Work Plan

• Road Map – [HTML, PPT 805KB]

Goal

Increase mobility and accessibility for the transportation disadvantaged and the general public, and achieve more efficient use of federal human service transportation funding resources through technology integration and service coordination.

Background

There are 62 federal programs that fund transportation services for the transportation disadvantaged. The February 2004 Presidential Executive Order on Human Service Transportation Coordination (Executive Order 13330) requested the establishment of the Federal Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) to enhance accessibility and mobility for persons who are transportation disadvantaged, especially individuals with low-incomes, people with disabilities, and older Americans. This Council is chaired by the Secretary of Transportation with representation from 11 executive departments or agencies of the Federal government.

Currently, due to inefficiencies, limited resources, and a lack of coordination, delivery of human services transportation is challenging. In many locations, human services transportation is fragmented, resulting in service area gaps (geographical areas where service is not provided) or limited service area size due to an absence in trip transfers between transportation providers. Often, customers have to contact multiple case workers for multiple funding programs, trip requests have to be made well in advance, scheduled trip times are inconvenient, pick-up wait times are long and difficult to estimate, trip travel times are long, and accessibility to transit for seniors and persons with disabilities is limited.

New capabilities and opportunities are being created in both the transportation and health and human services communities through the use of emerging technologies and innovative services. However, the two communities are often unaware of the research, new approaches, and advances that each is making, and neither may have direct communication with the transportation disadvantaged community at large.

The USDOT ITS Joint Program Office launches the MSAA initiative as a way to bring all communities together to provide a coordinated effort and apply technological solutions to the barriers to accessibility and mobility for the transportation disadvantaged.

Building Blocks

This initiative builds upon and collaborates with several past and current USDOT-led activities, including:

• United We Ride (UWR): UWR is an USDOT priority initiative launched in the summer of 2003, and administered by Federal Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM). This initiative has effectively engaged all 11 federal departmental partners related to human service transportation delivery. It addresses policy implications and solutions of coordinated human service transportation systems from both technical and non-technical perspectives. The MSAA and UWR initiatives enter a joint demonstration program to develop feasible models of enhanced human service transportation delivery system. The two initiatives also work together to develop a comprehensive
• Presidential Executive Order Workgroups: In response to the Presidential Executive Order 013330 issued on February 24, 2004, six inter-agency workgroups were established to tackle issues related to human service transportation delivery, including technology and policy subjects. The MSAA initiative participates and plays an active role in all six working groups.
• ITS Applications for Coordinating and Improving Human Services Transportation Cross-Cutting Study. The Oakridge National Laboratory leads this cross-cutting study to investigate the usage of ITS technologies for coordinating human services transportation operations. The project produces a final report documenting study findings as well as two pamphlets for public outreach. These two pamphlets aim to promote the awareness of ITS applications and benefits among transportation service providers and the general public.
• ITS Transit Case Studies: Making a Case for Coordination of Community Transportation Services Using ITS. This study provides a detailed view the experiences of three organizations as they planned, implemented, and operated intelligent system (ITS) to meet the mobility needs of the communities they serve through improved coordination. They are: Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) in Michigan; Reach Your Destination Easily (R.Y.D.E.) in Nebraska; and NDinfo.org in North Dakota. These three organizations represent three distinctively different environmental settings and challenges facing urban/suburban, small urban and rural/frontier users and service providers.
• International Workshop on Mobility, Accessibility and Technology. This is a workshop in San Francisco hosted by American Public Transportation Association (APTA) in July 2004. The workshop supports a platform for information sharing and provides an international perspective on the delivery of human service transportation.
• Transportation and HHS Agency Coordination Operational Tests. This is a phased program that allocates over $3 million to 13 operational tests for coordination, technology deployment and innovative practices of human service transportation. Many of these operational tests focus on improving operational efficiencies from the transportation providers’ perspective
• Transportation and HHS Regional Coordination Workshops: The USDOT hosted 10 regional workshops (by the 10 FTA regions) from March 2003 through December 2004. These workshops aimed to solicit input from the states’ perspective and assist states in developing their coordination action plans.
• Coordinated Mobility: A Unified Transportation Management Solution. Based on stakeholders’ input and needs assessment, the USDOT funds the National Transit Institute to develop this course. This course discusses creative approaches to overcoming coordination barriers and thus bringing fragmented systems into a more seamless network with a customer-focused mindset.

Approach

Embracing the notions of inter-agency coordination and cooperation and technology integration, this initiative adopts a five-phase approach with two embedded go/no-go decision points to advance the quality and efficiency of human service transportation (HST) delivery. These five phases are:

Phase 1: Coalition building
Phase 2: Foundation research
Phase 3: Planning and design of ITS-enhanced HST models
Phase 4: Deployment and evaluation of ITS-enhanced HST models
Phase 5: Documentation and outreach

Phase 1: Coalition Building

One of the major goals of the Mobility Services for All Americans initiative is creating a bridge between the transportation and ITS and human services communities in order to create new solutions that combine the efforts and knowledge of both. Coalition building to facilitate inter-agency coordination and cooperation will be a key element in the success of this initiative. To promote optimal allocation of resources and deployment of technologies to enhance the mobility and accessibility for the transportation disadvantaged, this initiative introduces three levels of coalition building to perform various functions ranging from day-to-day program operations and management to technical support, advisory and oversight. The first level (core group) is a USDOT intermodal program management team that involves key personnel from three modal administrations, including FTA, FHWA and FMCSA. This core group performs essential program planning, management and decision-making functions, monitors the course, and is ultimately responsible for program outcomes. The second level is an inter-agency coalition that initially includes representatives from four federal agencies: Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Education and Transportation. These four agencies collectively administer 52 of the 62 federal programs, identified in the GAO report, that provide human services transportation to the transportation disadvantaged. As the program progresses, the inter-agency coalition may be expanded to involve representations from all ten agencies, with the additions of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, and Social Security Administration, as defined in the presidential executive order. The third level of coalition building reaches out to the stakeholder groups beyond public agencies. Stakeholders may include grass-roots, community/advocacy groups, industry organizations, transportation service providers, trade associations, and private businesses. These organizations/individuals have a wide range of interests, expertise, and/or roles in human services transportation and may participate in various capacities, including providing guidance/assistance in coordination, outreach and technology deployment and advising program management and operations. Additionally, expert panels on specific subjects may be formed as needed throughout the course of the program.

All three levels of coalition will remain in active participation throughout the entire program period.

Phase 2: Foundation Research

The primary purposes of foundation research include:

• Integrate knowledge from the transportation and human services communities on needs, gaps, barriers, past and current innovations and emerging opportunities, so that program resources can be allocated to focus on the “right” targets
• Establish the “baseline” so that measurable performance can be defined and gauged
• Develop the information inventory so that subsequent program activities can build upon existing knowledge and systems
• Identify concurrent activities and initiatives by public sectors so that related efforts can be effectively integrated and/or coordinated

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the contractor selected to perform the foundation research actively collects, reviews, analyzes and compiles information from at least the following four input sources: 1) coalition inputs, 2) federal activities, 3) state/local initiatives, 4) general review and research. First, SAIC establishes the mechanism and regularly obtain inputs from the coalitions developed in Phase 1. Second, SAIC inventories past and existing human service transportation-related projects initiated by not only USDOT, but also across all federal government agencies. Third, SAIC collects information and catalogs note-worthy state and local business models and practices on human services transportation planning and delivery. Special attention is given to those states and local communities where service coordination and/or innovative techniques are emphasized. Last, SAIC integrates knowledge from empirical studies and tests and conducts a state-of-the-art research on linking technologies with human services transportation coordination and accessibility enhancement.

At the end of this phase, SAIC provides deliverables that address the following issues:

Identify needs and gaps in current transportation practice experienced by transportation disadvantaged populations

Identify barriers experienced by the transportation disadvantaged, transportation service providers and program administrators/agencies that lead to gaps and unmet needs in accessibility and mobility

Develop inventories of: state-of-the-practice, past and ongoing projects, and available information/references that are related to using advanced technologies to improve accessibility and mobility of the transportation disadvantaged

Assess and prioritize the potential technologies (or “packages”) and their applications based upon their ability to address the needs/gaps and their readiness for widespread application

The foundation research final report is completed and available for viewing and download from the ITS Joint Program Office website at www.its.dot.gov

Phase 3: Planning and Design of ITS-enhanced HST Models

Building upon existing knowledge, stakeholder inputs and information produced through Phase 2: Foundation Research, the MSAA initiative launches a demonstration program to demonstrate the technical and institutional feasibility of a coordinated human service transportation system with enhanced accessibility features. The MSAA initiative collaborates with the United We Ride initiative, both in terms of funding and management, to plan and implement this demonstration program.

The demonstration program will take place in two stages. The first stage involves model system planning and design, while the second stage calls for model system deployment and evaluation. This Phase – Phase 3: Planning and Design of ITS-enhanced HST Models corresponds to the first stage. The philosophy of conducting the demonstration in two stages is to broaden public/private participation, foster collaboration and competition while reduce the government’s overall investment risks. The scope of the demonstration considers all technologies, including Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Assistive Technologies (AT), and other technologies and innovations, to improve the availability and accessibility of public transportation services to transportation-disadvantaged persons, including three areas of potential technology applications:

Technologies and services for improving the access, egress, and ease of use of conventional fixed route transit and other non-private auto transportation for the transportation disadvantaged

Technologies and services for the provision of accessible demand response transit, paratransit, and other mobility options to transportation-disadvantaged persons

Technologies and services for coordination of all transportation services to provide fully accessible door-to-door mobility equivalent to that provided to the general public.

The expected result from Phase 1 will be up to 10 “deployment-ready,” replicable and scalable system detailed designs for models of travel management coordination centers (TMCC) that deliver enhanced human service transportation across a variety of operational environments and scenarios.

The USDOT selects up to 10 demonstration planning and design sites based on criteria advertised in the request for proposals (RFPs), including:

• Type of operations environment
• Clarity and specificity of proposal
• Current state of human service transportation delivery system
• Current level of ITS Infrastructure in place
• Scope of human service transportation programs participation
• Strong public-private partnership and commitment
• Integration with other technology and/or systems change initiatives
• Cost, timeframe and qualification

The USDOT also establishes an independent and interdisciplinary technical and management assistance (TMA) team as a resource to provide general technical assistance to and exchange information across the project sites as needed. The TMA team also provides direct oversight and project management support to the USDOT to promote the quality of deliverables received from the individual project locations.

The expected results from Phase 3 are up to 10 “deployment-ready,” replicable and scalable system detailed designs for models of travel management coordination centers (TMCC) that deliver enhanced human service transportation across a variety of operational environments and scenarios. Based on these outcomes, the MSAA program enters another ITS Management Council (IMC) go/no-go decision point before moving into Phase 4: Deployment and Evaluation of ITS-enhanced Human Service Transportation Models.

Eight sites have been selected to participate in this phase - www.its.dot.gov/msaa_activities.htm

Phase 4: Deployment and Evaluation of ITS-enhanced HST Models

Near the end of the period of performance of Phase 3 and subject to IMC approval for continuation, the USDOT intends to launch the second half of the demonstration program. That is, to select two or more local communities to deploy and evaluate ITS-enhanced HST models as locally planned and designed in Phase 3. Only those project sites involved in Phase 3 (i.e., model planning an design) are eligible to apply for the Phase 4 (model deployment and evaluation) funding of this initiative.

The end product of this demonstration program is the creation of replicable/scalable models of travel management coordination center (TMCC) that not only provides single point of access, unified, customer-based travel support services, but also supports coordination of human services transportation management and operations across various social welfare programs and service providers, modes and geographic areas. The TMCC deploys a collection of technologies that are tested and proven, and have demonstrated significant benefits and return on investment based on empirical evidence, including results from the 13 ongoing rural ITS transit operational tests. The concept of replicability and scalability is essential to the system design and specification of TMCC in order to promote widespread deployment (i.e. minimal customization required from one deployment to another) across the country from both technical (e.g., ITS) and non-technical (e.g., policies and regulations) perspectives.

The MSAA program currently plans to fund two local communities for TMCC model deployment and evaluation. The two sites represent distinctively different service characteristics and challenges facing urban/suburban and rural/frontier public transportation operations – a key finding resulting from the MSAA foundation research. The number of demonstration sites may increase upon availability of additional funds from other federal partners and/or programs. The ability and commitment to maintenance and operate the TMCC beyond the MSAA program funding once it is built is a key criterion for demonstration site selection. In addition to a self-evaluation to be performed by the local demonstration communities, the MSAA program also selects an independent contractor(s) to conduct a comprehensive evaluation to determine the returns on investment and measure the overall success of the respective TMCC in achieving program goals.

Phase 5: Technology Transfer, Customer Outreach and Professional Capacity Building

While the key product of the MSAA program is the demonstration of replicable and scalable models of TMCC at two or more local communities (i.e., Phase 4), the ultimate success of the program is dependent on the level of nationwide deployment to enhance the quality of mobility services for all Americans. To this end, the MSAA program fully recognizes the importance of technology transfer, customer outreach and professional capacity building (PCB). In Phase 5, the program builds on the success of TMCC demonstration to promote a widespread practice of human services transportation coordination through well designed and articulated technology transfer, customer outreach and professional capacity building activities so that more of the transportation disadvantaged population can enjoy the benefits of increased access and mobility through service coordination and technology integration. An outreach and PCB plan ensures that all program activities are carried out with the potential implications of technology transfer, customer outreach and PCB in mind. The plan takes into account any professional outreach opportunities and initiatives that are not operated by the government, such as Easter Seals Project ACTION mobility management seminars. To continue the spirit of inter-agency collaboration, the development and delivery of technology transfer, customer outreach and professional capacity building activities utilize coalition networks built at the beginning and throughout the program period.

Planned outreach activities and materials will focus on the following four areas:

• To increase the general public and policy-makers’ awareness of the concept and benefits of human services transportation coordination
• To promote the general public and policy-makers’ awareness of the concept and benefits of innovative technologies for accessibility and mobility solutions
• To inform and educate the transportation disadvantaged about turning available transportation resources into enhanced accessibility and mobility
• To educate transportation service providers about applicable ITS technologies, their respective strength and weakness, technical implications and empirical lessons learned.
• To outreach and educate human services program administrators and transportation service providers about the opportunities and potential return on investment (economic and others) presented by integrating technologies and coordinate services.

The program proposes to take advantage of existing mechanisms established through the USDOT ITS and other departmental agencies’ programs for delivery. These mechanisms may include the following:

• Provide technical assistance to human services transportation providers and program planners and implementers
• Develop and distribute technical and/or implementation guides that contain technical details and step-by-step instructions on how to plan, design and implement a successful program
• Develop and deliver training courses
• Continue ITS peer-to-peer support program
• Continue ITS Transit Showcase-in-a-Box or similar innovative program
• Continue ITS Transit technical assistance program
• Produce papers for professional journals, newsletters, and publications as appropriate
• Make presentations at conferences and workshops

Phase 5 commences upon the completion of Phase 2: Foundation Research.

Milestones

Funding

This initiative requires $8M over four years. In fiscal year 2005, a federal funding estimate of $1 million is needed to launch this initiative, including program development and management, coalition building (Phase 1), foundation research (Phase 2). In fiscal year 2006, $3 million is needed to carry out demonstration planning and design, and provide technical and management assistance to the selected local communities (Phase 3). In fiscal year 2007, additional $3 million is needed to implement the replicable/scalable traveler management coordination center demonstration program and conduct in-depth evaluations to determine return on investment, measure system impacts, and document lessons learned (Phase 4). In fiscal year 2008, $1 million is needed to complete the TMCC demonstration, produce a final program report to assess the overall level of the program success, and conduct PCB/outreach activities (Phase 5).