49 CFR Part 665 — Bus Testing

PART 665—BUS TESTING Authority: 49 U.S.C. 5318 and 49 CFR 1.91. Source: 81 FR 50387, Aug. 1, 2016, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—General § 665.1 Purpose. An applicant for Federal financial assistance for the purchase or lease of buses with funds obligated by the FTA shall certify to the FTA that any new bus model acquired with such assistance has been tested and has received a passing test score in accordance with this part. This part contains the information necessary for a recipient to ensure compliance with this provision. § 665.3 Scope. This part shall apply to an entity receiving Federal financial assistance under 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53. § 665.5 Definitions. As used in this part— Administrator Automotive Bus Bus model Bus Testing Facility Bus Testing Report Curb weight Emissions Emissions control system Final acceptance Gross weight Hybrid Major change in chassis design Major change in components (1) For those vehicles that are not manufactured on a third-party chassis, a change in a vehicle's engine, axle, transmission, suspension, or steering components; (2) For those that are manufactured on a third-party chassis, a change in the vehicle's chassis from one major design to another. Major change in configuration Modified third-party chassis or van New bus model (1) Has not been used in public transportation service in the United States before October 1, 1988; or (2) Has been used in such service but which after September 30, 1988, is being produced with a major change in configuration or a major change in components. Operator Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Parking brake Partial testing Partial testing report, partial test report, Public transportation service Recipient Regenerative braking system Retarder Seated load weight Service brake(s) Small bus manufacturer Tailpipe emissions Third party chassis Unmodified mass-produced van Unmodified third-party chassis § 665.7 Certification of compliance. (a) In each application to FTA for the purchase or lease of any new bus model, or any bus model with a major change in configuration or components to be acquired or leased with funds obligated by the FTA, the recipient shall certify that the bus was tested at the Bus Testing Facility and that the bus received a passing test score as required in this part. The recipient shall receive the appropriate full Bus Testing Report and any applicable partial testing report(s) before final acceptance of the first vehicle. (b) In dealing with a bus manufacturer or dealer, the recipient shall be responsible for determining whether a vehicle to be acquired requires full testing or partial testing or has already satisfied the requirements of this part. A bus manufacturer or recipient may request guidance from FTA. Subpart B—Bus Testing Procedures § 665.11 Testing requirements. (a) In order to be tested at the Bus Testing Facility, a new model bus shall— (1) Be a single model that complies with NHTSA requirements at 49 CFR part 565 Vehicle Identification Number Requirements; Manufacturer Identification; Certification; Vehicle Manufactured in Two or More Stages—All Incomplete, Intermediate and Final-Stage Manufacturers of Vehicle Manufactured in Two or More Stages; (2) Have been produced by an entity whose Disadvantaged Business Enterprise DBE goals have been submitted to FTA pursuant to 49 CFR part 26; (3) Identify the maximum rated quantity of standee passengers on the interior bulkhead in 2 inch tall or greater characters; (4) Meet all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in part 571 of this title; and (5) Be substantially fabricated and assembled using the techniques, tooling, and materials that will be used in production of subsequent buses of that model with the manufacturing point of origin for the bus structure, the axles, the foundation brakes, the propulsion power system and auxiliary power systems (engine, transmission, traction batteries, electric motor(s), fuel cell(s)), and the primary energy storage and delivery systems (fuel tanks, fuel injectors & manifolds, and the fuel injection electronic control unit) identified in the test request submitted to FTA during the scheduling process. (b) If the new bus model has not previously been tested at the Bus Testing Facility, then the new bus model shall undergo the full tests requirements for Maintainability, Reliability, Safety, Performance (including Braking Performance), Structural Integrity, Fuel Economy, Noise, and Emissions Tests. (c) If the new bus model has not previously been tested at the Bus Testing Facility and is being produced on a third-party chassis that has been previously tested on another bus model at the Bus Testing Facility, then the new bus model may undergo partial testing in place of full testing. (d) If the new bus model has previously been tested at the Bus Testing Facility, but is subsequently manufactured with a major change in chassis or components, then the new bus model may undergo partial testing in place of full testing. (e) Buses shall be tested according to the service life requirements identified in the prevailing published version of FTA Circular 5010. (f) Tests performed in a higher service life category ( i.e., § 665.13 Test report and manufacturer certification. (a) The operator of the Bus Testing Facility shall implement the performance standards and scoring system set forth in this part. (b) Upon completion of testing, the operator of the facility shall provide the scored test results and the resulting test report to the entity that submitted the bus for testing and to FTA. The test report will be available to recipients only after both the bus manufacturer and FTA have approved it for release. If the bus manufacturer declines to release the report, or if the bus did not achieve a passing test score, the vehicle will be ineligible for FTA financial assistance. (c)(1) A manufacturer or dealer of a new bus model or a bus produced with a major change in component or configuration shall provide a copy of the corresponding full Bus Testing Report and any applicable partial testing report(s) to a recipient during the point in the procurement process specified by the recipient, but in all cases before final acceptance of the first bus by the recipient. (2) A manufacturer who releases a report under paragraph (c)(1) of this section also shall provide notice to the operator of the facility that the test results and the test report are to be made available to the public. (d) If a tested bus model with a Bus Testing Report undergoes a subsequent major change in component or configuration, the manufacturer or dealer shall advise the recipient during the procurement process and shall include a description of the change. Any party may ask FTA for confirmation regarding the scope of the change. (e) A Bus Testing Report shall be available publicly once the bus manufacturer makes it available during a recipient's procurement process. The operator of the facility shall have copies of all the publicly available reports available for distribution. The operator shall make the final test results from the approved report available electronically and accessible over the internet. (f) The Bus Testing Report and the test results are the only official information and documentation that shall be made publicly available in connection with any bus model tested at the Bus Testing Facility. Subpart C—Operations § 665.21 Scheduling. (a) All requests for testing, including requests for full, partial, or repeat testing, shall be submitted to the FTA Bus Testing Program Manager for review prior to scheduling with the operator of the Bus Testing Facility. All test requests shall provide: A detailed description of the new bus model to be tested; the service life category of the bus; engineering level documentation characterizing all major changes to the bus model; and documentation that demonstrates satisfaction of each one of the testing requirements outlined in section 665.11(a). (b) FTA will review the request, determine if the bus model is eligible for testing, and provide an initial response within five (5) business days. FTA will prepare a written response to the requester for use in scheduling the required testing. (c) To schedule a bus for testing, a manufacturer shall contact the operator of the Bus Testing Facility and provide the FTA response to the test request. Contact information and procedures for scheduling testing are available on the operator's Bus Testing Web site, http://www.altoonabustest.com. (d) Upon contacting the operator, the operator shall provide the manufacturer with the following: (1) A draft contract for the testing; (2) A fee schedule; and (3) The test procedures for the tests that will be conducted on the vehicle. (e) The operator shall process vehicles FTA has approved for testing in the order in which the contracts are signed. § 665.23 Fees. (a) The operator shall charge fees in accordance with a schedule approved by FTA, which shall include different fees for partial testing. (b) Fees shall be prorated for a vehicle withdrawn from the Bus Testing Facility before the completion of testing. (c) The manufacturer's portion of the test fee shall be used first during the conduct of testing. The operator of the Bus Testing Facility shall obtain approval from FTA prior to continuing testing of each bus model at the Bus testing program's expense after the manufacturer's fee has been expended. § 665.25 Transportation of vehicle. A manufacturer shall be responsible for transporting its vehicle to and from the Bus Testing Facility at the beginning and completion of the testing at the manufacturer's own risk and expense. § 665.27 Procedures during testing. (a) Upon receipt of a bus approved for testing the operator of the Bus Testing Facility shall: (1) Inspect the bus design configuration and compare it to the configuration documented in the test request; (2) Determine if the bus, when loaded to Gross Weight, does not exceed its Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, Gross Axle Weight Ratings, or maximum tire load ratings; (3) Determine if the bus is capable of negotiating the durability test track at curb weight, seated load weight, and Gross Vehicle Weight; (4) Determine if the bus is capable of performing the Fuel Economy and Emissions Test duty cycles within the established standards for speed deviation. (b) The operator shall present the results obtained from the activities of 665.27(a) and present them to the bus manufacturer and the FTA Bus Testing Program Manager for review prior to initiating testing using the Bus testing program funds. FTA will provide a written response within five (5) business days to authorize the start of testing or to request clarification for any discrepancies noted from the activities of 665.27(a). Testing can commence after five (5) business days if FTA does not provide a response. (c) The operator shall perform all maintenance and repairs on the test vehicle, consistent with the manufacturer's specifications, unless the operator determines that the nature of the maintenance or repair is best performed by the manufacturer under the operator's supervision. (d) The manufacturer shall be permitted to observe all tests. The manufacturer shall not provide maintenance or service unless requested to do so by the operator. (e) The operator shall investigate each occurrence of unauthorized maintenance and repairs and determine the potential impact to the validity of the test results. Tests where the results could have been impacted must be repeated at the manufacturer's expense. (f) The operator shall perform all modifications on the test vehicle, consistent with the manufacturer's specifications, unless the operator determines that the nature of the modification is best performed by the manufacturer under the operator's supervision. All vehicle modifications performed after the test has started will first require review and approval by FTA. If the modification is determined to be a major change, some or all of the tests already completed shall be repeated or extended at FTA's discretion. (g) The operator shall halt testing after any occurrence of unapproved, unauthorized, or unsupervised test vehicle modifications. Following an occurrence of unapproved or unsupervised test vehicle modifications, the vehicle manufacturer shall submit a new test request to FTA that addresses all the requirements in 665.11 to reenter the Bus testing program. (h) The operator shall perform eight categories of tests on new bus models. The eight tests and their corresponding performance standards are described in the following paragraphs. (1) Maintainability test. (i) The Maintainability Test Report shall include the frequency, personnel hours, and replacement parts or supplies required for each action during the test. The accessibility of selected components and other observations that could be important to a bus purchaser shall be included in the report. (ii) The performance standard for Maintainability is that no greater than 125 hours of total unscheduled maintenance shall be accumulated over the execution of a full test. (2) Reliability test. (3) Safety test. (i) The functionality and performance of the service, regenerative (if applicable), and parking brake systems shall be evaluated at the test track. The test bus shall be subjected to a series of brake stops from specified speeds on high, low, and split-friction surfaces. The parking brake shall be evaluated with the bus parked facing both up and down a steep grade. There are three performance standards for braking. The stopping distance from a speed of 45 mph on a high friction surface shall satisfy the bus stopping distance requirements of FMVSS 105 or 121 as applicable. The bus shall remain within a standard 12-foot lane width during split coefficient brake stops. The parking brake shall hold the test vehicle stationary on a 20 percent grade facing up and down the grade for a period of 5 minutes. (ii) A review of all the Class 1 failures that occurred during the test shall be conducted as part of the Safety Test. Class 1 failures include those failures that, when they occur, could result in a loss of vehicle control; in serious injury to the driver, passengers, pedestrians, or other motorists; and in property damage or loss due to collision or fire. The performance standard is that at the completion of testing with no uncorrected Class 1 failure modes. A failure is considered corrected when a design or component modification is validated through sufficient remaining or additional Reliability Tests in which the failure does not reoccur over a number of miles equal to or greater than the additional failure up to 100% of the durability test mileage for the service life category of the tested bus. (4) Performance test. (5) Structural integrity tests. (i) Structural strength and distortion tests. (i) Normal operation of the steering mechanism and; (ii) Operability of all passenger doors, passenger escape mechanisms, windows, and service doors. A water leak test shall be conducted in each suspension travel condition. The performance standard shall be that all vehicle passenger exits remain operational throughout the test. (2) Using a load-equalizing towing sling, a static tension load equal to 1.2 times the curb weight shall be applied to the bus towing fixtures (front and rear). The load shall be removed and the two eyes and adjoining structure inspected for damages or permanent deformations. The performance standard shall be that no permanent deformation is experienced at static loads up to 1.2 times the vehicle curb weight. (3) The bus shall be towed at CW with a heavy wrecker truck for 5 miles at 20 mph and then inspected for structural damage or permanent deformation. The performance standard shall be that the vehicle is towable with a standard commercial vehicle wrecker without experiencing any permanent damage to the vehicle. (4) With the bus at CW, probable damages and clearance issues due to tire deflating and hydraulic jacking shall be assessed. The performance standard shall be that the vehicle is capable of being lifted with a standard commercial vehicle hydraulic jack. (5) With the bus at CW, possible damages or deformation associated with lifting the bus on a two post hoist system or supporting it on jack stands shall be assessed. The performance standard shall be that the vehicle is capable of being supported by jack stands rated for the vehicle's weight. (i) Structural durability test. (ii) [Reserved] (6) Fuel economy test. (i) The Fuel Economy Test shall be designed only to enable FTA recipients to compare the relative fuel economy of buses operating at a consistent loading condition on the same set of typical transit driving cycles. The results of this test are not directly comparable to fuel economy estimates by other agencies, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or for other purposes. (ii) The performance standard for fuel economy shall be the prevailing model year fuel consumption standards for heavy-duty vocational vehicles outlined in the NHTSA's Medium and Heavy-Duty Fuel Efficiency Program (49 CFR part 535). (7) Noise test. (8) Emissions test. 2 4 (i) The Emissions Test is not a certification test, and is designed only to enable FTA recipients to relatively compare the emissions of buses operating on the same set of typical transit driving cycles. The results of this test are not directly comparable to emissions measurements reported to other agencies, such as the EPA, or for other purposes. (ii) The emissions performance standard shall be the prevailing EPA emissions requirements for heavy-duty vehicles outlined in 40 CFR part 86 and 40 CFR part 1037. Appendix A to Part 665—Bus Model Scoring System and the Pass/Fail Standard 1. Bus Model Scoring System The Bus Model Scoring System shall be used to score the test results using the performance standards in each category. A bus model that fails to meet a minimum performance standard shall be deemed to have failed the test and will not receive an aggregate score. For buses that have passed all the minimum performance standards, an aggregate score shall be generated and presented in each Bus Testing Report. A bus model that just satisfies the minimum baseline performance standard and does not exceed any of the standards shall receive a score of 60. The maximum score a bus model shall receive is 100. The minimum and maximum points available in each test category shall be as shown below in Table A. The Bus Testing report will include a scoring summary table that displays the resulting scores in each of the test categories and subcategories. The scoring summary table shall have a disclaimer footnote stating that the use of the scoring system is not mandatory, only that the bus being procured receive a passing score. 2. Pass/Fail Standard The passing standard shall be a score of 60. Bus models that fail to meet one or more of the minimum baseline performance standards will be ineligible to obtain an aggregate passing score.

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