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Online folders have been set up for each CTD to provide assistance in developing their coordinated plans. For the link to the CTD online folders, click here.
A draft state statute to support human service/public transit coordination was developed and submitted to the leadership of each state agency for consideration of inclusion in the agenda for the 2007 Legislative Agenda. A copy of this draft state statute is available by clicking here.
As we reported in the October 2005 issue of the Kansas Trans Reporter, attention to transportation coordination in Kansas is growing. The Kansas United We Ride effort is gaining traction and supporters as we explore strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of funding streams, regulations and delivery of services. Here’s an update since our last issue.
Kansas State Agency Secretaries appoint state staff to the effort
Several Kansas Cabinet Secretaries have now appointed state staff to the Governor’s Committee on Human Service Transportation Coordination. Included on the Kansas committee are representatives from Aging, Commerce, Commission on Disability Concerns, Health Policy and Finance, Social and Rehabilitation Services and Transportation. Several other agencies have been invited to the table and we expect this list of partners to grow as we consider specific strategies to improve human service mobility in the state.
Kansas State Self-Assessment completed
The Governor’s Committee met on November 22, 2005, to complete the United We Ride Framework for Action, a self-assessment to help target activities of the committee. This effort also included an effort to further develop the Kansas Transportation Coordination Action Plan which was initiated approximately a year ago. The day-long meeting prioritized goals for the immediate effort and considered specific action steps such as public information. The top priority for the immediate term will be (1) to assess opportunities for coordination by identifying agency transportation services, program connections, expenditures and other opportunities; and (2) to identify mobility needs throughout the state through involvement of agencies, consumers and transportation providers. The self-assessment and action plan will set the stage for the committee and work teams to move forward on specific tasks over the next few years.
Kansas State Transportation Coordination Forum date set
A statewide meeting has been set for early February to assist with further refinement of the action plan, to begin development of work teams, and to develop a strategy for working with local areas or communities interested in completing local self-assessments. This day-long statewide meeting will include representatives of state, regional, and local stakeholders and consumers to continue this work to improve transportation services.
Kansas Implementation Grant application submitted
This self-assessment and development of the action plan has been supported partially with a United We Ride planning grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration (FTA). FTA recently announced a second round of grants for implementation and Kansas applied for these funds; a joint application from the Departments of Aging, Commerce, SRS and Transportation. If the proposal is funded, activities planned for implementation would include working with five pilot regions and/or communities to regional coordination summits which would lead to regional coordination teams and technical support for those teams. Local planning efforts would include a component on emergency preparedness for vulnerable populations.
Kansas United We Ride website now online
You can stay up-to-date with Kansas United We Ride efforts by visiting the Kansas RTAP web site and clicking on “Kansas United We Ride” from the left column. Learn more about the Kansas action plan, local coordination planning tools and other resources by visiting this site. For more information, contact Pat Weaver at Kansas RTAP at 785-864-2595 or Jim Van Sickel at the Kansas Department of Transportation, 785-296-5194.
You may have read about the United We Ride (UWR) initiative. UWR is a transportation coordination effort spearheaded by the Federal Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM), made up of representatives from eleven federal agencies involved in transportation funding. The initiative is intended help improve mobility and access to services by eliminating barriers in regulation, funding or practice that limit coordination at the federal, state, and local levels. Initial surveys by CCAM identified a total of 62 federal funding programs supporting transportation!
What’s happening at the federal level?
Federal activities have been underway for several months now, meeting regularly to make changes or clarify federal regulations, producing reports and guidance for use at the state and local level, and holding planning and training sessions around the country. An Executive Order on Human Service Transportation was issued by President Bush in January 2004 (Executive Order 13330) to require greater efforts at coordination and to report back to the President on those efforts. A report was completed by CCAM in 2005 identifying several focus areas and an action plan to support those focus areas. The Report to the President and other products of the federal effort can be seen at http://www.unitedweride.gov.
New Federal Legislation Supports Human Service Transportation Coordination
In addition to the efforts of CCAM, the recent transportation reauthorization bill, SAFETEA-LU, includes several key provisions related to human service transportation coordination as part of the Job Access Reverse Commute Program, Program for Older Adults and People with Disabilities and the New Freedom Initiative. One significant requirement of the bill is for human service coordination plans at the local level. While the guidance has not been issued on these requirements, it is clear that an emphasis on coordination from federal funding sources is here to stay.
What is “Kansas United We Ride?"
We could easily argue that the State of Kansas has been working on transportation coordination for many years. The establishment of the Coordinated Transit Districts in 1995 formalized efforts to work within a region to coordinate transportation efforts. However, the primary emphasis within the Coordinated Transit Districts has been to coordinate the efforts of agencies receiving funding from the Kansas Department of Transportation, that is, those receiving Section 5310 and Section 5311. The United We Ride effort acknowledges all the other sources of funding and programs that exist to support human service transportation: aging, Medicaid, job services, rehabilitation services, education, and many more.
The United We Ride initiative attempts to bring those funding sources together at the highest level, the federal and state programs, to streamline administration and improve actual transportation service delivery in local levels. It also includes a local planning component to encourage local communities to complete self-assessment to look for improvements.
The State of Kansas effort at United We Ride has been underway for a few months and will gain momentum this fall as the State implements a grant received from the Federal Transit Administration to conduct a state self-assessment of transportation coordination. Submitted in partnership with several state agencies with endorsement from Governor Sebelius, the grant provides assistance to identify our strength areas and areas that need improvement to allow greater coordination of services and funding streams at the local level. The self-assessment process includes a request to the Governor’s Cabinet Secretaries to appoint key representatives from each of their respective agencies to a Governor’s Committee on Transportation Coordination . The Governor’s Committee then will be responsible for overseeing the completion of a state self-assessment on human service transportation coordination. Participants in this process will include state staff, representatives of local transportation agencies, human service agencies, and consumers. The project will be carried out in several working meetings to develop a state action plan to improve transportation services.
What Has Happened So Far?
A meeting was held last December in Kansas City with representatives of each of the four states in Region VII (Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa). Participants in the meeting included state and local agencies – some of you may have participated in this meeting. The purpose of that meeting was to begin the process of identifying goals for each of the participating states. Our work group identified a vision for our efforts: Enhance multi-agency coordination to provide efficient, sufficient and reliable transportation to all Kansans. Here are some of the key elements of that vision identified by the working group:
Provide transportation as needed across the state. The services provided must be customer-focused.
Consider the needs of both rural and urban communities.
Ask “why not?” instead of “why?” Develop an understanding of how to make the regulations work to meet the needs of our state and debunk myths of funding regulation where they exist.
Identify incentives for each state agency to participate in the effort.
State agencies should work to develop consensus on priority needs within the state.
Be inclusive in involving stakeholders, both public and private, in the coordination process.
Five goals were suggested by this working group and will be refined as we move forward with the Governor’s Committee. These goals address broadening perspective of federal and state regulations to achieve coordinated services, identifying common goals of state agencies to meet mobility needs, inventorying providers and the types of trips provided, increasing use of technology to assist in cost allocation or cost sharing, and identifying strategies to sustain the effort among all the stakeholders to reach our goals.
The group in December began the process of assigning some action steps to each of these goals. A working session at the recent annual meeting of the Kansas Public Transit Association in Topeka continued that process, with action suggested for each of the goals. This list of action steps is being compiled and will be presented to the Governor’s Committee for review and consideration as their work moves forward.
What’s Next
There are several activities taking place at the moment to help work on this project. A request is being made to place the establishment of the Governor’s Committee on the Cabinet Secretaries’ agenda. A state-level stakeholders’ meeting is being planned tentatively for November 2005. Finally, a state and local stakeholders’ meeting is tentatively scheduled for early 2006 to finalize the self-assessment to allow for completion of t he self-assessment and action plan report.
A task force of state staff who have attended the planning meetings for United We Ride is currently meeting to help develop the meeting schedules. The Kansas University Transportation Center is working with the committee to provide logistical and technical support as needed on the effort.
At the same time that we are working on the state-level assessment, we are encouraging local communities to begin their own self-assessment process. There are worksheets and other tools available to communities to assist with this process. Kansas RTAP also is available to provide technical assistance when your community is ready to move forward.
We all know that coordination takes work...more meetings...more reports…more negotiation...more time…Time that none of us feel like we have. But the benefits are there and have been proven. Better coordination and cooperation at the federal, state, and local level, in partnership, means more rides in our communities. And that’s why we’re all here at the table.
If you have questions about Kansas United We Ride, or would like to explore technical assistance for your community for transportation coordination in your community, contact either Jim Van Sickel at KDOT, 785-296-5192 or Pat Weaver at Kansas RTAP, 785-864-2595.