Background President George W. Bush released an Executive Order on Human Service Transportation Coordination in February 2004 to improve assistance to those who are transportation disadvantaged, by implementing coordination of transportation services to operate in the most cost and time efficient manner possible. The establishment of the Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM), chaired by Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, US Department of Transportation, functions to facilitate access to effective transportation services within existing resources and simplify access to transportation for customers. CCAM includes leadership from 11 Federal Departments. A broad range of Federal funding provides for transportation services, however many are fragmented, unused or unavailable. United We Ride serves to develop, implement and maintain a reliable and comprehensive coordination of these services in the most affordable manner for older adults and persons with disabilities and/or lower incomes. There are 62 different Federal Programs across 8 Federal Departments that provide funding which may be used to support community transportation services (Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations, June 2003 report by the General Accounting Office). United We Ride is an initiative of the CCAM to implement the requirements of the President’s Executive Order, which requires Federal Departments to simplify access, reduce duplication of Federal rules and regulations, and increase cost efficiencies using existing resources. The Importance of Human Service Transportation Over 10 percent of U.S. households do not have a single vehicle for transportation. (2000 Census .) Sixty-six million people are elderly and disabled, up from 40 million in 1990 (2000 Census ). Older Adults will double in population size to 70 million people by 2030, which represents 20 percent of the total population. While access to transportation (either by automobile or other mode) is considered essential to independent living, currently 21 percent of the population 65 and older does not drive (General Accounting Office, Transportation Disadvantaged Seniors, August 2004). 5.2 % of the total U.S. population use public transportation to get to work. (U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 ) In 2001, on average, American households devoted 19.3 percent of every dollar spent to transportation expenses. This is the second largest expense category – more than three times the cost of health care – adding up to $7,633 per family annually just to get around. Housing, at $13,011 per year is the only category that exceeds transportation as an expenditure. (Surface Transportation Policy Project, July 2003 ) Americans who commute by car or truck spent about $1,280 per year in 1999. In contrast, those Americans who were able to use public transportation to get to and from work spent just $765 per year, an annual savings of $515 per year. (Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Issue Brief) For lower-income families, the expense of transportation poses a tremendous burden and inhibits wealth creation. The poorest 20 percent of American households, those earning less than $13,908 (after taxes) per year, spend 40.2 percent of their take home pay on transportation. (Surface Transportation Policy Project, July 2003) In 1990, 78 percent of the white working poor and 68 percent of the black working poor commuted from suburb to suburb or reverse commuted from city to suburb. (Margaret Pugh, Barriers to Work: The Spatial Divide Between Jobs and Welfare Recipients in Metropolitan Areas, The Institution, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, September 1998) Benefits of Coordinated Human Service Transportation According to a report published by the National Academy of Sciences, it is possible to generate over $700 million dollars annually in benefits through human service coordination. (National Academy of Sciences. Transit Cooperative Research Program Report #91, Economic Benefits of Coordinating Human Service Transportation and Transit Services) A study by the Community Transportation Association of America presented case studies from five different states that showed that average reductions of 50 percent in passenger trip costs and 28 percent in vehicle-hour costs after coordination activities were implemented. (An Analysis of Human Service Transportation: America’s Other Transit Network, Community Transportation Association of America, February 1992)