Municipality of Anchorage Public Transportation Department Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan Phase 1, 2007-2008 May 10, 2007 INTRODUCTION Agencies and providers of social services, medical aid, education, employment training and specialized transportation for disabled, elderly and mobility-limited individuals fill a critical need in our community. More than 30,000 Anchorage citizens struggle daily to obtain transportation mobility that meets their diverse needs. Mobility is their lifeline for access to training, education, medical services, work sites and other community activities. There are over 90 agencies and organizations in Anchorage that serve people with disabilities, elderly and low income citizens. This report sets out a Plan for Coordinating Transportation Services among these stakeholders. Its aim is to improve transportation services for persons with disabilities, older adults, and individuals with lower income. Strategies and actions to coordinate our collective efforts seek to improve transportation access; minimize duplication of services; provide quicker and more reliable transportation service response; achieve higher efficiency; and realize economies through better use of available resources. This Plan provides goals and strategies as Phase One for 2007-2008. It represents the first tier of actions toward advancing coordinated transportation services in Anchorage. Already, efforts toward that purpose are underway. A Human Services Coordination Task Group drawn from multiple agencies and providers is examining additional ways and means to expand the coordination agenda. Further work, to be done later, will extend the Coordination Plan for future years beyond 2008. TRANSPORTATION COORDINATION RETROSPECTIVE There is a long history of inter-agency coordination and collaboration for human services transportation in the Anchorage metropolitan area. In 1995, a major effort was undertaken among human service transportation organizations to develop coordinated transportation services. The Municipality Public Transportation Department led an effective effort that brought service providers, agencies, and users together to explore ways in which better and more cost-effective services could be provided for transportation-dependent residents of Anchorage through coordination of transportation services. Two key documents were produced from that effort, the “Human Services Transportation Coordination Feasibility Study” (March 1995) and the “Human Services Transportation Coordination Study Implementation Plan” (December 1995). A Working Group developed background understanding, compiled needs, assessed options and resources available, and identified a phased sequence of coordination that could occur over time. The 1995 documents have served as the baseline for human services transportation in Anchorage. They were instrumental in the creation of AnchorRIDES which combined the senior transportation (OATS) and transportation for people with disabilities (Muni-Lift) Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan Page 2 into a single system that operates as a brokerage utilizing multiple funding sources and providers (See Figure 1). Eleven entities collaborate with the Municipality in funding human services transportation under the AnchorRIDES umbrella to provide transportation via paratransit, taxi, fuel vouchers and bus passes. Figure 1: Human Services Transportation Funding for AnchorRIDES Human Services Transportation Funding FTAFTA AKAK DivDiv ofof SeniorSenior && DisabilityDisability MUNICIPALITYMUNICIPALITY OFOF ANCHORAGEANCHORAGE StateState ofof AlaskaAlaska ServicesServices FTAFTA 53105310 AMHTA ACS/FosterACS/Foster AMHTA GrandparentsGrandparents AnchorRIDES AnchorRIDES CHOICECHOICE Scheduling/DispatchingScheduling/Dispatching MedicaidMedicaid DriverDriver TrainingTraining ContractingContracting JARCJARC Anchorage Anchorage ReportingReporting SchoolSchool DistrictDistrict MaintenanceMaintenance AgencyAgency FaresFares PublicPublic OutreachOutreach && DonationsDonations ShipShip CreekCreek DrugDrug TestingTesting ShuttleShuttle ContractContract ProviderProvider PaymentsPayments RiderRider FaresFares && Donations MostMost Appropriate,Appropriate, LeastLeast CostCost ProviderProvider DeterminationsDeterminations Donations TRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION PROVIDERSPROVIDERS ParatransitParatransit AnchorageAnchorage CabCab FuelFuel BusBus PassesPasses ServicesServices CompaniesCompanies VouchersVouchers The AnchorRIDES system is contractor-operated. The contractor is tasked with maximizing use of infrastructure and working with multiple community organizations to bring other funding agencies and service providers under the AnchorRIDES umbrella. Nearly $4.9 million was allocated for AnchorRIDES funding in 2006 (See Figure 2). Seventy percent of AnchorRIDES funding came from the Municipal operating budget while 30 percent was derived from other sources. Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan Page 3 Figure 2: AnchorRIDES Funding Sources, 2006 AnchorRIDES Funding 2% MOA 1% 12% Contractor 0% Fares 11% SOA DSDS-NTS Donations 70% 4% Agencies 0% Medicaid ADOT&PF Total 2006 Funding - $4,873,888 FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION LEGISLATION On August 10, 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, commonly referred to as SAFETEA-LU, was signed into federal law. SAFETEA-LU authorized the provision of $286.4 billion in guaranteed funding for federal surface transportation programs over six years through Fiscal Year 2009, including $52.6 billion for federal transit programs. Three programs are identified in SAFETEA-LU to address transportation needs of lower income persons, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. They are referred to as the Job Access and Reverse Commute Program (JARC, Section 5316), New Freedom (Section 5317), and the Formula Program for Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities (Section 5310). The three funding programs focus on the needs of transportation disadvantaged persons and those with special transportation needs that cannot be met through traditional personal automobile or public transportation means. Starting in Fiscal Year 2007, projects funded through these three federal programs are required to be derived from a locally developed, coordinated public transit-human services transportation plan. Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan Page 4 SAFETEA-LU guidance issued by the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) indicates that the public transit-human services plan should be a “unified, comprehensive strategy for public transportation service delivery that identifies the transportation needs of individuals with disabilities, older adults, and individuals with limited income, laying out strategies for meeting these needs, and prioritizing services.”1 The requirements codified in SAFETEA-LU build upon previous federal initiatives to enhance social service transportation coordination. Among the prior items are: • Presidential Executive Order: In February 2004, President Bush signed an Executive Order establishing an Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility to focus 10 federal agencies on the coordination agenda. It may be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040224- 9.html • A Framework for Action: The Framework for Action is a self-assessment tool developed through the United We Ride initiative sponsored by FTA. States and communities can use the Framework to identify areas of success and highlight the actions still needed to improve the coordination of human service transportation. Further information on the framework for Action can be found on FTA’s website: http://www.fta.dot.gov/CCAM/wwww/idnex.html The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities conducted a Framework for Action assessment during the October 2005 Alaska Public Transportation Conference. The clear consensus was that Alaska needed a directive that establishes structure for coordination of human service transportation at the state level. • The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities are working toward organizing a Governor’s Coordinated Transportation Task Force to carry-out the President’s Executive Order. This Task Force will be made-up of state agency representatives who work with/advocate for human service transportation issues. The Task Force’s primary purpose will be to create a State Action Plan to address statewide coordinated transportation and mobility issues. The Task Force will be formed upon the signing of an administrative order by the Governor. • Medicaid Transportation Initiatives: Alaska Medicaid has three distinct programs to ensure non-emergency transportation for those individuals who are in need. Medicaid Transportation plays a significant and increasing role in community mobility as discussed later in this document. 1 Federal Register: March 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 50, page 13458) Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan Page 5 ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS The 1995 Human Services Transportation Coordination Feasibility Study inventoried service providers, tallied transportation budgets, and estimated trips served. The number of persons in three groups – limited income residents, elderly seniors and mobility- impaired individuals were estimated from census and service agency inputs. From these results, estimates of latent unmet client trip needs were derived. More recent census and agency data sources are used to update