Dear Colleague Letter: Cutaway Rebuild Useful Life Waiver

FTA recently published a Dear Colleague letter announcing a temporary two-year waiver of the minimum life extension requirement for medium size, light-duty transit buses, known as cutaways, and smaller vehicle rebuilds initiated over the next two years when using FTA funds. For these rolling stock assets, the waiver grants a shorter minimum useful life extension – from four to two years, or 50,000 miles. Recipients of FTA financial assistance are eligible to use this waiver for rebuilds that are initiated between November 1, 2022 and October 31, 2024.

This waiver only applies to rebuilds for cutaways or smaller vehicles having an original minimum useful life of five or fewer years (or 150,000 or fewer miles). It does not apply to medium- or heavy-duty transit buses with an original minimum useful life of greater than five years.

The waiver is granted in response to FTA recipients’ inability to procure new light-duty buses within reasonable timeframes due to supply chain challenges.