CAPITULO 11: ESTADO DEL ARTE DEL MÉTODO P.C.I
3.8 Procedimiento de Evaluación
Name Description Amount Year
Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
Hopewell Express is a free employment transportation program. This bus service assists individuals who are seeking employment or who are employed at businesses located in the Hopewell Road area of Washington County. Specifically employers in the Newgate/Hunters Green Business Park.
Strategy #4: Coordinate Services Among Providers
In some portions of Western Maryland, it was reported that there are wheelchair vans in the community, but they are not being fully utilized. There are also unmet transit needs that could potentially be met through a more effective mechanism of coordinating community transportation. Coordination efforts could include a mobility manager, coordinated training, coordinated maintenance, trip and vehicle sharing, information sharing, and/or increased consolidation. By improving the coordination of resources among the providers, there could be an increase in the availability of transportation resources to serve older adults, persons with disabilities, and low-income persons. This strategy could be implemented in conjunction with the ride-sharing strategy, which also called for a mobility manager feature.
Unmet Need/Issue Will Address:
• Limited transportation options for people who live outside the fixed-route service areas.
• Limited transportation options in the evenings and on Sundays.
• Lack of long-distance medical transportation, particularly for people who are not Medicaid-eligible.
• Limited transportation options for dialysis trips, particularly for people who are not Medicaid-eligible.
• Maintenance Program pooling all agencies on contracts for maintenance. Potential MTA Funding Programs:
• New Freedom • Section 5310 • JARC
Potential Projects:
• Establish mobility manager to build coordination among existing public transit and human service transportation providers.
• Implement new or expanded program that provides potential customers and human service agency staff with training and assistance in use of current transportation services.
• Use technology to expand marketing efforts, including use of email messaging through list serve and regional transportation website.
• Establish one regional phone number to access transportation information.
• Create a Riders Guide, a how to ride brochure and compilation of schedules – simplifying the schedules to make them less confusing.
• Create a brokerage/consortium of human service transportation providers. • Region-wide medical transportation brokerage program.
FUNDED PROJECTS
Name Description Amount Year
Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
New Freedom Continuation Grant. Project provides transportation services to elderly, disabled and low-income citizens of Washington County and rural areas of Western MD who otherwise do not have access to transportation. Funding will support vehicle operations to expand
current demand-response system, expansion of services to agency day programs and for support to their current services.
$22,090 FY2011
Washington County Community Action Council – Hopewell Express
Hopewell Express is a free employment transportation program. This bus service assists individuals who are seeking employment or who are employed at businesses located in the Hopewell Road area of Washington County. Specifically employers in the Newgate/Hunters Green Business Park.
$78,300 FY2011
Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
New Freedom Continuation Grant. Project provides transportation services to elderly, disabled and low-income citizens of Washington County and rural areas of Western MD who otherwise do not have access to transportation. Funding will support CAC in enhancing their coordinated transportation system. Requesting one vehicle and software.
$156,460 FY 2010 & FY2011 Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
JARC Continuation Grant. Project provides transportation services to elderly, disabled and low-income citizens of Washington County and rural areas of Western MD who otherwise do not have access to
transportation. Funding will support CAC in enhancing their coordinated
transportation system. Requesting one vehicle and software.
$52,153 FY 2010 & FY2011
Potential Projects:
• Implement travel training program for individual users and human service agency staff on awareness, knowledge, and skills in use of current transportation services. • Promotion of single regional transportation phone number for distribution to
medical offices, therapist, etc.
• Smart Ride program whereby medical personnel are educated on when appointments are able to be scheduled based on transportation constraints.
Strategy #5: Establish or Expand Programs That Train Customers, Human Service Agency Staff, Medical Facility Personnel, and Others in the Use and Availability of Transportation Services
In addition to expanding transportation options in the region, it is vital that customers, caseworkers, agency staff, and medical facility personnel that work with older adults, people with disabilities, and people with low incomes are familiar with available transportation services. Efforts can include travel training programs to help individuals use public transit services and outreach programs to ensure people helping others with their transportation issues are aware of mobility options in the region.
Unmet Need/Issue Will Address:
• Customers and their advocates may need to be educated with regard to what transportation services are available and they may also need training on how to use these services.
• Limited medical trip options, particularly for long-distance trips and trips outside of the county.
Potential MTA Funding Programs: • New Freedom
FUNDED PROJECTS
Name Description Amount Year
Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
New Freedom Continuation Grant. Project provides transportation services to elderly, disabled and low-income citizens of Washington County and rural areas of Western MD who otherwise do not have access to transportation. Funding will support vehicle operations to expand
current demand-response system, expansion of services to agency day programs and for support to their current services.
$22,090 FY2011
Washington County Community Action Council – Hopewell Express
Hopewell Express is a free employment transportation program. This bus service assists individuals who are seeking employment or who are employed at businesses located in the Hopewell Road area of Washington County. Specifically employers in the Newgate/Hunters Green Business Park.
$78,300 FY2011
Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
New Freedom Continuation Grant. Project provides transportation services to elderly, disabled and low-income citizens of Washington County and rural areas of Western MD who otherwise do not have access to transportation. Funding will support CAC in enhancing their coordinated transportation system. Requesting one vehicle and software.
$156,460 FY 2010 & FY2011 Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
JARC Continuation Grant. Project provides transportation services to elderly, disabled and low-income citizens of Washington County and rural areas of Western MD who otherwise do not have access to
transportation. Funding will support CAC in enhancing their coordinated
transportation system. Requesting one vehicle and software.
$52,153 FY 2010 & FY2011
Strategy #6: Consider Non-Traditional Programs
In the more rural areas of Western Maryland, it is fairly typical that a low-income person will have a car available for his or her use, but it may be inoperable. With the long trip distances and dispersed population, sometimes a repaired automobile is the most cost-effective way to provide a person with access to employment opportunities. The TANF Program allows car repairs for their clients to access employment. While the FTA does not specifically allow funds to be used to repair cars, JARC funds could potentially be used in collaboration with TANF funds to establish a program whereby TANF would pay for the car repair and JARC funds would be used to develop a ride-sharing or voucher program so that the car owner could give other people rides to work.
Another non-traditional program is that of allowing public transit and human service transportation providers to purchase four-wheel drive vehicles. The more remote areas of Western Maryland (which includes much of Garrett and Allegany Counties) are mountainous. There are many roads and long driveways that are gravel and hard to navigate with a typical paratransit vehicle. It would be better for these vehicles, and safer, if the providers had access to a few four-wheel drive paratransit vehicles to be used in these more remote areas. These Western counties also experience more snow than other areas of the State, and some trips, such as dialysis, must still be provided in bad weather. Historically, the MTA has not participated financially in funding a four-wheel drive package for a paratransit vehicle.
Establishing a pool of volunteer drivers that could be available to several agencies may also be a viable strategy to addressing occasional trip needs.
Unmet Need/Issue Will Address:
• Limited transportation options for people who live outside of the fixed-route service areas.
• Limited transportation options to access second and third shift jobs.
• Limited transportation on Sundays and evenings, particularly for work-related trips. • Limited opportunities for out-of county destinations.
• Transportation providers do not have access to vehicles that can operate over difficult terrain.
Potential MTA Funding Programs: • JARC
• Section 5310 • New Freedom
Potential Projects:
• Expand the TANF-based car repair programs to include car-repair assistance for non-TANF low-income people, through a partnership arrangement that would include ridesharing and/or vouchers. While the FTA funds could not specifically be used for the car repair, they could be used for the ridesharing/voucher portion of the project.
• Capital assistance to purchase four-wheel drive vehicles.
• Develop a pool of volunteer drivers to meet the one-on-one transportation needs that are inherent to a more rural environment.
FUNDED PROJECTS
Name Description Amount Year
Washington County Community Action Council – Hopewell Express
Hopewell Express is a free employment transportation program. This bus service assists individuals who are seeking employment or who are employed at businesses located in the Hopewell Road area of Washington County. Specifically employers in the Newgate/Hunters Green Business Park.
$78,300 FY2011
Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
JARC Continuation Grant. Project provides transportation services to elderly, disabled and low-income citizens of Washington County and rural areas of Western MD who otherwise do not have access to
transportation. Funding will support CAC in enhancing their coordinated
transportation system. Requesting one vehicle and software.
$52,153 FY 2010 & FY2011
Potential Projects:
• Operating assistance to fund specifically-defined, targeted shuttle services. • Capital assistance to purchase vehicles to provide targeted shuttle services. • Partnership arrangements with major employers.
Strategy #7: Provide Targeted Shuttle Services to Access Employment Opportunities In Western Maryland there are several relatively new industrial parks that have significant numbers of entry-level jobs. There are also resort employment opportunities in Garrett County in the Deep Creek Lake area and in Allegany County at Rocky Gap. These concentrated job opportunities can sometimes provide central employment destinations that could potentially be served via targeted shuttle services. Locating a critical mass of workers is the key for this strategy to be effective. This strategy may also provide a mechanism for employer partnerships.
Unmet Need/Issue Will Address:
• Limited transit services to access employment opportunities, particularly in newly developing industrial and/or resort areas.
Potential MTA Funding Programs: • JARC
FUNDED PROJECTS
Name Description Amount Year
Washington County Community Action Council – Hopewell Express
Hopewell Express is a free employment transportation program. This bus service assists individuals who are seeking employment or who are employed at businesses located in the Hopewell Road area of Washington County. Specifically employers in the Newgate/Hunters Green Business Park.
$78,300 FY2011
Washington County Community Action Council – Community Access Transit (CAT)
JARC Continuation Grant. Project provides transportation services to elderly, disabled and low-income citizens of Washington County and rural areas of Western MD who otherwise do not have access to
transportation. Funding will support CAC in enhancing their coordinated
transportation system. Requesting one vehicle and software.
$52,153 FY 2010 & FY2011