§ 73-c. Definitions. Whenever used in this article, the following
terms shall have the respective meanings:

1. "Department" shall mean the state department of transportation.

2. "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of transportation.

3. "Committee" shall refer to the New York state interagency
coordinating committee on rural public transportation as hereinafter set
forth.

4. "Transportation disadvantaged person" shall mean any person, who by
reason of physical, economic or other circumstances does not have access
to private personal transportation or is unable to use private personal
transportation, either permanently or temporarily such as frail,
elderly, physically or mentally handicapped, low-income, youth,
unemployed or underemployed, and other individuals who may need public
transportation services for gaining access to human or public services,
health care, educational, recreational, shopping or employment
opportunities. Identification of persons in this group shall not
preclude such persons from being considered "general public" in any
public transportation service criteria established pursuant to this
article.

5. "Public transportation service" shall mean a passenger
transportation service which, during its hours of operation, is
available on an equal opportunity basis to any person, without
preference for service availability, eligiblity or design being given to
any person or population sub-group because of age, gender, race,
national origin, creed or agency client status, and which is regularly
advertised and marketed as available to the general public. Nothing in
this article shall be deemed to mean that the transportation services
operated or provided by human or social service agencies solely for
their clients or programs constitute, in and of themselves, public
transportation services.

6-a. "Transportation provider" shall mean any public, private or
not-for-profit entity utilizing public funds to provide or contract for
public transportation services for the benefit of the general public or
specific client groups.

6-b. "Operator of passenger transportation service" shall mean the
municipal government or public transportation authority which assumes
full responsibility for the operation of the service or a common or
contract carrier under contract to said government or authority for the
purpose of assuming said responsibility.

7. a. "Coordinated transportation service" in a rural county shall
mean a passenger transportation service formed by the pooling or
sharing, by contract, of funds, facilities, vehicles, equipment and
other resources used for passenger transportation for the purpose of
improving the mobility of rural residents through increased service
levels, so that the coordinated service is under the direction and
control of a single operator of passenger transportation having the
authority for establishing the service's operating hours, routes,
schedules, dispatching and other operating features and when the
resulting transportation service serves more passengers for the same or
reduced amount of government expenditure than the previoulsy
uncoordinated services. A coordinated transportation service may include
an existing public transportation service operating within the rural
county. Nothing contained herein shall require a transportation provider
to contribute funds or services; current providers may participate in
whole or in part in the coordinated service.

b. "Coordinated public transportation service" shall mean a
coordinated transportation service which is predominately a public
transportation service as defined in this article. Such coordinated
public transportation service shall offer service to the general public
to at least the same extent and degree, in terms of service levels,
operating hours and geographic coverage, as service is offered for
clients of human service agency programs, and seeks to increase service
to transportation disadvantaged persons who do not receive
transportation from a human or social services agency program.

8. "Rural counties" shall mean those New York state counties having
populations of two hundred thousand or less.

9. "Services coordinator" shall mean the person, authority, agency or
corporation designated by resolution of a rural county's governing body
to undertake or oversee preparation and implementation of the rural
county's public transportation service plan in accordance with this
article. Such person, authority, agency or corporation shall be chosen
from among those who can fairly and equitably address the needs of all
transportation disadvantaged persons and the general public, without
preference to any one population sub-group or component of the
transportation disadvantaged population.