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CFTE Glossary
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Land Banking
Land banking refers to the purchase of land by a local government for use or resale at a later date.
Land Trust
A non-profit organization that preserves and protects undeveloped or modestly developed land. Land trusts may acquire parcels from private owners by outright purchase or donation, or they may protect land by acquiring conservation easements or development rights. Land trusts can also help land owners develop and carry out environmentally sensitive land management plans. Land trusts also often serve as intermediaries in complex land transactions; for example, they may temporarily acquire land and hold it for later acquisition by a state or federal park service or other public agency.
Layover time
Time built into a schedule between arrival at the end of a route and the departure for the return trip, used for the recovery of delays and preparation for the return trip.
Letter of Credit
An instrument or document issued by a bank guaranteeing bondholder payment by enabling the bond trustee to draw from the bank the full amount of principal and interest due on each bond payment date. Also a form of loan from a financial institution to be used only in the instance of a shortfall in net revenue for debt service (i.e., a contingent loan). A letter of credit is security provided directly to the lender/bondholders (via the trustee), rather than to the borrower/project sponsor.
LEV
Low-emissions vehicle
Level of service
A set of characteristics that indicate the quality and quantity of transportation service provided, including characteristics that are quantifiable and those that are difficult to quantify. For paratransit services, level of service represents a variety of measures meant to denote the quality of service provided, generally in terms of total travel time or specific component of travel time.
Level Playing Field for Transit
A balanced and fair approach to federal funding proportions for highway projects and transit projects; may also refer to employee transportation benefits so that the monthly, tax-free value of a transit pass is equal to that of a parking space; generally, any situation in which transit and highways receive equal treatment in federal funding and other federal procedures.
Leverage
A financial mechanism used to increase available funds usually by issuing debt (typically bonds) or by guaranteeing or otherwise assuming liability for others' debt in an amount greater than cash balances.
Leveraging Ratio
Measures the extent to which a given investment attracts additional capital. In the context of this report, the leveraging ratio of federal funds is equal to the total project costs divided by the budgetary cost of providing federal credit assistance.
Liability
Amount owed (i.e., payable) by an individual or entity, such as for terms received, services rendered, expenses incurred, assets acquired, construction performed, and amounts received but not yet earned.
Light rail transit
See: "Light rail vehicle"
Light rail transit (LRT)
An electric railway with a "light volume" traffic capacity compared to heavy rail. Light rail may use shared or exclusive rights-of-way, high or low platform loading and multi-car trains or single cars. Also known as "streetcar," "trolley" and "tramway." Also, lightweight passenger rail cars operating singly (or in short, usually two-car trains) on fixed rails in right-of-way that is not separated from other traffic for much of the way. Light rail vehicles are driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley or pantograph. It typically connects activity centers within an urbanized area.
Light Rail Vehicle (LRV)
A modem electric rail car used on LRT systems. Though technically descended from the streetcars and interurban railways of an earlier era, modem LRVs offer high levels of performance (acceleration, braking, speed) and passenger comfort. Passenger capacity is about 75 persons seated, with room for as many standees for vehicles of the typical 90-foot length.
Limousine
Passenger automobile rental with a driver, principally operating within one municipality or metropolitan area.
Line-Haul
The trunk portion of a transit trip, as distinguished from local distribution.
Linked Deposits
Under a linked deposit program lenders provide an eligible party (business, homeowner, etc) with a loan at below market rates in exchange for having a certificate of deposit of equal value placed with their institution, often by a public entity. The certificate of deposit acts as "insurance" thus reducing the lender's risk in the project to an acceptable level. Through a linked deposit, a state or local treasurer might agree to deposit funds in the bank for a specified period of time and agree to accept a below-market rate of interest, in effect subsidizing the loan. The treasurer would link the loan to an agreement by the bank to pass the subsidy along through a loan to a particular borrower or borrowing organization.
Linked trip
A trip from origin to destination on the transit system. Even if a passenger must make several transfers during a journey, the trip is counted as one linked trip on the system.
Liquified natural gas (LNG)
Natural or synthetic gas having methane as its major constituent which has been changed to a liquid or semisolid, normally by reducing its temperature to minus 260 degrees at atmospheric pressure. (DOE) Also: An alternative fuel; a natural gas cooled to below its boiling point of minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit so that it becomes a liquid; stored in a vacuum bottle-type container at very low temperatures and under moderate pressure. LNG vapor is lighter than air.
Liquified petroleum gasses (LPG)
Ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, normal butane and isobutane produced at refineries or processing plants that fractionate new natural gas plant liquids. Normally consists of propane and butane that are derived from natural gas.
Livable communities
Communities representing a holistic approach to how cities are planned, designed and built, by giving proper attention to the involvement of people in the planning of neighborhoods; adopting appropriate planning principles; and designing buildings, streets and other transportation facilities to meet the needs of the people.
Live/Work Unit
A building or portion that contains both a residential and a work area.
LNG
See: "Liquefied natural gas."
Load factor
The ratio of passengers actually carried versus the total passenger capacity of a vehicle.
Loan guarantee
Contingent liability created when the federal government assures a private lender who has made a commitment to disburse funds to a borrower that the lender will be repaid to the extent of a guarantee in the event of default by the debtor.
Loan guarantee commitment
Binding agreement by a federal agency to make a loan guarantee when specified conditions are fulfilled by the borrower, the lender, or any other party to the guarantee agreement. (OMB Circular No. A-11)
Loan guarantee subsidy cost
Estimated long-term cost to the federal government of loan guarantees calculated on a present value basis, excluding administrative costs. The cost is the present value of estimated net cash outflows at the time the guaranteed loans are disbursed by the lender. The discount rate used for the calculation is the average interest rate (yield) on marketable Treasury securities of similar maturity to the loan guarantees, applicable to the time when the guaranteed loans are disbursed.
Loan Servicer
A public or private entity that is responsible for collecting, monitoring, and reporting loan payments.
Loan-to-value ratio
Represents the proportion of the amount of a loan to the value being pledged to secure that loan. It is derived as follows: total financing costs (i.e., the market value of the collateral plus the financed portion of any closing costs, insurance premiums, or other transaction-related expenses less the borrower's cash downpayment) divided by the market value of the collateral.
Local bus service
Community-based transit bus service provided for residents of a specific localized area.
Local street
Roadways that provide direct access to the adjacent land. The roadway typically accommodates a low volume of traffic.
Location Efficient Mortgage (LEM)
The LEM is a means of capitalizing in mortgages the transportation savings achieved by residential and business location in pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use developments. LEMs work on the premise that vehicle ownership imposes major costs on households and that households without vehicles could be better loan risks than otherwise similar households. Since households that do not own vehicles are assumed to have relatively larger shares of income available for making mortgage payments, LEMs enable borrowers to qualify for larger loans or more preferential interest rates than they could otherwise obtain.
Low Floor Vehicles
Light rail vehicles or buses with lowered floor configuration to facilitate access and to speed boarding. Passenger compartment floors are generally no more than 14 inches above the rail or street surface through at least a major portion of the vehicle.
LPG
See: "Liquified Petroleum Gases."
LRRT
Light rapid rail transit: see "light rail."
LRT
See: "Light rail transit."
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