be held more frequently if necessary to enable the council to expeditiously discharge its duties.

    910.3(3) Duties. The council shall:

    a.  Review and make recommendations to the member agencies concerning guidelines and criteria for the review process operated by the council.

    b.  Provide the department with written recommendations for findings of compliance or noncompliance with the transportation coordination mandate of Iowa Code chapter 324A for individual providers based upon review of each provider’s request for certification.

    c.  Upon request of a member agency, review all transportation components of funding applications or plans submitted by a recipient of the member agency.

    d.  Advise and make recommendations to the department concerning public transportation policy.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections 324A.4 and 324A.5.

761—910.4(324A) Certification process.

    910.4(1) Requirement for certification. All providers are required to request a certification of compliance with the transportation coordination mandate of Iowa Code chapter 324A by submitting the certification application form in the Appendix to this rule plus a copy of a certificate of insurance or documentation of self-insurance. Agencies that provide a mixture of public transit service and other service will request certification based on that part of their overall operation that is public transit service.

    910.4(2) Form distribution.

    a.  Recipients of state or state-administered funds. Each state agency in its own funding application or contract process will require each recipient of funding to submit a request for certification of compliance.

    b.  Recipients of other funds. The department will contact local governments and federal agencies to determine whether they are funding any providers that are not funded through the state. The department will send to any providers identified in this way, or by other means, an explanation of the certification requirement and a copy of the certification request form in the Appendix.

    910.4(3) Submission of request forms.

    a.  Recipients of state funds shall submit both the certification application and the certificate of insurance forms annually to the funding agency.

    b.  Recipients of funds from multiple sources may submit a single request form to all state funding sources if it covers all agency transportation functions.

    c.  Providers not receiving any funds from state agencies are to return their completed forms within 20 working days of receipt.

    d.  Agencies or organizations that receive a form from the department and believe that none of their services fit the definition of public transit services are to respond to the department within 20 working days of receipt, stating this belief and providing a brief description of any passenger transportation service they do provide and why it should not be considered public transit service.

    910.4(4) Incomplete or unreturned request forms.

    a.  Forms submitted to a state funding agency as part of a funding application will be reviewed for completeness by that agency within ten working days.

    b.  Forms submitted directly to the department by its recipients or by providers not receiving state or state-administered funds will be reviewed for completeness by the department within ten working days.

    c.  The reviewing agency will inform the provider in writing of any information deficiencies and allow ten working days from receipt for submittal of missing information.

    d.  Each state agency will report to the council each case in which a provider has failed upon notification to supply the necessary information within the required time frame.

    e.  All completed request forms submitted to state funding agencies will be forwarded to the council staff within five working days after verifying completeness.

    910.4(5) Processing requests.

    a.  The council staff will evaluate completed requests based on the compliance standards found in rule 761—910.5(324A) and make a recommendation for a finding of compliance or noncompliance to the council within 20 working days of receiving the completed request form.

    b.  Ten working days prior to the council’s scheduled quarterly meeting, the council staff will distribute to each council member and to the respective providers a meeting agenda and copies of all compliance-finding recommendations completed since the previous agenda mailing.

    c.  At the council’s quarterly meeting, the council will consider the compliance-finding recommendations of the staff and may accept the staff recommendations as the council’s recommendations to the director of transportation, change the recommendations and provide a statement of reasons, or defer action pending further review.

    d.  Upon consideration of the council recommendations, the department will make a final finding of compliance or noncompliance and notify the provider and the state funding agency, if applicable, in writing of the department’s decision within five working days after the council meeting.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 324A.4.

761—910.5(324A) Standards for compliance. A provider shall be found compliant if the provider meets both of the following standards:

    910.5(1) All vehicles used for the public transit services it provides or contracts for are insured for $1 million per accident for all hazards or the provider maintains a self-insurance fund adequate to provide equivalent protection.

    910.5(2) The provider:

    a.  Purchases all services from a designated public transit system, or

    b.  Operates all services open to the public under contract with and under control of a designated transit system, or

    c.  Purchases all services from a private-for-profit operator of public transit services, or

    d.  Operates its own services, which:

    (1)  The designated public transit system is currently unable to provide, or

    (2)  When considered as a whole using fully allocated costs, prove to be more economical than the purchase of equivalent services from the designated public transit system.

    e.  Uses a combination of services in paragraphs 910.5(2)“a,” “b,” “c,” and “d.”

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 324A.4.

761—910.6(324A) Noncompliance. A provider shall be found noncompliant if:

    910.6(1) The provider has not submitted required data upon expiration of either the original submittal deadline or the additional ten-day grace period after written notification of deficiencies in an original submittal.

    910.6(2) The provider’s request for certification has been processed and the provider did not qualify for a finding of compliance.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 324A.4.

761—910.7(324A) Noncompliant sanctions. A provider that is denied certification and continues the noncompliant activities for more than 30 days shall be subject to the penalties and sanctions specified in Iowa Code section 324A.5(2).

    910.7(1) If the department of health and human services purchases services from the noncompliant provider, the department will notify the department of health and human services of the noncompliant finding.

    910.7(2) If the noncompliant provider is a recipient of public funds from other than the department of health and human services, the department will notify the proper authority as required in Iowa Code section 324A.5.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections 324A.4 and 324A.5.

761—910.8(324A) Revocation.

    910.8(1) If certification is revoked, the department will send a written notice of revocation to the provider.

    910.8(2) The affected public transit system, the provider and the department are to meet within ten days after the date of the revocation notice to determine an acceptable amendment of the transportation services. The amendments that are agreed upon shall become effective within 60 days. The contract between the provider and the affected public transit system shall be amended, if necessary, to agree with the service changes.

    910.8(3) If the transportation services are not amended in a timely manner, the department will initiate actions as required in Iowa Code section 324A.5(2).

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 324A.5.

Appendix to rule 761—910.4(324A)

Date

FY

CERTIFICATION APPLICATION

State/Federal Administering Agency

I. GENERAL INFORMATION:

Agency Name:

Address:

Contact Person:______________________________Phone:(______)________________________

Service Area (counties):

Types of Clients:

Types of Services:

Does agency provide transportation services? Yes ______ No ______

Does agency use public funds for transportation? Yes ______ No ______

II. TRANSPORTATION ACTIVITIES:

Population groups served: Elderly ______ Youth Economically Deprived ______ Public ______

Persons with physical disabilities ______ Persons with mental disabilities ______ Other _______

Describe others:

Services Accessed: Medical ______ Day Care ______ Shopping ______ Nutrition ______ Employment ______

Recreation ______ Education/training ______ Other social services

What percent of your transportation service (in terms of miles driven) is operated during the following time periods?

______ % weekdays + ______ % evenings + ______ % weekends = 100%

Is any part of agency’s transportation purchased from an urban or regional transit system?

Yes ______ No ______ If yes, please indicate system:

III. AGENCY OPERATED VEHICLE FLEET:

* Two-way radio, wheelchair lift, ramp, etc.

IV. FUNDING SOURCES USED FOR SUPPORT OF TRANSPORTATION: Total $ ____________

V. PURCHASE OF SERVICE (Contracts and Vendor Agreements): Total $ ____________

VI. OPERATION OF OWN TRANSPORTATION SERVICE: Total $ ____________

PURCHASE OR LEASE OF VEHICLES AND SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Note: The total funding in Section IV should equal the total expenditures in Section V plus Section VI.

[Filed 3/18/26, effective 5/20/26]

[Published 4/15/26]

EDITOR’S NOTE: For replacement pages for IAC, see IAC Supplement 4/15/26.