Motorcoach Safety Summit and Regional Roundtables |
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William A. Bronrott
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
July 29, 2011
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 146 (Friday, July 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45650-45651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19184]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2011-0213]
Motorcoach Safety Summit and Regional Roundtables
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of meetings, request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation announces that it will
hold a national Motorcoach Safety Summit (National Summit), hosted by
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to exchange
information and ideas on the best possible approaches to reduce the
number of motorcoach crashes, injuries, and fatalities and raise
passenger awareness. Leading up to the National Summit, the Department
will hold four regional roundtable discussions. Seating is limited for
all events. Individuals with diverse experience, expertise, and
perspectives are encouraged to attend. Please visit our dedicated Web
site at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/motorcoach/2011 as details for each
continue to evolve.
Dates, Times, and Addresses: The first regional roundtable session
will be held August 3, 2011, from 8 a.m. to noon (local time) in Dallas
at the Marriott Dallas/Fort Worth Airport South, 4151 Centreport
Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76155 (1-817-358-1700), Web page: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/dfwam-dallas-fort-worth-airport-marriott-south/.
The second regional roundtable session will be held August 4, 2011,
from 8 a.m. to noon (local time) in New York City at the New York
Marriott Downtown, 85 West Street at Albany Street, New York, NY 10006
(1-212-385-4900), Web page: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nycws-new-york-marriott-downtown/.
The third regional roundtable session will be held August 5, 2011
from 8 a.m. to noon (local time) in Columbus, Ohio at the Hyatt
Columbus Capitol Square, 75 East State Street, Columbus, OH 43215 (1-
614-228-1234), Web page: http://capitolsquare.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp?null.
The fourth regional roundtable session will be held August 8, 2011,
from noon to 4 p.m. (local time) in Los Angeles at the Hilton Anaheim,
777 Convention Way, Anaheim, CA 92802 (1-714-750-4321), Web page:
http://www.hiltonanaheimtour.com.
The National Summit will take place on September 23, 2011, in
Washington, DC. FMCSA will announce the location and address for the
National Summit at a later date and will post the information at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/motorcoach/2011.
The Department welcomes comments or questions prior to and during
the National Summit and Regional Roundtables. The discussion for each
Regional Roundtable session and concurrent online dialogue will center
around four challenge questions:
1. How can we increase awareness of the importance of safety and
enforcement among all stakeholders including industry, law enforcement,
consumer groups, safety advocates, and passengers themselves?
2. What are the policy-related challenges or barriers for
motorcoach safety and how do we develop opportunities to address each?
3. What are the challenges and gaps related to motorcoach education
and training for representatives from the industry, law enforcement,
consumer groups, safety advocates, and passengers themselves?
4. What are the challenges and limitations for passengers when
considering and purchasing motorcoach services?
The challenges and strategies garnered from the different feedback
avenues will be used, with national data points, to frame the
conversation during the National Summit. If you would like to submit a
comment or question through this Federal Register Notice, in relation
to any of the challenge questions and/or otherwise, you may do so under
DOT Docket ID Number FMCSA-2011-0213 by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: the Federal Docket Management
System (FDMS) address: http://www.regulations.gov.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department
of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and
docket number (FMCSA-2011-0213) for this announcement. To avoid
duplication, please use only one of these four methods. Note that all
comments and questions received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Please refer to the Privacy Act heading for further information.
Comments received after the comment closing date will be considered
and incorporated as appropriate. For questions, see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT below.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to
West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., E.T., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register notice published
on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316) at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Dee Williams, Chief, Strategic
Planning and Program Evaluation Division, FMCSA, telephone (202) 493-
0192, or e-mail motorcoachsafetysummit@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Motorcoach transportation is one of the most cost-effective,
accessible and
[[Page 45651]]
safe forms of public transportation. The past several months, however,
have seen a number of tragic crashes around the United States that
involve motorcoaches and buses. The U.S. Department of Transportation,
through FMCSA, is convening a series of public meetings across the
country as well as a national Motorcoach Safety Summit (National
Summit), to exchange information and ideas on the best possible
approaches to reduce the number of motorcoach crashes, injuries, and
fatalities and raise passenger awareness. These meetings and the
National Summit will bring together partners and stakeholders from all
sides of the motorcoach community, including senior transportation
officials, elected officials, safety advocates, law enforcement
representatives, private sector representatives, academics, ticket
brokers, and passengers to address a range of issues related to
reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities through enforcement, public
awareness, and education. They will be open and interactive and FMCSA
hopes that they will foster informative dialogue and innovative ideas
and approaches.
FMCSA will host the National Summit in Washington, DC on September
23, 2011. Leading up to the Summit, FMCSA will hold Regional
Roundtables on August 3rd in Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX, on August 4th in New
York City, NY, on August 5th in Columbus, OH, and on August 8th in Los
Angeles/Anaheim, CA. These locations represent corridors with high
levels of motorcoach transportation and safety concerns. These Regional
Roundtable discussions will engage participants from all sides of the
motorcoach communities they represent, including state and local
organizations (i.e., law enforcement, industry, advocates, consumer
groups) and the public. All information gathered will provide the
framework for the National Summit. Goals of the National Summit
include: identifying challenges, policy solutions, educational
strategies, and best practices to enhance the culture of safety for the
future of motorcoach transportation.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is committed to providing
equal access to this National Summit. Based on limited seating and to
accommodate the strong interest outside the Washington area, the
National Summit will be available live by a Web cast that will comply
with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended and
members of the public will be given the opportunity to submit questions
or comments online. The Department has also created a Web site to
provide information and updates on the National Summit and Regional
Roundtables as more details become available: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/motorcoach/2011.
Limited exhibit space will be available for the National Summit.
Anyone who wishes to request exhibit space and/or who has questions
pertaining to exhibit space should contact Ms. Dee Williams, Chief,
Strategic Planning and Program Evaluation Division, FMCSA, telephone
(202) 493-0192, or e-mail motorcoachsafetysummit@dot.gov.
FMCSA IdeaScale Community
In addition to the Federal Register notice where comments and
questions are being accepted, FMCSA has set up an IdeaScale Community
on its main Web site at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov. This online dialogue
will be driven by the same challenge questions as included under the
``Background'' section of this Notice. IdeaScale is a Department of
Transportation initiative providing an interactive, on-line,
transparent space for people to engage in conversation about draft
proposals and vote if they agree or disagree.
Accessibility Needs
If you need special accommodations for the National Summit and/or
the Regional Roundtables, such as sign language interpretation, please
contact Ms. Dee Williams, Chief, Strategic Planning and Program
Evaluation Division, FMCSA, telephone (202) 493-0192, or e-mail
dee.williams@dot.gov at least forty-eight hours prior to the event, to
allow us sufficient time to arrange for such services. We will make
every attempt to fulfill requested accommodations.
Issued on: July 25, 2011.
William A. Bronrott,
Deputy Administrator, FMCSA.
[FR Doc. 2011-19184 Filed 7-28-11; 8:45 am]
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