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DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
NOTICE OF EMERGENCY AND PROPOSED RULEMAKING
The Director of the District Department of Transportation (Department), pursuant to the authority in Sections 5(2)(I) (assigning duty to operate the student transit subsidy program to the Department Director) and 6(b) (transferring the student transit subsidy program function previously delegated to the Director of the Department of Public Works under Section III(F) of Reorganization Plan No.4 of 1983 to the Department), of the Department of Transportation Establishment Act of 2002, effective May 21, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-137, D.C. Official Code §§ 50-921.04(2)(I) (2009 Repl. & 2013 Supp.)) and 50-921.05(b) (2009 Repl.); the School Transit Subsidy Act of 1978, effective March 6, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-152, D.C. Official Code § 35-233(g) (60 DCR 11805)), as amended by the School Transit Emergency Amendment Act of 2013, enacted July 31, 2013 (D.C. Act 20-145, 60 DCR 11805) and any substantially similar successor legislation; and Mayor's Order 79-83 (May 10, 1979), hereby gives notice of this proposed action to adopt rules that delete Chapter 12 (Student Transportation) of Title 15 (Public Utilities and Cable Television), and add a new Chapter 17 (Student Transportation) and amends Chapter 99 (Definitions) of Title 18 (Vehicles and Traffic) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).
The emergency and proposed rules will outline hours of use, eligibility criteria, and application procedures for free rides on Metrobus and the DC Circulator and reduced rates for rides on Metrorail for certain District students.
This emergency rulemaking is necessitated by the immediate need to address the threat to the public welfare posed by not modifying the student transit subsidy program to comply with the requirements of recent legislation. Without regulations allowing students to ride Metrobuses and DC Circulator for free starting at the beginning of the 2013-2014 calendar school year, many students may be unduly financially burdened. The emergency rulemaking will enable DDOT to coordinate with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to safely and efficiently transition to the new rules for Metrorail, Metrobus, and DC Circulator in the least disruptive manner possible, avoiding unnecessary enforcement actions and impositions placed on the public.
This emergency rule was adopted on August 23, 2013, and became effective immediately. This emergency rule will remain in effect until December 21, 2013, one hundred twenty (120) days from the date it became effective, unless earlier superseded by a notice of final rulemaking.
Final rulemaking action shall not be taken in less than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register
Title 15, PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CABLE TELEVISION, of the DCMR is amended as follows:
Chapter 12, STUDENT TRANSPORTATION, is deleted in its entirety.
Title 18, VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, of the DCMR is amended as follows:
A new Chapter 17, STUDENT TRAVEL PRIVILEGES, is added to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17 STUDENT TRAVEL PRIVILEGES
1700 ELIGIBILITY
1700.1 Student travel privileges shall be made available to persons (“eligible students”) who are:
(a) (1) Residents of the District;
(2) Under 22 years of age; and
(3) Currently enrolled in a course of instruction during the regular or summer calendar school year at an elementary or secondary public, charter, parochial, or private school located in the District; or
(b) Youth in the District’s foster care system until they reach 21 years of age.
1700.2 Notwithstanding § 1700.1, students who are transported to and from school by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s Division of Student Transportation are not eligible for student travel privileges.
1701 ISSUANCE OF STUDENT RIDER CARDS; LEVEL OF TRAVEL PRIVILEGES
1701.1 Student travel privileges shall be made available to eligible students through the issuance of a Student Rider Card.
1701.2 The process for issuing a Student Rider Card shall be determined by the Director of the Department of Transportation. The process shall at a minimum require proof of eligibility as defined in §1700.1.
1701.3 A Student Rider Card shall include Metrobus and DC Circulator travel privileges, as described in § 1702, at no cost to the eligible student.
1701.4 A Student Rider Card shall include Metrorail travel privileges only if:
(a) The Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools determines that the student needs to use the Metrorail system for transportation to and from school and related educational activities in the District. In making this determination, the Chancellor shall consider the proximity of the student’s residence to his or her school, the proximity of the student’s residence and school to Metrorail stations, and the student’s participation in city-wide education programs, work-study programs, inter-school extracurricular activities, and other similar educational and extracurricular activity programs;
(b) The eligible student pays the fee set forth in § 1703.
1701.5 Metrorail student travel passes described in § 1703.2 may be purchased from sales outlets of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), an electronic sales outlet, or other sales outlets designated by the Director of the Department of Transportation.
1702 METROBUS AND DC CIRCULATOR STUDENT TRAVEL PRIVILEGES
1702.1 A student with a Student Rider Card shall not be charged a fare on the Metrobus Transit System or the DC Circulator Transit System when taking an eligible student trip.
1703 METRORAIL STUDENT TRAVEL PRIVILEGES
1703.1 An eligible student, as described in §§ 1700.1 and 1701.4(a), may purchase Metrorail student travel privileges, which shall be added to his or her Student Rider Card.
1703.2 The two (2) types of Metrorail student travel passes that may be purchased are:
(a) A monthly student transit pass, which shall cost thirty dollars ($30), and which shall allow the student to take an unlimited number of eligible student trips during the period the pass is valid; and
(b) A ten (10) trip pass, which shall cost nine dollars and fifty cents ($9.50), and which shall allow the student to take ten (10) eligible student trips.
1703.3 Fares listed in § 1703.2 shall be modified by the same percentage as future WMATA fare increases or decreases, rounded to the nearest ten cents ($0.10).
1704 PROHIBITED USES
1704.1 An eligible student shall not use his or her Student Rider Card on the Metrorail, Metrobus, or DC Circulator Transit Systems for any trip that is not an eligible student trip. Students traveling during restricted periods shall be subject to the full fare.
1704.2 An eligible student shall not allow another person to use his or her Student Rider Card for any trip on the Metrorail, Metrobus, or DC Circulator Transit Systems, even if the other person is an eligible student.
1799 DEFINITIONS
1799.1 When used in this chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have the meaning ascribed:
Eligible student trip – travel by an eligible student: (1) to or from his or her school or a recognized school-related educational activity on a school day between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. within the regular or summer calendar school year; and (2) on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, or during a vacation period, when the travel is to or from a recognized school-related educational activity in the District.
Student Rider Card - a fare card provided to eligible persons, as defined in § 1700.1 and § 1701.4(a), that grants the user access to student travel privileges on Metrorail, Metrobus, or DC Circulator Transit Systems within the District of Columbia. The Student Rider Card may include but is not limited to the DC One Card or its successor.
Student travel privileges – privileges provided to eligible persons, as defined in § 1700.1 and § 1701.4(a), that grants the user access to reduced or other defined fares for eligible student travel as determined by the School Transit Subsidy Act of 1978, effective March 6, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-152; D.C. Official Code § 35-231 et seq.).
All persons interested in commenting on the subject matter in this proposed rulemaking may file comments in writing, not later than thirty (30) days after the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register, with Samuel D. Zimbabwe, Associate Director, District Department of Transportation, 55 M Street, S.E., 5th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20003. An interested person may also send comments electronically to publicspace.policy@dc.gov. Copies of this proposed rulemaking are available, at cost, by writing to the above address, and are also available electronically, at no cost, on the District Department of Transportation’s website at www.ddot.dc.gov.
