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United We RideIn February 2004, President Bush issued Executive Order #13330, termed United We Ride (UWR), which was the culmination of several years of work at the federal level nationwide to develop a concept to improve coordination in human services transportation. A UWR Framework for Action was drafted by the Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM), a coalition of the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Health & Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Labor, and other stakeholders. These guiding principles provided the foundation for state and local governments to develop their own action plans for coordination among, and between, state departments, regional and local agencies, and the public in general. During the course of planning for United We Ride, CCAM discovered that 62 federal programs provided a form of funding assistance for state, regional and local human services transportation, with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and, more specifically, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) being only a few of these. With this revelation, a variety of recommendations came forward to create the foundation for UWR. A premise was developed by CCAM that by reducing redundancy and other inefficiencies in federally funded human services transportation, the end-use customer would benefit by enjoying greater transportation services through improved time, cost, and convenience factors. Arizona RidesSoon after the President’s UWR Executive Order was issued, Governor Napolitano called for a Working Group to create a framework for Arizona’s response. In the fall of 2004, the Working Group submitted a grant proposal to the FTA to assist with United We Ride planning activities, and in January of 2005 the grant was awarded. A consulting group was selected to carry out the two primary components for this work: (1) conducting a statewide assessment of funding sources, streams and coordination conditions, and (2) developing an action plan for state agencies, including recommendations for further regional implementation. Lending further commitment to improved coordination in Arizona, on July 6, 2005, the Governor signed Executive Order 2005-16, formalizing the Arizona Rides initiative and instituting the Arizona Rides Council with membership that includes, among others, several State departments, Councils of Governments (COGs), Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), and the Governor’s Office. The Arizona Rides Council acted to provide assistance in the successful implementation of the two UWR planning activities. Arizona Rides continues to increase coordinated human services transportation around the state. ADOT’s new Multimodal Planning Division (MPD) contains the Arizona Rides initiative which focuses on regional human services transportation planning assistance through local Council of Governments (COGs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). The Arizona Rides goal is to provide planning support and FTA guidance to regional and sub-regional coordination councils, or committees, to reinforce implementation of the Arizona Rides Action Plan and regional human services transportation coordination plans at the local level. While the Arizona Rides Executive Order itself sunsets this year (2008)—and the Council’s formal existence along with it—the Arizona Rides initiative carries on with a revival of the Working Group. The Working Group is looking forward to addressing statewide human service transportation issues around mobility management through mobility managers, and agency cooperation, joint agreements, and consolidation efforts. Mobility management, a form of assistance available through the ADOT/Federal Transit Section 5310, 5316, and 5317 programs, is a coordination planning function. It is an innovative approach for managing and delivering coordinated transportation services to customers, including older adults, people with disabilities, and individuals with low incomes. Changes in demographics, shifts in land-use patterns, and the creation of new and different job markets require new approaches for providing transportation services, particularly for customers with special needs. Mobility management focuses on meeting individual customer needs through a wide range of transportation options and service providers. It also focuses on coordinating these services and providers in order to achieve a more efficient transportation service delivery system. Mobility Management encompasses a potentially broad range of planning activities and related equipment (e.g., software and hardware to promote and support coordination efforts). However, it is most often thought of in terms of a position (mobility manager) within a centralized planning organization within a region or locality. The FTA defines mobility management as: short-range planning and management activities and projects for improving coordination among public transportation and other transportation service providers. Mobility managers serve as policy coordinators, operations service brokers, and customer travel navigators. As policy coordinators, mobility managers help communities develop coordination plans, programs and policies, and build local partnerships. They also work to promote land-use policies that favor transit-oriented development, public transportation, and pedestrian access. As brokers, they coordinate transportation services among all customer groups, service providers, and funding agencies. As travel navigators, they work with human service agencies and/or workforce centers to help coordinate the travel and trip planning needs of individuals who receive human service program assistance. REGIONAL COORDINATION PLANS The FTA requires agencies participating in the Section 5310, 5316, 5317 programs to be included in a human services transportation coordination plan; be it a statewide, regional, or local plan. Arizona has chosen to support regional coordination plans. The regional coordination plans are managed individually by the state’s COGs and MPOs with oversight by ADOT. The COGs and MPOs must certify to ADOT that the projects selected for regional funding are derived from a locally developed, coordinated public transit-human services transportation plan, that was developed through a process that includes representatives of public, private, and non-profit transportation and human service transportation providers, participation by the public, and representatives addressing the needs of older adults and individuals with disabilities. The coordination plan identifies the transportation needs of individuals with disabilities, older adults, and people with low incomes, provides strategies for meeting those local needs, and prioritizes transportation services for funding and implementation. The coordination plan should maximize the programs’ collective coverage by minimizing the duplication of services. The FTA’s minimum requirements for a coordination plan are: 1. An assessment of available services that identify current transportation providers (public, private, and non-profit). 2. An assessment of transportation needs for individuals with disabilities, older adults, and people with low incomes. This assessment can be based on the experiences and perceptions of the planning partners or on more sophisticated data collection efforts, and gaps in service. 3. Strategies, activities, and/or projects to address the identified gaps between current services and needs, as well as opportunities to achieve efficiencies in service delivery. 4. Priorities for implementation based on resources (from multiple program sources), time, and feasibility for implementing specific strategies and/or activities that have been identified. In addition, ADOT must certify to the FTA that the regional coordination plan was developed through a process that included representatives of public, private, and non-profit transportation and human services providers, and members of the public. ADOT must also document the plan from which each project listed is derived, including the lead agency, the date of adoption of the plan, or other appropriate information. In rural areas, the recipients of the FTA Section 5311 program assistance are the “public transit” in the public transit-human services transportation plan and their participation is expected to comply in accordance with FTA coordination requirements. In urbanized areas, larger transit systems and dial-a-ride programs may represent the public transit component. PINAL RIDES TRANSPORTATION COORDINATION PILOT Pilot projects are a way to test the feasibility of a proposed project and are encouraged as a way to demonstrate coordinated human services transportation efforts in action. Beginning in 2005, as a support element of the Arizona Rides initiative, the Pinal-Gila Council for Senior Citizens as a lead agency proposed corridor routes through Pinal County. In 2008, the Pinal Rides Transportation Coordination Pilot project has matured. The Study Advisory Committee (SAC) has formed into a regional coordination advisory council comprised of the main stakeholders involved in the Pinal Action Plan objectives which were developed over the past years. Three areas of activity are currently underway: 1) Collaboration among agencies within central Pinal County on training resources and activities, including driver training, and Passenger Safety & Security (PASS) training; 2) formation of a regional Transportation Coordination Advisory Council, and; 3) Development, modification, and continuance, of pilot routes for local connections between Florence, Coolidge, Casa Grande, Arizona City, and Eloy. This past year, the Council was awarded a 5310 mobility management grant. As intended, the Pinal Rides project has become a test pilot for local human service providers working together, including important successes as well as lessons learned along the way. The group is now working through some mobility management issues which have modified the active route listing to support increased ridership. However, all participants remain optimistic and enthusiastically committed to the project’s success despite the challenges that come along. The project has been particularly impressive in the way its members, representing many diverse interests and client groups, have embraced matters of mutual interest with a consistent collaborative and win-win mindset, which was evidenced during a recent prolonged regional power outage. Other geographic areas specifically identified through the Arizona Rides program as future regions of interest for similar pilot/demonstration projects are the Tri-City area in Mohave County (Kingman, Bullhead City, and Lake Havasu City) and an expansion of the Pinal Rides project into Gila County. FTA SECTIONS 5310, 5311, 5316 and 5317 PROGRAMS The Section 5310, 5316, 5317 programs’ emphasis has primarily been on private non-profit organizations (PNPs), many of which receive funding support from the Department of Economic Security (DES), Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Department of Health Services (DHS), and other agencies, but otherwise operate mainly as independent entities. These organizations remain the core of the Arizona Rides program and are essential to human service transportation statewide. With over 400 ADOT vehicles active in the field—a large percentage of these wheelchair accessible—5310, 5316, and 5317 program projects are seen as key elements in coordination between human service and other special needs transportation providers by providing important fleet infrastructure. While the Section 5310 program remains a capital-only program of assistance for the foreseeable future, operating funds available in the Section 5316 and 5317 programs help to offset the increasing maintenance costs and rising fuel expenses an agency participating in those programs can experience. Fortunately, with the strong suggestion of coordinated transportation participation, the addition of the Section 5311 program into the mix will only serve to strengthen the amount of available services and expand the availability of resources for coordination efforts across and through all regions of Arizona. In many areas, 5311 providers are not only the primary community transportation available, but also represent a crucial resource of expertise for local coordination efforts involving human service providers as well. SAFETEA-LU The Congressional continuance of surface transportation program funding authorized in 2005, SAFETEA-LU, its successor legislation scheduled for 2009, plus the increased federal focus on coordination efforts, United We Ride, all combine to permit greater flexibility than ever in the distribution of funds and the delivery of coordinated human services transportation.
Arizona Rides Project Manager is Dr. Steven J. Rost. Documents are posted as they become available in PDF format, which requires Adobe Reader to view. |
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