Summary
Section 3034 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) (P.L. 105-178) requires that GAO report on federal agencies that provide nonemergency human services transportation. As agreed with , we reviewed (1) the benefits and incentives to human services transportation coordination, (2) HHS' and FTA's efforts to identify barriers to transportation coordination, and (3) HHS' and FTA's efforts to enhance transportation coordination through state and local transportation planning.
Transportation coordination can reduce federal transportation program costs by clustering passengers, utilizing fewer one-way trips, and sharing the use of transportation personnel, equipment, and facilities. In addition, people in need of transportation often benefit from the greater and higher quality transportation services available when transportation providers coordinate their operations. The most concerted effort by HHS and DOT to identify barriers occurred in 1988. At that time, acting through a Coordinating Council established in 1986, the agencies identified 64 factors that transportation and human services representatives believed were barriers to transportation coordination. For each barrier, the Council offered a federal response that, in some cases, simply attempted to clarify misunderstandings about program requirements. Other responses, however, did not resolve the barrier because the issues required legislation, needed additional study, or were outside of the control of the Departments. More recently, the Coordinating Council held transportation meetings with most states in 1995 and 1996, but when barriers were addressed in these meetings, the comments were often limited to a word or phrase. This level of generality made a federal response difficult, and none was undertaken. Since 1996, HHS and DOT have been directed by congressional committees to advance state and local transportation coordination through joint planning guidelines that would address issues such as the expanded use of public transit services to deliver human services transportation.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
No director on record
No team on record
No phone on record
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: In order to improve transportation coordination through better planning and enhanced accountability, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Transportation should require the Coordinating Council to issue a prioritized strategic plan by a specific date.
Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Agency Affected: Department of Transportation
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to improve transportation coordination through better planning and enhanced accountability, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Transportation should charge the Coordinating Council with developing an action plan with specific responsibilities.
Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Agency Affected: Department of Transportation
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to improve transportation coordination through better planning and enhanced accountability, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Transportation should require an annual report from the Council on its major initiatives and accomplishments.
Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Agency Affected: Department of Transportation
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: As part of these planning efforts, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Transportation should also (1) make sure that transportation coordination planning efforts under development reinforce one another, (2) direct the Regional Working Groups to assess barriers to transportation coordination, and (3) make information on coordination barriers and strategies for overcoming the barriers readily available through the Council's Internet site.
Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Agency Affected: Department of Transportation
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
