Federal policy directed at providing
transportation service to elderly and disabled people requires that public
transportation be made available to such people. In 1990 major civil rights legislation was
passed -- the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 -- which instituted
sweeping new requirements for accessibility improvements on all transportation
services provided to the public. CDTA
worked with a special committee (Capital District Committee for Accessible
Transportation) created by
In response to this federal and state policy, and local community goals
articulated through the planning process, the following special services and
efforts will be progressed during the 2002-03 program year:
1. STAR
(Special Transit Service Available by Request) Service: CDTA's special
transit service began operation in the summer of 1982. The service was designed for use by any
Capital District resident unable to utilize CDTA's
fixed route bus service because of a disability. STAR service was modified in January 1993 to
comply with the guidelines set forth in the
The STAR fleet now consists of 29 heavy-duty
vehicles and ten cutaways. $0.250M is programmed in 2001-02 and $1.0M is
programmed in 2002-03 of TIP project T6B for the purchase of five STAR
heavy-duty vehicles (to replace existing vehicles). $2.0M is programmed in 2004-05 for
replacement of eight vehicles, $3.9M is programmed in 2005-06 for replacement
of 15 vehicles and five vehicles are scheduled for replacement in 2005-06
($1.36M).
Almost 70,000 elderly and/or handicapped people were provided over 98,000
specialized trips during the 2001-02 state fiscal year.
2. STAR
“Town Meetings”: CDTA
conducts “town meetings” to gather feedback from users of the STAR service on a
biannual basis. The last two meetings
were held in May 2002 and October 2002.
The sessions are designed to serve as a mechanism by which information
regarding changes in STAR service can be disseminated. Also, the meetings provide an opportunity for
STAR users to comment on how the Authority can better serve the disabled
community. CDTA plans to conduct at
least two STAR town meetings during the 2003-04 fiscal year.
3. Fare
Policy: Federal regulations
mandate that transit fares for elderly and disabled riders during off-peak
hours be no more than one-half the base peak-hour fare. In fiscal year 2002, CDTA certified almost
1900 people for half-fare cards. Over
309,000 half-fare rides were recorded on the fixed route system between April
2001 and March 2002. The cost of this
fare reduction policy was nearly $300,000.
4. Other
Special Efforts: During
1987, CDTA adopted the policy that all future purchases of fixed route,
mainline buses be handicapped accessible.
In concert with this policy, CDTA replaced 16 non-accessible route
vehicles with 16 lift-equipped vehicles in June 1988. During 1990, these buses were retrofitted
with large wheelchair clamps to make it easier for people using wheelchairs to use
the bus. An additional ten lift equipped
vehicles were received in May 1991, four in 1992-93 and seventeen in 1994. Eighty-two low-floor buses were put in
service during 1997 and 1998. These
low-floor buses were deployed first on the highest volume CDTA routes. Over half of the CDTA fixed route fleet was
accessible by September 1998. During
1999, 77 additional low-floor buses were delivered to CDTA. CDTA's fleet is
currently 100% accessible. Approximately
100 to 150 people in wheelchairs access the fixed route system each week.
Over the past several years, CDTA has worked
on improving bus stop amenities and accessibility and has worked cooperatively
with area municipalities to improve pedestrian amenities. Work on pedestrian access, including issues
related to the elderly and mobility disabled population, will continue
throughout 2003.
5. Northway
Commuter Services: Upstate
Transit’s fleet of 15 commuter buses is fully accessible to the disabled. Four accessible buses will be replaced in
2003-04 for $2.0M. $1.20M of CMAQ funds
are programmed in the fifth year of the 2003-08 TIP (SA 134) for three
additional replacements. Starting
During the 1993-94 fiscal year, CDTC, as part
of the New Visions process, formed a task force to develop a plan that
addresses special transportation needs through 2010. This task force met through November
1996. Findings of the task force were
published in December 1996.
CDTC was involved with the Committee for Accessible Transportation
(CAT) between January 1992 and February 1996.
The CAT was established in the Capital District pursuant to the
CDTC staff continues to work on UPWP Task 4.07 -- Human Service Agency
Transportation Options. Under this task,
during 1996, 1997 and 1998, CDTC participated in the Statewide Coordinated
Transportation Study (SCOTS). CDTA was
the recipient of a demonstration grant under SCOTS. The purpose of SCOTS was to encourage the
coordination of transportation provided by human service agencies. In this regard, CDTA and CDTC worked with
human service agencies located in
The SCOTS program resulted in a major accomplishment in coordination
for the Capital District -- ACCESS Transit, a subsidiary of CDTA was created in
late 1997 for the purpose of "brokering" medical trips for Medicaid
clients. Prior to the creation of ACCESS
Transit, CDTA and CDTC staff conducted a number of meetings with
representatives from the county departments of social services and the New York
State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to determine the requirements and
constraints of delivering transportation for Medicaid recipients. County representatives became interested in
the brokerage concept primarily because it could save the counties money and
relieve their burden of finding reliable transportation for their clients. $750,000 under project T56 was programmed in the
annual element of the 1997-02 TIP to provide seed money for the brokerage. A portion of these monies was used to acquire
office space, office furnishings, office equipment, a state of the art computer
system and phone system. $200,000 of
these monies was in the committed column of the 1999-04 TIP and a total of
$400,000 for capital expenses (such as office equipment, supplies, furniture,
computer equipment and rent) was programmed for the first two years of the
1999-04 TIP. Beginning with the 2003-08
TIP, project T56 was incorporated into project T9.
ACCESS Transit began brokering trips for
A brokerage is attractive because duplication of service is avoided,
unproductive trips and some deadheading can be eliminated, the efficiency of
trips is improved (more passengers per trip), and maintenance and driver
training practices are standardized. Since ACCESS’s
inception, area transportation providers have improved their performance and
quality standards. Consumer satisfaction of the system is measured and is
constantly rated high.
During
1998, CDTA submitted two grant applications requesting monies to provide
transportation and other services to people transitioning from welfare to
work. These were submitted on behalf of
a regional task force that was formed to grapple with these issues. The task force consisted of members from the
Albany County Department of Social Services (DSS), the Rensselaer County DSS, the
Schenectady County DSS, representatives
from job training agencies, the workforce development board, CDTA, CDTC and
others. CDTA was notified in the Spring
of 1999 that they were approved for monies from both the New York State
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Grant ($900,000 over 19 months)
and the Federal Transit Administration's Access to Jobs (JARC) Grant ($497,000
over one year). As specified by federal
guidelines, the Access to Jobs monies appeared in the 1998-2003 TIP (Project
T66). CDTA was awarded the American Public Transit Association’s 2001
Welfare-to-Work Award in recognition of the success of this program
partnership.
In
September 2000, CDTA submitted a grant application to the New York State
Department of Labor for welfare to work monies under the Community Solutions
for Transportation program. Under this
program, CDTA submitted an application on behalf of the four counties (
CDTA
also applied for a second year JARC grant for $497,000 under the JARC 2000
program. CDTA was not awarded monies
under this program, but was provided an earmark of $250,000 under the JARC 2001
program (TIP project T66). Given this
reduced amount, CDTA refined its Welfare to Work program, focusing on
individual trip planners, brokerage services and community and employer
outreach. CDTA has requested a two-year
$1.5M program under JARC 2003 and JARC 2003.
An award of $232,500 was awarded to CDTC under JARC 2002. CDTA is waiting for congressional action on
the JARC FFY 2003 program.
In addition to the
efforts described above, CDTC has been involved in the process in which area
agencies apply for FTA Section 5310 funding (formerly Section 16(b)(2)). As part of this effort, the CDTC staff
annually evaluates Section 5310 applications with respect to need, alternatives
to funding, and coordination efforts.
These evaluations are forwarded to NYSDOT for integration into the State
Interagency Review Committee's review process.
In May 2001, four area human service agencies applied for funding under
the FFY 2002 Section 5310 program. The
CDTC staff evaluated the four applications and presented the evaluations to the
Planning Committee in June 2001. The
evaluations were approved and forwarded to the State Interagency Review
Committee.
In October 2001, CDTC was notified that all four FFY 2002 applications
were recommended for funding (for eight vehicles Table 6 contains a list and description
of these projects. From Table 6, it can be seen that a total of $391,447
($313,158 federal) was recommended for funding by the Interagency Review
Committee under the FFY 2002 Section 5310 program.
Eight agencies applied for sixteen vehicles under the FFY 2003 Section
5310 program. In November 2002, seven of
the eight agencies were notified that they were approved for funding for the
purchase of eleven vehicles (two agencies applied for four vehicles but were
approved for two vehicles, the maximum allotment). One application was
recommended for standby funding[1].
Table 7 contains a list and description of the projects that were
approved. From Table 7 it can be seen
that $700,085 ($560,068 federal) was allocated to the Capital District human
service agencies under the FFY 2003 Section 5310 program. The figure of $700,085 appears in the 2002-03
committed column of TIP project T6A.
A total of $5.3M has been awarded to Capital District Human Service
Agencies through this program since FFY 1982.
Table
6
FFY 2002 Section 5310 Program Recommendations
(As Recommended by the
Projects Recommended For
Funding
|
County |
Applicant |
Vehicles |
Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Cerebral |
Two
24-passenger wheelchair accessible buses |
$ 88,640 |
|
|
Senior Services of |
One 12-passenger bus One
12-passenger wheelchair accessible bus |
63,410 |
|
|
|
One 24-passenger
wheelchair accessible bus One
40-passenger wheelchair accessible bus |
150,221 |
|
|
|
Two
24 passenger wheelchair accessible buses |
89,176 |
|
Approval Subtotal |
|
|
$ 391,447 |
Table 7
FFY 2003 Section 5310 Program Recommendations
(As Recommended by the
|
County |
Applicant |
Vehicles |
Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Two
24-passenger wheelchair accessible buses |
$
97,045 |
|
|
Colonie Senior Service Centers |
One
12-passenger van wheelchair accessible |
38,500 |
|
|
Cerebral |
Two
24-passenger wheelchair accessible buses |
96,380 |
|
|
Senior Services of |
One
12-passenger bus |
33,000 |
|
|
Unity
House |
One
12-passenger bus |
33,000 |
|
|
|
Two
40-passenger wheelchair accessible buses |
234,600 |
|
|
|
1 24-passenger
wheelchair accessible bus 1 40-passenger
wheelchair accessible bus |
167,560 |
|
Approval Subtotal |
|
|
$ 700,085 |
FFY 2003 Projects On Standby
List for Funding[4]
|
County |
Applicant |
Vehicles |
Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Villa Mary Immaculate |
One
24-passenger wheelchair accessible bus |
$56,000 |
|
Standby Subtotal |
|
|
$56,000 |
[1] This application did not receive a high enough rating, in comparison to other statewide projects, to be recommended for funding. However, the project was considered very worthwhile and was placed on a standby list for funding. Standby projects are funded if any agencies approved for funding drop out of the program or if vehicle prices prove to be lower than the estimated costs.
[2] This agency applied for four 24-passenger accessible vehicles, but funding was received for two 24-passenger vehicles.
[3] This agency applied for three 24-passenger accessible vehicles and one 40-passenger vehicle, but funding was received for one 24-passenger vehicle and one 40-passenger vehicle.
[4] This agency will be notified in May 2003 if additional Section 5310
monies are available to fund its project.