BAR CTP database setup

To use the California BAR CTP page in MyGeotab, you'll need to set up your database to support syncing data between MyGeotab and the BAR system.

The Bureau of Automotive Repair Continuous Testing Program (BAR CTP) is a continuous emissions monitoring program. It allows the government to obtain remote OBD-II data for determining pass or fail checks for government vehicles.

To facilitate the remote retrieval of data, Geotab syncs data from MyGeotab to the BAR system. The set up process involves participation by the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), the agency MyGeotab Admin, and the Partner.

Note the following before beginning the setup for participation in the BAR program:

  • CTP participation is open only to public agencies subject to the provisions of California Health and Safety code §44019. Public agencies seeking additional information may contact BAR at (916) 403-0313 or by email at BARFleets@dca.ca.gov.

  • The agency implementation plan will detail if they are participating in the BAR program.

  • Some of the required data for participation in the program must be manually entered or bulk uploaded into each California agency database.

  • Only vehicles using the GO9 or newer devices can participate in the BAR program. Vehicles using GO7 or GO8 devices will need to be upgraded to GO9 or newer devices or manually smogged.

Completing the CTP Pilot and Enrollment Application

Learn how to begin your MyGeotab database setup for BAR CTP by completing the enrollment application.

  1. The agency completes the online Continuous Testing Program (CTP) Pilot and Enrollment Application.
  2. Once submitted, the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) processes the application.
  3. The Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) notifies the agency via email of the results.
Your notification email will contain the following details:

  • An acceptance or denial decision

  • A denial reason, if applicable

  • Deficiencies, if applicable (all deficiencies must be corrected before proceeding)

Creating a BAR service account custom clearance

Learn how to create the custom clearance required for your BAR service account.

Before you can create your BAR service account, you must create the custom clearance it will use. Your Partner must perform the following actions.
  1. Navigate to People > Clearances in the main menu.
  2. Select the Nothing clearance from the list.
  3. Click Add Sub-Clearance.
  4. Name the sub-clearance BAR Service Account.
  5. Enable only the following subclearances:
    • Change your own password
    • Change your own user options
    • Fuel and EV Energy Usage report
    • View Material Management reports
    • Engine Status data graph
    • View Exceptions
    • View assets
    • View about page
    • View binary data
    • View fill-ups and fuel transactions
    • View engine failure modes
    • View engine management report
    • View product guide
  6. Assign the service account an access level by choosing one of the following subclearances:
    • BAR CTP solution - Admin
    • BAR CTP solution - Editor
    • BAR CTP solution - Viewer
  7. Click Save.
You'll use this custom clearance for your dedicated BAR service account.

Setting up your BAR service account

Learn how to set up the dedicated service account that will allow your MyGeotab database to sync data with the BAR system.

Service accounts are a specific user type that enables communication between software applications. In this case, your service account will allow MyGeotab to sync data with the BAR system.
  1. Navigate to People > Users & Drivers in the main menu.
  2. Click +.
  3. Create a username for your service account.
    Note: BAR service account user names must be prefixed with barapi- and followed by an acronym of abbreviation for the agency that does not exceed 8 characters. For example, a user name for Caltrans would be barapi-caltrans.
  4. Add a first and last name for the service account. There are no requirements for these fields.
    The User Information section of the User Edit page showing the username for a BAR service account.
  5. Add a password in the Password field.
    Note: Passwords must contain the following:

    • At least 8 characters in length

    • At least 1 upper case letter

    • At least 1 lower case letter

    • At least 1 number

    • At least 1 special character

  6. Set the Authentication type to Service account using the dropdown menu.
  7. Set the Security clearance field to Bar Service Account using the dropdown menu.
    The Authentication and Security section of the User Edit page, showing the Bar Service Account security clearance applied and the authentication type set to Service Account.
  8. In the Comments field, enter the agency's FleetFileNumber as follows: <FFN>FLEETNUMBER,/FFN>.
    The Comments field of the User Edit page, showing an example service account added in the correct format.
  9. Click Save.
To maintain proper security protocols, the Partner must submit the Service account record and password info to BAR via phone-call. If submitting credentials for multiple agencies at once, your data provider can compile the usernames and passwords in a CSV file. They can then submit the CSV in a password-protected ZIP file. The password for this ZIP file can then be communicated to BAR via phone-call.

Adding a BAR contact to your database

Learn how to add the required BAR contact to your database.

The agency must assign an agency user to be the point of contact for the BAR team and/or Partner. To create a new account for your BAR contact, follow the standard steps for adding a new user before following the steps below.
Note: The agency user designated as a BAR contact must be in a database group and have access to all vehicles that are sent to BAR.
  1. Navigate to People > Users & Drivers in the main menu.
  2. Select the user you want to designate as your BAR contact from the list.
  3. In the Designation field, add BAR.
    The User Information section of the User Edit page, showing the BAR designation.
  4. In the Employee number field, add the admin's phone number, using the following format:
    xxx-xxx-xxxx
  5. Click Save.

Updating your company address

Learn how to update your company address for BAR CTP compliance.

  1. Click the Profile icon in the top toolbar and select System Settings.
  2. Enter the California agency's name in the Company name field.
  3. Enter the corresponding agency address in the Company address field in the following format: 123 Street Name, City, CA ZIP code.
    The Company Profile section of the System Settings page, showing an example of a correctly formatted company address.
  4. Click Save.

Adding your database to the BAR program

Learn how to add your database to the BAR program once your setup is complete.

Once you've completed your database setup, you're ready to add your database to the BAR program.
  1. Address a new email to bar_mail_admin@dca.ca.gov.
  2. In the body of the email, include the following:
    • Your database name
    • The service account username and password for your database. You can request a call back to provide the password over the phone if required.
    • The BAR contact in your database.
  3. Send your email to BAR.
Once the BAR setup is completed:

  • BAR will initiate the automated process that downloads the web service data. The download occurs once a day, every day.

  • Upon request, BAR CTP will email the agency a spreadsheet containing all vehicles and their BAR eligibility.

  • BAR data analysis unit will integrate an automatic VIN decoding process and feedback loop to determine the validity of the VIN entry, and CTP eligibility. The system flags VINs that decode as non-eligible for CTP or do not decode due to VIN entry error in an automatically generated back-end report.

  • BAR fleets unit receives the report and upon request forwards the result to the agency’s contact person to inform them of the CTP eligible / non-eligible VINs.

  • Agencies will be responsible for reviewing the reports and fixing any issues as reported.

  • Agencies will be responsible to add any new vehicles to the database per the above instructions and to remove any vehicles that have been decommissioned. Decommissioned vehicles must be archived (made historical).

Database maintenance for BAR CTP compliance

You'll need to make sure your fleet is BAR CTP compliant on a regular basis by requesting regular vehicle eligibility reports.

Once your database set up is complete, your data will automatically sync with the BAR program. However, you'll need to review your fleet periodically to make sure all eligible vehicles are reporting to the BAR system. It is the agency's responsibility to make sure that BAR is capturing all BAR eligible vehicles in your database.

We recommend that the agency's BAR contact email BAR at least once a quarter to request a Vehicle Eligibility report. The report list of eligible vehicles should be compared to the agency's list to make sure all eligible vehicles are recorded.

Note: The BAR process pulls data from the License plate field for your assets. If your database includes data in this field, it must be restricted to 10 characters or less. Any data in this field longer than 10 characters will cause the BAR process to fail. We recommend regularly reviewing assets with license plate data to ensure it does not exceed the 10 character maximum.