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Over 70 Federal programs have been identified that might provide funding for community transportation. In order for coordinated transportation services to obtain the benefits of broad-based funding, it is necessary to understand which funds are available and what are the requirements of the agencies that make the funds available. Although not addressing the universe of federal funding available for transportation services, this guide provides details on 12 HHS programs and 10 DOT programs. Together, these 22 programs provide almost $10 billion annually to assist transportation systems to provide access for persons with special transportation needs. This chapter reviews the major HHS and DOT Federal funding programs for specialized transportation services and some of the issues involved in coordinating the resources of these programs. The Transportation Coordination Toolkit includes additional information on these Federal programs in "Building Mobility Partnerships."
THE KEY DOT AND HHS PROGRAMS
The programs listed below are the major DOT and HHS sources of funding for specialized transportation services. Persons interested in specialized transportation should consider all of these programs as potential funding sources and potential grantees as partners.
U.S. Department of Transportation
The DOT programs that have the most effect on services for persons with special transportation needs are administered by DOT's Federal Transit Administration (FTA). FTA, one of the eleven operating administrations or agencies of the DOT, is the principal source of federal financial assistance to America's urban, suburban, and rural communities for the planning, development, and improvement of public transit systems. Transit planning efforts are required to be integrated with highway planning activities, which are funded through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
FHWA funds should be considered for specialized transportation needs in addition to funds from FTA. The legislation currently authorizing DOT expenditures, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, known as TEA-21, continues the prior legislative opportunity for flexible funding. If states and localities so desire, some funds from FHWA-administered programs may be used for transit rather than highway purposes. This ability to flexibly apply DOT funds for local needs can be a major resource for localities responding to specific mobility needs.
Within DOT, the programs that support specialized transportation efforts are administered by the FTA. Some FHWA programs are also relevant in that transit initiatives are eligible expenses for certain FWHA funds. FTA and FHWA use identical planning and programming requirements for use of their funds, and FHWA has joint oversight responsibilities with FTA regarding metropolitan and statewide planning.
The majority of FTA's recipients are transportation service providers. Providing the general public with transportation services is their primary mission except the Section 5310 program that provides transportation services to the elderly and individuals with disabilities. Public agencies that have been approved by an individual state to coordinate services for older persons and persons with disabilities may receive Section 5310 funds from FTA to implement service delivery programs.
FTA has a formal process for planning, program development, review, and approval. Federal funds (from the Highway Trust Fund monies and general revenues) are dispensed through federal procedures. There are distinct federal, regional, State, and local components and responsibilities in the grant process; the intent is to facilitate a collaborative process of achieving a consensus on transportation investment priorities. FTA, through its headquarters and regional offices, provides a substantial amount of instruction to its grantees as to procedures and products required for the receipt of federal assistance for locally developed plans. FTA has established review processes under which the activities of all grantees are to be reviewed and evaluated according to federal standards. One of FTA's administrative requirements is that for all of its' urbanized area formula program, grantees are required to submit financial and performance information that is compiled as the National Transit Database. In addition, information is collected through state and local sources to support management of their programs for elderly and disabled individuals, for non-urbanized areas, and for transportation planning.
DOT has oversight responsibility for ensuring the implementation of paratransit services as required by the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) of 1990. ADA requires that communities with fixed route transit services provide comparable complementary paratransit services for those individuals who are unable to access the fixed route service because of a disability. Experience and research has indicated that communities including their ADA paratransit services in a coordinated transportation effort achieve lower per trip costs and higher quality service for ADA paratransit users. When ADA paratransit resources are included in coordination efforts, they increase the availability of vehicles, personnel, and expertise to the larger effort.
The key DOT programs for specialized transportation services are shown in Table 3-1 and reviewed in detail in the Resource Guide for Coordinated Transportation Planning in the Transportation Coordination Toolkit.
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services
HHS programs fund a wide variety of research and service provision programs. HHS programs funding the provision of health or human services do permit expenditures of funds for transportation services with a few exceptions. The most notable exception is the Medicare program, which provides funds for medical services and equipment for persons 65 years or older and persons with disabilities. Medicare does not pay for non-emergency transportation, but does pay for appropriate emergency ambulance service. However, as stated previously, most of the HHS-funded programs may choose to purchase or provide transportation as a supportive service to their primary mission.
The Older Americans Act directs Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) to consider transportation as a priority service as the AAA is developing its service plan. The Head Start Program encourages but does not require grantees to provide for the transportation of children participating in the program. The Medicaid program requires that States include in their state Medicaid plan an assurance that program recipients will have access to medical services. The states have significant discretion on how they fulfill the assurance of access commitment. In the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), transportation is an allowable expenditure of TANF funds. However, the states have significant discretion in the specific use of the funds from purchase of vehicles and payment of insurance costs to payments to transit providers to assist in extending routes or service hours.
Most of HHS's agencies conduct human service transportation activities in a fashion far different from FTA's vertical integration of program development, review, approval, and oversight. Much of the legislation authorizing HHS programs provides general revenue funding through block grants or formula grants to states. HHS programs reserve significant operating decisions and reviews for state and local officials. Transportation is rarely mentioned in legislation and generally appears in regulation only as one of a series of support services. Reflecting congressional direction in the individual programs, most (but not all) of HHS's programs have limited Federal guidelines regarding transportation in their planning, federal program review, and federal oversight.
Many of the recipients of HHS funding are multi-service organizations. Transportation is seen as an ancillary service enabling them to accomplish their key missions, and transportation is only one of many services offered to their clients. While transportation is not required in statute or regulation for most HHS programs, it often must be provided through HHS-funded services or through public transit in order for program goals to be achieved
The key HHS programs for specialized transportation services are shown in Table 3-2 and reviewed in detail in the Resource Guide for Coordinated Transportation Planning in the Transportation Coordination Toolkit. Funding levels indicated in Table 3-2 are estimates with the exception of the programs of the Administration on Aging, the Head Start Program in the Administration for Children and Families and the Medicaid program of the Health Care Financing Administration. These estimates represent 5% of the program funding. This percentage reflects a conservative estimate based on the known percentage of funding in programs with purchase of vehicles or purchase of transportation services identified as allowable costs. The SAMHSA funding level is based on a 1% estimate of program funding. Total agency funding levels may include programs not listed on the table.
Table 3-1
MAJOR DOT FUNDING PROGRAMS
FOR SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
| Note |
FY 2000 funding (millions of $) |
| *Provides funding for planning, not for direct services. **These funding sources could leverage transportation programs for the coordination of specialized transportation services but only under particular kinds of efforts and in partnership with certain agencies. Application for the use of these funds is useful only when an existing agency receiving the funds agrees to partner in a project. CMAQ funds are to be used in air quality non-attainment areas only. These funds can be transferred or "flexed" to fund transit projects. See Resource Guide for more details. |
Total |
For transit services |
| Program |
|
|
| U. S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION |
$ 50,472 |
$ 6,985 |
| |
|
|
| Federal Transit Administration |
$ 6,088 |
$ 6,028 |
| Urbanized Area Formula Program (Section 5307 of the transportation section of the U. S. Code, Title 49) |
$ 3,420 |
$ 3,420 |
| Transit Capital Investment Grants (Section 5309) |
$ 2,962 |
$ 2,962 |
| Non-Urbanized Area Formula Program (Section 5311) |
$ 203.2 |
$ 203.2 |
| Elderly and Persons with Disabilities Program (Section 5310) |
$ 76.9 |
$ 76.9 |
| Metropolitan Planning Program (Section 5303) |
$ 49.6 |
---* |
| State Planning and Research (Section 5313) |
$ 10.4 |
---* |
| Job Access and Reverse Commute Program (Section 5320) |
$ 75 |
$ 75 |
| Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility (Rural Transportation Accessibility Incentive Program (Section 3038 of TEA-21)) |
$ 3.7 |
$ 3.7 |
| |
|
|
| Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) |
$ 31,035 |
$ 957.4 |
| Surface Transportation Program (STP)** |
$ 5,592 |
384.4* |
| Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ)** |
$1,358 |
573* |
Table 3-2
MAJOR HHS FUNDING PROGRAMS
FOR SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
| Note: |
FY 2000 funding (millions of $) |
|
Most HHS-funded health and human services permit the use of funds for access services, however there are no requirements for providing transportation. *Amounts for client transportation estimated. See the Resource Guide for Coordinated Transportation Planning for details. |
Total |
For client transportation services* |
| U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES |
$ 395,000 |
$ 2,687.5 |
| Program |
|
|
| Administration on Aging |
$ 932.8 |
$ 66.1 |
| Grants for State & Community Programs on Aging (Title III) |
$ 310.1 |
$ 65.2 |
| Grants for Native Americans (Title VI) |
$ 18.5 |
$ 0.93 |
| Administration for Children and Families |
$ 38,059 |
$ 1,580.9 |
| Child Care and Development Block Grant |
$ 3,550 |
$ 177.5 |
| Developmental Disabilities |
$ 91.5 |
$ 4.6 |
| Head Start |
$ 5,267 |
$ 525 |
| Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) |
$ 500 |
$ 25 |
| Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) |
$ 2,380 |
$ 23.8 |
| Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) |
$ 16,500 |
$ 825 |
| Health Care Financing Administration |
$ 360,000 |
$ 838.8 |
| Medicaid |
$114,900 |
$ 838.8 |
| Health Resources and Services Administration |
$ 3,833 |
$ 183 |
| Community and Migrant Health Centers |
$ 1,830 |
$ 183 |
| Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration |
$ 1,874.8 |
$ 18.7 |
| Community Mental Health Services Block Grant |
$ 340.8 |
$ 3.4 |
| Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant |
$ 1,534 |
$ 15.3 |
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