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

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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.