Focus: National Council on Independent Living

The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) will be hosting a policy briefing on May 14, 2012 to discuss NCIL's advocacy agenda. It will be available via teleconference and CART (captioned) webcast. This event is free for NCIL members and $25 for non-members. During the policy briefing, NCIL will address the issues covered in its Legislative & Advocacy Priorities Booklet. The booklet advocates for improved accessibility at polling locations and against photo identification requirements; reauthorization of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) with greater consumer participation; establishment of a new Independent Living Administration (ILA) and strengthening the Independent Living Program; maintenance of the insurance protections in the Affordable Care Act; funding for accessible diagnostic equipment; requiring states to provide alternatives to institutionalization for people with disabilities; a health insurance program for the unemployed; and maintaining Medicaid and bolstering the CLASS Act.

NCIL's Transportation Priorities

In terms of transportation, called the "linchpin to independence," NCIL's advocacy booklet focuses on increased accessibility of facilities and modes, availability of transportation, and complete streets. This applies to public and publicly-available transportation options.

NCIL would like all new and innovative public and private transportation systems that transfer passengers including individuals with disabilities from one point to another to be accessible for all passengers. Also, pedestrian safety and the rights-of-way must be designed to maximize accessibility to all community-based services, programs, activities, and employment opportunities that are available to the general public. There are three areas of concentration that will maximize community integration, involvement, and participation of individuals with disabilities in the following ways:

 Rural transportation services, including transportation services between one municipality and another: NCIL strongly supports increased availability and greater access to affordable and accessible rural transportation as well as a coordinated plan to ensure such transportation services among and between all; cities, urban, and rural areas. To maximize the availability of rural accessible transportation services, this rule of accessibility must also apply to small airplanes.

 Livable communities: Safe and accessible rights-of-ways including Complete Streets Legislation, which are all essential elements of community life.

 Private Transportation Services: Legislation is needed to increase the number and availability of accessible vehicles within the private transportation industry i.e. taxis, limousines, shuttle service, car rentals, buses, trains etc.

 Housing

For housing, NCIL seeks federal legislation that would mandate accessible public housing as well as institute other reforms. There are more legislative positions articulated in the booklet as well as a great deal of detail about the aforementioned topics.

Finding Affordable, Accessible, Integrated Housing, and A Systems Approach to Expanding Housing - Aug. 7-10, 2012 in Chicago. NCIL presents this two-in-one training event that incorporates law, policy, helping individuals and working with institutional partners.

President's Budget - What Are National Organization's Saying?

I am currently perusing websites of the members of the National Consortium on the Coordination of Human Services Transportation with an eye toward responses to and analyses of the Obama Administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 2012. I am especially looking at organizations that are not specifically transportation related to find out their perspectives.

Public Health

Children’s Health Fund
CHF's reaction to the President's proposed budget did not discuss transportation per se. It did discuss access to health care, and praised:

the investment of an additional $300 million to create 25 new health centers nationwide; additional incentives for 2,800 new primary care providers who practice in areas where there is an existing shortage of doctors and high poverty rates; and retaining the majority of funding for the implementation of national health reform.

However, CHF criticized the requested cuts in Medicaid and other publicly-funded health insurance for children, as well as a proposed decreased investment in the Prevention and Public Health Fund, established as part of the new health reform law.

American Public Health Association
APHA responded in a press release to the Administration's budget proposals with disappointment, stating that public health and prevention would be shortchanged.

With today’s proposed $664 million in cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agency will have seen its budget authority slashed by $1.4 billion since fiscal year 2010, a more than 20 percent reduction. In addition, the Prevention and Public Health Fund established under the Affordable Care Act is slated for additional cuts of more than $4 billion over 10 years. The budget would also divert monies from the fund to backfill cuts to the CDC and other public health agencies. This maneuver not only puts the integrity of the CDC’s budget at risk but violates the fundamental spirit of this historic law. It robs Peter to pay Paul.

State and Local Perspectives

National Association of Counties
NACO's members are feeling the pinch of county budget cutbacks. For federal appropriations, NACO recommends assistance to state and local governments to mitigate further layoffs; investment in state and local infrastructure because it produces private sector jobs; and finding ways to reduce the federal deficit without "shifting costs to counties and their residents, imposing unfunded mandates, or preempting county programs or taxing authority."

National Association of Development Organizations
NADO released a proposed budget explanation that analyzes funding ramifications for rural programs, particularly economic development, and other programs that serve rural areas. It lists which programs would be eliminated, and which would suffer severe reductions. The document also reviews programs by federal departments, including transportation and reauthorization proposals.

Local and Regional Priorities

NADO and NACO joined to present testimony at a Senate hearing in February regarding rural development. Federal support for self-determined priorities and ease of access to federal programs were the major themes.

A criticism of USDA Rural Development is that its investments are not always driven by local and regional priorities. Instead of rural communities and small businesses working regionally on common goals, they often are forced to fit their economic development initiatives into federal priorities and funding stovepipes. I would urge a greater recognition and support of existing regional development strategies, including the EDA CEDS and our region’s Grand Vision and the 3E Initiative, which could assist Rural Development in making sound decisions regarding their investments.

National Conference of State Legislatures
NCSL provides an overview of what the President's budget proposals mean for funding across a broad spectrum of federal programs, including transportation. This is a good document for skimming to find out where the Administration's priorities are on everything from agriculture to transportation.

Equity, Human Services and Health Care

American Public Human Services Association
APHSA posts a list of what the proposed budget would mean for medical and human services programs. It does not include transportation, but is quite detailed about programs targeting vulnerable populations of older adults, children, people with disabilities, and people living in poverty.

PolicyLink
PolicyLink has issued the 99% Agenda to explain and respond to President Obama's proposed budget. The equity-oriented organization applauds the proposals to increase transit investment, to award transportation innovation, to develop multimodal corridors, and to enhance livability, foster mobility, and expand transportation choices via the inter-agency Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

People with Disabilities

Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living
Though not billed as related to proposed budgets, APRIL hosted two Capitol Hill briefings on Feb. 23 - one on the House side and the other on the Senate side - with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, and the American Association of People with Disabilities. The briefing examined civil rights enforcement, accessible transportation, job creation, workforce development, and legislative priorities critical to the disability community.

National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities
As mentioned in the last Express Stop post, NASUAD posted a chart that translates both the President's proposed budget and expected funding in terms of programs that serve senior citizens.

[Editor's Note: Due to the strict limit on the number of characters allowed to label each post, this post will only be labeled under Legislation and Funding, but not under the label for each organization discussed.]

Models to Improve Transportation for Veterans, Patients and People with Disabilities

Community Transportation Association of America
CTAA's National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation Coordination released NRC Report: Transportation for America's Veterans and Their Families, which discusses improving transportation for our nation's veterans through partnerships and coordination. Examples of the work of regional ambassadors are given. The NRC also maintains a webpage "bookshelf" with veterans transportation resources.

Life-Saving Transportation

CTAA also distributed the Dialysis Report, which discusses the dire, complicated transportation demands that dialysis patients present.

The crux of the transportation challenge is that the majority of dialysis patients are covered by Medicare, which — unlike Medicaid — does not offer non-emergency transportation as a benefit. Three out of four dialysis patients in the U.S., are Medicare primary, meaning that Medicare sets the reimbursement rate and pays 80 percent of that amount ...

Indeed, in background discussions with community and public transit officials around the country for this article, a common refrain was the difficult position in which many transit operators find themselves — how to continuously add new dialysis patients to the transit schedule with no means of payment.

The situation places transportation providers between the proverbial rock and a hard place. CTAA is advocating for a funding mechanism within Medicare and for increased kidney organ donation. "Transplants can add decades to people’s lives and significantly forestall the need for dialysis, but only when the needed organs are available."

Solutions Possible to Realize Decades-Old Commitments

Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living
APRIL's Executive Director, Billy Altom, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee about the need for affordable, accessible and available rural transportation. Forty years after the Urban Mass Transportation Act and 20 years after the passing of the ADA, Altom argues, "minimal or nonexistent transit services in rural areas still create serious barriers to employment, accessible health care, and full participation in society for people with disabilities."

Altom sees some solutions that are working - mobility management and voucher programs. Altom praised the Easter Seals Project ACTION Mobility Management Independent Living Coaches program and he cited as an example the Center for Independent Living for Western Wisconsin Regional Mobility Management/New Freedom Program, which provided 12,000 rides last year and coordinates in seven counties with public and private transportation providers. More than 140 volunteer drivers provide the rides and the program is expanding into an 18-county area. Already weekly rides are being supplied to 130 veterans.

Partnership for Mobility Management member Denise Larson is the mobility manager for the program. She also serves on the Partnership's advisory committee.

Another Type of Coordination

American Public Human Services Association
Bridging the Divide: Leveraging New Opportunities to Integrate Health and Human Services is APHSA's new report about the value added of coordinating and aligning health and human services for clients beyond eligibility and enrollment for a "customer‐focused, one‐stop shop, 'service home'." Such coordination makes sense, according to the report, because:

Many of the same people who qualify for Medicaid, CHIP or some level of premium subsidy identified through the Exchanges also qualify for one or more human service assistance programs.

The positive impact of coordinated care and integrated case management on improving the overall health and well‐being of individuals and populations— strengthening families, achieving employment and independence, improving the well‐being of children, youth, people with disabilities, seniors and other vulnerable populations—is well documented. Better outcomes mean healthier, safer, stabilized individuals and families with a better chance of sustainable independence from government services and long‐term personal success.

The report contains case studies of what several states are doing and the impending impact of the new healthcare law.

Legislative Push to Improve Transportation for People with Disabilities

National Council on Independent Living
NCIL published a new position paper on transportation that starts out with the observation that 80 percent of federal transportation funding goes to highways, which discriminates against people with disabilities, along with the unfulfilled promise of the ADA for transit service accessible to all and the lack in rural areas of transportation options and accessible streets for people with disabilities.

NCIL declares 11 goals that it is seeking via the next transportation authorization bill. The following list is edited, but quotes from the position paper.

1. Address the continued discrimination against individuals with disabilities by ensuring through legislation that all public transportation is accessible to and for individuals with disabilities. According to the Rural Transportation Institute, a recent study indicates that only 7 states require public transportation to be wheel-chair accessible under Section 5310. ...

2. Provide major new investments in public transportation and complete street designs ... . The lack of transportation and pedestrian safety and right of way options in many communities is a major barrier to employment of individuals with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities heavily rely on public transportation and the expansions of transportation and complete street options will significantly improve the mobility of individuals with disabilities. ...

3. Include the creation of innovative, creative, universally designed, and accessible and energy efficient vehicles in any future Economic Stimulus, Climate Change, or Surface Transportation Reauthorization Legislation. ... Legislation should maximize the development of federal incentives to increase local and state transit investment. All community and public transportation systems should be able to decide locally when and how to best deploy federal and local investment for either operating or capital uses.

4. Require states to establish an advisory committee to the state Department of Transportation including at least 51% of persons with disabilities and senior citizens, for all types of transportation services. An advisory committee should also be created in counties and/or areas where there are no transportation services, in order to help establish a transportation system to meet the needs of that county. ...

5. Develop a federal standard that requires all taxi fleets to be wheelchair accessible/universally designed that can be adopted by the U.S. Access Board. At a minimum private transportation services such as taxis, limousines and/or shuttle services, must have 10-20% (with a minimum of at least one accessible vehicle) wheelchair accessible/universally designed vehicles.

6. Make all train cars, stations, and any mechanism used to assist with boarding, doorways and vestibules accessible. According to the Amtrak staff at The Piedmont in Charlotte, North Carolina, there are no accessible cars for wheelchair users. As a result, one may be able to get to his or her destination on a car that is accessible but may not be able to travel home because the car on the return train may not be accessible. ... Also, all stations must maximize accessibility improvements including stations not designated as key stations.

7. Create legislation that requires support for mobility management and coordination programs and voucher programs among public transportation providers, other human services agencies providing transportation services, and volunteer driver and aide programs ... by establishing a dedicated funding source for these services. The mobility needs of individuals with disabilities in rural communities are significant. New initiatives to address their unique needs, such as the need for accessible transportation services to transport individuals between the various Municipalities, must be included in any transportation reauthorization.

8. Expand Section 5310 [rural general purpose], the Job Access and Reverse Commute program and the New Freedom program that serves a critical need in the disability community. ... The program should be strengthened by improved oversight and transparency to help nonprofit partners understand how to access the program and assist policy makers understand how the program is being used.

9. Produce all information by transportation authorities for the purpose of informing the general public of their function and schedule of operations in an accessible format upon request. Such formats must address the needs and requests of the patron requesting such an alternative format like large print (18 size font), braille, and computer disk (digital format). In addition, transportation websites must meet the requirements set forth under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

10. Establish a federal standard that requires all commercial airline carriers, as well as small air carriers, to provide personnel with adequate training in safe methods of transfer for passengers with mobility disabilities onto both small and large aircraft. ...

11. Allow service animals including psychiatric service dogs & emotional support animals (ESA) to follow their user.

ABLE Act

NCIL and other disability rights organizations, particularly those representing people with cognitive disabilities, are advocating for the ABLE Act, which stands for Achieving a Better Life Experience Act. Modeled on the qualified tuition program, the Act would amend the tax code to encourage saving for "disability-related expenses on behalf of designated beneficiaries with disabilities that will supplement, but not supplant, benefits provided through private insurance, the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act, the supplemental security income program under title XVI of such Act, the beneficiary's employment, and other sources." These expenses include housing, transportation, education, employment supports, health and wellness, and assistive technology, among others, including spending on public transit or modifying personal vehicles.

NARC Speaks Up for Rural Development Funding

National Association of Regional Councils
In a letter to the Senate dated Oct. 31, NARC opposes Senator Coburn's proposed amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2012, which NARC maintains would reduce Fiscal 2012 federal rural development spending by $1 billion or about 40 percent. Rural development funds pay for such programs as expansion of rural broadband and clean drinking water facilities. NARC states:

The amendment sponsored by Senator Coburn will further decimate an agency and programs already hard hit by budget cuts. In recent years, Congress and the Administration have repeatedly reduced annual appropriations for rural development. The FY 12 level recommended in the Senate’s version of H.R. 2112 is some $175 million below the FY 11 rate. Between 2003 and 2011, appropriations for rural water sewer, business programs and community facilities were cut by 30% and rural housing direct lending and related grant programs by over 50%.

The Coburn amendment will not only curtail improvements in housing, water and waste facilities, broadband deployment, and economic opportunity; it has the potential to displace thousands of families living in rural rental housing developments. The Senate bill contains appropriations to renew 205,000 expiring rural rental assistance contacts. The Coburn amendment requires that each rural development account is proportionately reduced (by 40%) to achieve a $1 billion reduction. Over 80,000 rural families – all of whom are low-income and most of whom are elderly or persons with disabilities – will face almost certain loss of their apartments if the amendment is approved and their rental assistance is terminated.

Living with a Transportation Challenge

AARP
AARP reiterates its concern that most older adults are lacking transportation options, particularly transit and a pedestrian-friendly street network. The result for many people is isolation as they are hesitant to ask friends and family members for assistance with non-essential trips.

Public transportation is very limited or nonexistent in America's suburbs and rural areas, where most older people live, and there is no indication that the situation will improve soon. In fact, a recent study by Transportation for America finds that by 2015, more than 15.5 million Americans 65 and older will live in communities where public transportation service is poor or nonexistent. Further, 60 percent of people age 50 and over said in an AARP survey that they did not have public transportation within a 10-minute walk from their homes. And 53 percent said they did not have a sidewalk outside their home.

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
N4A's Maturing of America Survey asked governments, particularly local governments, about their services for older adults. The survey notes generally the increasing population of older adults, increasing need and, with the recession, decreasing revenues to support programs.

In terms of transportation and other services, the survey finds that older adults living in urban areas are in a better situation than those who reside in rural areas. Higher population areas are more likely to provide discounted fares on public transportation, taxi discounts or vouchers, and door-to-door and door-through-door demand-response service. They are also more likely to have pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and intersections, paratransit and public transportation. The survey emphasized that the West Coast "excels in almost all transportation categories."

Multiple Disabilities

American Council for the Blind
ACB's newsletter, the Braille Forum, recently noted the ways in which we can all be sensitive to people with mobility challenges when planning events or when using public transit and accommodations. The article discusses people with visual impairments who have multiple disabilities.

American Public Health Association
A new resource for me is the APHA Transportation and Public Health E-Newsletter (link is to subscription page). Public health benefits of transit, community transportation, walking and biking, interrelated as they are, supply wonderful partners for coordination efforts and mobility initiatives. In the current newsletter issue are the following resources:

* The Road to Health Care Parity: Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care, a policy brief about the public health ramifications of our transportation system on living a healthy lifestyle and actually being able to travel to healthcare appointments.
* National Prevention Strategy, which recommends greater reliance on transit and the active transportation modes of biking and walking. One suggestion is to "[c]onvene partners (e.g., urban planners, architects, engineers, developers, transportation, law enforcement, public health) to consider health impacts when making transportation or land use decisions."
* Safe Routes to Transit and Safe Routes for Seniors programs, which are now limited to the San Francisco area and New York, respectively.
* Aging in Place, Stuck without Options: Fixing the Mobility Crisis Threatening the Baby Boom Generation, a Transportation for America report that documents the need for viable transit options so that baby boomers will be able to comfortably age in place. The report takes a hard look at rural and suburban areas, which together account for 75 percent of today's seniors.

Medicaid Tracker

National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities
NASUAD is updating monthly its Medicaid tracker, available via its homepage. The tracker reviews the Medicaid systems in each state and summarizes any changes in eligibility and service.

Legislative Recommendations

National Council on Independent Living
NCIL has posted its summer legislative priorities, which can be opened from the homepage. Among others, the priorities include a ban on forced electroshock, support for Senate processing of judicial nominations, housing, health and medical support services, and opposition to the ADA Notifications Act, which would require 90-day notice before filing an ADA complaint. NCIL is also making requests concerning funding and the structuring of state independent living entities.

NCIL's transportation endorsements favor Complete Streets legislation, accessible taxi fleets and reauthorization of transportation legislation.

Joint Actions, Legislation and FTA Update

American Public Health Association
APHA has 10 Public Health and Equity Principles for Transportation, which include increased funding for community transportation, transportation for mobility-challenged populations, multi-modal infrastructure and planning, and reducing carbon emissions. Signatories include the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) as well as pedestrian and biking advocates, and public health and medical associations.

Inter-Agency Partnership for Sustainable Communities

Smart Growth America announces the 50 organizations that sent a joint letter to the Senate leadership for appropriations and transportation urging funding for the inter-agency partnership for sustainable communities. Those 50 include the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A), the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), and the Amalgamated Transit Union, all members of the National Consortium on the Coordination of Human Services Transportation, as well as organizations devoted to planning, the environment, health and transportation equity.

Federal Transit Administration
FTA has released federal register notices of funding opportunities with deadlines this summer.
* State of good repair funds for buses and bus facilities - deadline July 29.
* Discretionary Sustainability Funding Opportunity Transit Investments - deadline Aug. 23. The funds are specifically for the Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) Program and Clean Fuels Grant Program, Augmented With Discretionary Bus and Bus Facilities Program.
* Discretionary livability funding - deadline July 29. The programs involved are Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities Livability Initiative Program Grants and Section 5339 Alternatives Analysis Program.

FTA also announced apportionment of new starts and small starts funds. These go beyond coast to coast to serve places unconnected to the mainland, including Alaskan and Hawaiian ferries and the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan.

Another funding announcement made recently was the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Advance Notice of Requirements for HUD’s FY11 Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program, which will provide an additional $67 million for building sustainable communities throughout the country.

Convenient Places to Live and Work

American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
APTA helped craft the listing of today's 10 most convenient cities, as measured by transit access and walkability. In addition to the obvious ones of New York, Chicago, Seattle, Boston and Portland, there is also Milwaukee and Los Angeles.

Enthusiastic Legislative Support

National Council on Independent Living
NCIL is strongly endorsing and working for independent living (IL) legislation pending in Congress. The IL provisions within the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act would create an IL Administration, which would not require any new or additional funding, but would streamline the IL Program and enhance consumer-control. This new entity would be independent of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) within the Department of Education.

Resources to Dump the Pump

American Public Transportation Association
Remind your constituencies to participate in National Dump the Pump Day, Thursday, June 16. Secretary LaHood is encouraging people to take transit that day and save money, reduce "our nation's dependence on foreign oil," and "discover an economical, comfortable, stress-free option for getting around that they hadn't considered before." More information is available from APTA, which has materials for promoting and publicizing Dump the Pump Day, including button templates, sample proclamations and suggested activities.

Community Transportation Association of America
CTAA joins with Families USA and other groups to support the Medicaid program and oppose the suggested transformation of Medicaid into a block grant program. "Medicaid is an important program for many public and community transportation systems around the country and the Association feels strongly that it must be protected in the ongoing budget debates in Washington," said CTAA Executive Director Dale J. Marsico, CCTM.

NRC Capitol Clips explains how a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding programs offer opportunities for transportation options and mobility management efforts. Deadlines are coming up at the end of June and mid-July.

Big City Resources are Transferable

Okay, Brooklyn is not the first place in the country to post or allow posting of bus arrival times or to arrange for text messages to riders and smartphone access to a transit authority website, but a New York TV station did a nice little video about how the bus arrival notification system works. For Brooklynites, the information will mean a few more minutes to shop, but I think this type of system, which depends on business owners as much as the transit system because shops display bus arrival times in their windows, has even more potential for rural riders. With headways of an hour being common, people would be able to not only have time to shop, but to alert babysitters and bosses of delays, perhaps even to sit down somewhere and use an extra fifteen minutes to get something else done instead of looking up the road for the bus.

San Fransisco is utilizing its army of riders to send notices of what needs fixing. First, the transit agency asked for text messages about graffiti and vandalism locations and now it is about to unroll the same type of service for problems with cleanliness and security. Again, these are issues as much for rural as urban transit systems. In fact, this type of communication with riders probably would be more significant for a small operation with limited resources.

For these two stories, I am grateful to the Transit Wire, which I read each day. It is mostly technology/transit stories related to large urban systems, but it sometimes features small urban systems and their innovations, such as the recent start of free wifi on buses in Missoula, Mont.

Budget Battles: Organizations Call on Their Troops

Though federal employees are at their desks today, still on the horizon are the debt ceiling and the 2012 budget. Here are the concerns of some organizations, followed by discussion of a report that predicts the government-provided service needs of older Americans.

Amalgamated Transit Union
ATU is involved in the movement in several states to limit collective bargaining rights via We Are One rallies. On April 13, ATU will hold a National Day of Protest. Information about these events and a video and photograph contest are on ATU's homepage. In March, ATU hosted a boot camp training to educate labor and transit about how to establish transit advocacy coalitions. Ballot initiatives were also discussed.

American Public Health Association
APHA is ringing alarm bells about possible outcomes of the budget battle for medical care, Medicare, Medicaid and health care reform.

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
N4A joins with the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations in a letter to Congress to oppose proposed cuts to programs involving the aging community. N4A supports increased transportation dollars for older Americans due to great unmet needs and growing numbers of people age 65 plus. N4A is concerned about consolidation of programs to assist transportation-challenged populations because:

We are concerned that a consolidation of these programs might give public transportation providers less incentive to partner with community-based service providers to implement transportation programs targeting older adults and people with disabilities as they have traditionally done under the Section 5310 program. Our worst fear is that in consolidation, the balance of power in decisionmaking would mean that transit agencies would be less likely to pass through 5310 funding to nonprofit providers and instead create new programs of their own or support existing targeted programs, especially in these very tough fiscal times. The vital partnership between transit agencies and non-profit service providers that 5310 has created is successful and must be protected. In addition, the New Freedom program has been used to initiate cost-effective consumer responsive options such as dial-a-ride, taxi vouchers and volunteer driver programs, not just fixed route transit. Resources to expand mobility options beyond fixed-route transit must be continued as part of any consolidation proposal.

Fear that Livability is on the Chopping Block

Smart Growth America
SGA is asking its constituency to request that Congress fund the federal interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities and its activities. There is an advocacy toolkit on SGA's website.

Unmet and Growing Needs

Government Accountability Office
OLDER AMERICANS ACT: More Should Be Done to Measure the Extent of Unmet Need for Services, a GAO report, looks at needs for services, such as transportation, at different life stages past 65, income levels, and gender. More than health status, eyesight, income or gender, the more education one has the less need for transportation services. Poor health, living alone, having a low income and being female all correlate with greater needs.

On the Legislative Horizon for Transportation

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
AASHTO's newsletter covers the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's budget views and estimates for the next fiscal year. AASHTO's synopsis of the 30-page report was that the committee's message is to make do with less, adding that "[t]he document speaks in broad policy terms and does not provide recommended funding levels."

AASHTO correctly observes that while the committee is interested in the highway trust fund and the gap between revenue and funding needs, and addresses this issue specifically, the committee does not provide a detailed proposal of its own.

The T&I Committee offers its views about a few particular issues. The committee supports the Administration's proposal to streamline certain surface transportation programs. It recommends reducing the Essential Air Service program to rural areas due to near-empty flights. The committee particularly takes issue with Amtrak, its management and cost effectiveness, while announcing its acknowledgment of the importance of the Northeast Corridor to the nation's economic vitality.

[Flickr photo by Wally Gobetz. Sheepshead Bay, an express station on the BMT Brighton Line serving the B (formerly D) and Q lines, was opened in 1908.]

Regional Perspective on Transportation Policy and Spending

Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations
AMPO posts letters to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from four planning organizations. The letters are from:
* Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments in Oregon,
* Metropolitan Transportation Commission for the San Francisco Bay area,
* Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, and
* A Columbus, Ohio area partnership comprised of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, the Columbus Partnership, the Columbus Chamber, the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, and the Central Ohio Transit Authority.
The letters trumpet the importance of transportation, its infrastructure and transit to the nation's economy and to the vitality of regions.

Priorities of Counties

National Association of Counties
NACO's legislative conference concluded with new policy positions. These include opposition to proposed reductions in the Department of Agriculture's economic development program, community development block grants, and discretionary - non-military spending. NACO has a whole list of recommendations on environmental issues, with suggestions that county governments not suffer unfunded mandates. NACO supports the Administration's wireless innovations fund proposal. As for transportation, the only recommendation relates to roads that access or pass through certain federal lands.

NACO's 2011 legislative priorities include transportation reauthorization.

Congress should develop a comprehensive legislative effort to create jobs by providing robust funding for bridges, highways, mass transit, assistance for rural roads and other local infrastructure needs by reauthorizing the highway, transit, and safety programs. Congress should explore the various financing sources available to fully fund the Highway Trust Fund into the future while addressing metropolitan congestion and rural road safety. Enactment of these programs will help build our nation’s infrastructure and create additional employment opportunities.

Policies and Funding for Rural and Coordinated Transportation Options

Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
CTAA has on its homepage a collection of materials that declare the benefits of rural transportation services, including rural public transit, and an explanation of the history and scope of Medicaid's non-emergency transportation (NEMT) benefit.

American Bus Association (ABA)
ABA responds to the Obama Administration's recommendation for funding to develop a high-speed rail network with a reminder that intercity bus travel is a far less expensive form of long-distance publicly-available transportation.

Quoting from the ABA publication, the Insider, the association declares:

"We're asking lawmakers to invest in motorcoach transportation," said ABA President and CEO, Peter J. Pantuso, CTIS. "Even under the best circumstances, a high-speed rail network will not become a reality for years. Motorcoaches are here today. We cost a tiny fraction of what high-speed rail will cost. We are environmentally friendly, and we provide service to rural Americans that high-speed rail will never be able to reach. When you look at all of that, it just makes sense to go with the motorcoach."

The Insider article emphasizes the importance of motorcoach service to rural Americans. Bus service still covers a much greater proportion of rural residents than current or projected train lines.

Detailed Look at Coordination of Government Programs

In his NRC Capitol Clips post on March 4, Chris Zeilinger, the Director of the National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation Coordination (NRC), does a terrific job of summarizing and examining the findings of the recent Government Accountability Office report, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue. The blog finds in the report strong evidence to support coordination of government services. The report is well worth reading and transportation coordination is addressed at pages 48-50, which will appear as 53-55 in your pdf toolbar, and discussion of coordination for the transportation-challenged appears at 134-138 (appearing as 139-143).

Speaking of coordination, I read an interesting opinion blog in the New York Times online edition about coordination to improve education for low-performing public school systems. Coming Together to Give Schools a Boost talks about strong coordinating organizations and partners with clear goals and a focus on performance measures. I will not say that the strategies mentioned should be transferred to transit and transportation services, but the model is worth considering for its comprehensiveness and the honest assessment of its proponents that new methods were needed.

Human Service, State and Other Perspectives on Budget Proposals

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A)
N4A applauds President Obama's budget request. It highlights the proposed "significant investment in programs to support older adults and their caregivers. We especially would like to acknowledge the increased funding of $96 million for home and community-based supportive services as part of the Administration’s Caregiver Initiative."

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO)
NADO has posted a recording of its budget briefing and response to the House continuing resolution proposal. This is a long and detailed recording, but it gives an excellent review of the consequences of the budget debate for rural regions.

National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD)
NASUAD offers a family of materials about funding proposals, including a comprehensive agency-by-agency review of the President's budget.

National Head Start Association (NHSA)
NHSA is opposing proposed cuts to Head Start funding. The association has posted a chart of state-by-state reductions in student slots based on the House's continuing resolution proposal.

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)
PVA comments on the Administration's proposed spending for veterans programs.

[Our NRC staff at the 2010 EXPO in Long Beach, CA. Join us this year for EXPO in Indianapolis. From right to left, bottom row: NRC Director Chris Zeilinger and Eileen Boswell; top row: Janice Lorenz, Charles Dickson and Sheryl Gross-Glaser.]

United Way
United Way is urging its local constituencies to oppose proposed cuts to early education, emergency shelters, Americorps, health programs and supports for low-wage families.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
APHSA offers its review of proposed federal expenditures for human services programs.

When Medical Care Goes Wrong

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
An important legal issue is not only which party to an agreement or a medical procedure will take the economic risk, but also who adjudicates the disputes and who sets the standards. NCSL sent a letter to a House committee opposing federal medical malpractice legislation due to the position of state legislatures that states should be the entities to set the rules about how these lawsuits proceed.

NCSL has posted a fact sheet about state pension systems. The fact sheet itself provides an overview of "the degree to which [pensions] fit in the overall budget picture at the state and local levels, and the steps state and local governments are taking to bring their pension plans into long-term solvency." The information compiled was a joint venture with several national organizations. Basically, the organizations put forth evidence that state pension systems are in decent shape, are not contributing to the poor fiscal conditions in which state governments find themselves, and that public employees assist in the funding of their retirement.

Event

NCSL's Spring Forum - Apr. 14-15, 2011, in Washington, DC.

[Please note that due to the blogger software, this post is not being archived by organization (except for the event). Those national organization names are too long for the elves inside the software. Perhaps they are hobbits and not elves. Perhaps I should avoid technology issues and any machine that requires more than one remote control device.]

March: Stay at the Office for these Events

American Public Works Association (APWA)
APWA will host a webinar on March 10 about using social media to deliver your message. The webinar is geared towards public works departments.

Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA)
On March 9, ESPA will host a livable communities teleconference. Planning for the Accessibility of Livable and Sustainable Communities will feature staff from the Department of Transportation, including the Federal Transit Administration, to promote the creation of community linkages among housing, employment and economic development through accessible transportation. For questions, contact Rik Opstelten at 800-659-6428 or espadistancelearning@easterseals.com.info.

For a list of events related to transit and transportation services, visit the calendar of the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA).

Legislative News

CTAA has just posted materials about the Administration's proposed budget, cuts contained in the pending continuing resolution, new House members and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee listening tour. Visit CTAA's homepage for updates.

Okay, I thought I would take a glance at Secretary LaHood's blog today and good thing I did as the Secretary put the spotlight on a school bus driver at our old elementary school. According to the Secretary, children are safer taking the school bus than traveling any other way to their daily destination. As the blog and the video declare, school buses are a common, recognizable form of transportation that operate from coast to coast.

[Via a U.K. Daily Mail article about a woman so upset about the vandalizing of her local bus stop that she redecorated it.]

Local News

Phoenix Strategic Plan to include transit, livability and sustainability projects.

Hattiesburg, MS seeks to become pedestrian and transit friendly.

The Round Rock and Pflugerville area of Texas cites transportation as the number one issue that "affects every demographic in need." Other concerns for social service organizations included child care, housing and dental health.

The Georgia legislature is likely to abolish local planning mandates. The bill, according to its proponents, is not intended to do away with coordinated planning.

Transit a Priority for People with Disabilities, Commuters and Capitol Hill

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
APSHA's Working for Tomorrow newsletter recommended a Minnesota policy brief. Following the link, I found a series devoted to employment of people with disabilities and the concrete changes needed to increase their employment rates. Particularly interesting is the brief about people with visual impairments and the brief about people who are deaf and blind, probably because of the prominent position of the recommendation for improved public transportation. For more information, visit the Minnesota Employment Policy Initiative.

Census Data for Transit and Transportation

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO)
NADO's current Rural Transportation newsletter includes information helpful to anyone analyzing commuter patterns. It highlights the Census Transportation Planning Products release of the 2006 - 2008 3-year American Community Survey (ACS) Data. This release shows where people are commuting to and from and how they get there, and the data is organized by where workers live, where they work, and by the flow between those places. For more information, visit http://ctpp.transportation.org/Pages/3yrdas.aspx.

National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation Coordination (NRC)
The NRC has a Census 2010 page, which links to a wonderful resource, the Transportation Research Board's Census Data for Transportation Planning.

Happenings on the Hill

National Association of Regional Councils (NARC)
NARC has updated information about the fast-moving developments on Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Avenue regarding earmarks, the federal budget and transportation.

News Roundup: Coordination, Transportation Legislation and Technology

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
NCSL's Transportation Coordination Newsletter is a quarterly compendium of coordination developments, particularly at the state level. This issue also includes news about a volunteer driver law and resources.

NCSL's magazine has an article, Boomers on Board, which provides an overview of the demographics of the emerging boom in need and likely growth in mobility management, coordination, safety for older drivers, and land use and transportation coordination.

News

Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
FTA has a new webpage with information about each of its grant programs. Both the names and numbers of each program are supplied, with links to each program.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
APHSA is closely covering the activity in Congress relating to proposals for budget cuts and human services, including transit programs.

Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT)
Act is supporting the COMMUTE Less Act (HR 260), which would actively encourage employer involvement in transit and transportation planning processes as well as "engage employers in providing commuting alternatives to employees, including carpooling, vanpooling, use of transit, and teleworking." It would also fund a national organization to house a technical assistance center, an information clearinghouse and an "information and educational program with respect to the employer investment in transportation and commuter benefit program."

Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL)
APRIL is now offering its mentors virtual peer visits, along with the equipment to make them possible, as an alternative to in-person mentoring visits. CILs retain the choice of an in-person visit. The website has more details about the CIL mentoring program.

In a Google search to find out more about Rep. John Mica's upcoming listening tour about transportation reauthorization, there were a few transit blog posts and coverage from the Wall Street Journal. In an excellent article, Fight Looms over Transportation, the paper lays out the different positions within the Republican Party and the Administration, the shrinking value of gas tax revenue, and what is at stake for all types of infrastructure and transportation. Positions of associations, states and other stakeholders are not discussed.

Listening tour dates are available from at http://dc.streetsblog.org/2011/01/28/ti-committee-announces-field-hearing-schedule/.


Transit Wire Highlights

The Transit Wire, a transit and technology blog, links to news of what GPS means for the Lehigh and Northanpton Authority, a Pennsyvania bus system, and its customers in terms of real-time bus information and using the information about passenger loads to improve service.

Your local bus stop could soon transform from the place with exhausted faces to the place people visit whether or not they are getting on a bus. The Transit Wire led me to this neat photo-laden article about a new generation of bus stops, places with interactive media, Internet and GPS access, solar energy-produced heat and power, opportunities to leave messages, and avant garde design.

Public Health and Safety

American Public Health Association (APHA)
APHA studies the broad health impacts that result from different transportation choices. Its resources include an issue brief, the Hidden Costs of Transportation, about the health costs of an auto-dependent transportation system.

Of practical benefit to communities that are trying to sell transit, shared rides, and zero-emission mode (walking and biking) initiatives is APHA's fact sheet about Health Impact Assessments. The Health Impact Project has more information about how HIAs are used to inform decision making for different types of public works projects, including transit, transportation and planning.

[Multi-modal street scene in Portland, Ore.]

National Association of Regional Councils (NARC)
NARC joins with the Public Safety Alliance (PSA) in urging Congress to support public safety through legislation (S. 28) that will assist in the realization of a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network.

Emergency Mobility

Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)
The FEMA Administrator blogs about using social media to fit people and not the agency. Some of the comments following the post are amazing, particularly the one about a man who is extremely disabled who used facebook to indirectly reach the fire department when his toaster threatened major disaster.

A blog writer talks about the importance to emergency recovery of walkable streets and services available locally, such as groceries. Ken Benfield quotes a discussion about the Brisbane, Australia flooding, comparing Brisbane's street network to Beirut's:

There is what you might call 'network redundancy' i.e. every few streets has a grocers, bakers, coffee shop, ironmongers, tailors etc. etc. This, as opposed to the centralised and consolidated model of western cities, most obviously visible in the out-of-town mall accessed by car, with all the apparent economies of scale that entails. Yet the former is actually more resilient, for sure. ... It would have been better to have been in a place with a walkscore of something approaching 100 (see walkscore.com.) But there is nothing around us, barely pavements, and now the connecting infrastructure of roads is so easily compromised.

Helping People to Get Out of the House

Sometimes, it is the things we don't really notice - unless we have to - that make a big difference to the independence and mobility of a group of people. For the visually impaired, sounds are essential to navigating streets; for the elderly and the infirm, a helping hand of a volunteer is crucial.

After two years of hard work, the American Council for the Blind (ACB) scored a victory for pedestrian safety for anyone who relies on his or her hearing to completely or partially navigate the crossing of streets.

The House [has] passed S. 841, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, legislation that will provide blind, visually impaired, and other pedestrians greater security when traveling in close proximity to hybrid or electric vehicles. The legislation passed the Senate on December 9. It now goes to the President for his signature.
... ... ...
The legislation will require the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin writing standards that would set requirements for an alert sound that allows blind and other pedestrians to reasonably detect a nearby electric or hybrid vehicle. It also requires that those rules be finalized within three years.

Volunteer Engagement

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A), in collaboration with the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD), AARP, and the Administration on Aging, among others, has created a technical resource center for the aging network to engage and train volunteers and provide technical assistance for volunteers and volunteer coordinators. More details can be found in the N4A press release.

Volunteer drivers are an important component of both senior and non-emergency medical transportation. Visit the relevant pages of the Community Transportation Association of America website.

Big Plans

From small to large public transportation systems, recent announcements are reminiscent of the Daniel Burnham quote, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood.... Make big plans... aim high in hope and work.”

Last night, the PBS NewsHour profiled rural transit in Natchez, Miss., and the plans to build a better system that will attract many more riders. Charles Carr, director of transit services, Mississippi Department of Transportation and President of the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) was asked to respond to arguments that subsidies are required to fund public transit. Carr replied that subsidies are used for rail and air travel as well as roads.

Natchez Transit's director, Sabrina Bartley, plans to expand service to underserved areas, start fixed-route service, and coordinate service in 13 counties.

A Bos-Wash Dream

On the other side of the spectrum, a large sytem, Amtrak, declares its plans for high-speed service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC). None other than the Secretary of Transportation praised the unprecedented regional partnership in his blog post this morning. The NEC plan envisions trips from Washington to Boston in 3 hours and 23 minutes (compared to the current 8 hours on Amtrak's Northeast Regional trains or 6 hours and 37 minutes on Acela Express), with 220 mile-per-hour service between the major cities along the corridor. More information is available from the Potomac Express and from the Philadelphia Enquirer at http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20100929_Amtrak_rolls_out_ambitious__high-speed_service_plan.html.

What's the common denominators for implementation of ambitious plans in the rural Natchez area and the states and cities along the NEC? Champions will be needed to persist in seeing the plans through and coordination at the county, state and regional levels.

Economic Message

The message that many see in ambitious public transportation plans is the creation of jobs, increasing employment within transit systems and in the communities that it serves.

The Natchez Transit director speaks of attracting business. Employers, she says, are always interested in whether their employees can get to work. For Amtrak and those supporting the NEC plan, there are estimates that thousands of jobs could be created. Amtrak's president, Joseph Boardman, says that the new high-speed rail corridor's bridges, tunnels, and stations "would create 40,000 full-time jobs per year over 25 years" and planners estimate 120,000 new permanent jobs would result from improved economic productivity along the corridor.

Green Jobs

Ambitious plans are not limited to local and intercity transportation. According to the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), a green economy incorporates transit and coordination among regional sectors. In its discussion of green jobs in a letter to the Department of Labor, NARC points out the Kansas City regional plan. (The Department of Labor definition of
green jobs contemplates public transit.)

Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) is the multi-faceted regional planning organization representing the Kansas City bi-state region (Missouri and Kansas). MARC is a leader in developing Kansas City’s Green Impact Zone, an effort to concentrate resources — with funding, coordination, and public and private partnerships — in one specific area to demonstrate that a targeted effort can literally transform a community. This national model for place-based investment is now underway in the heart of Kansas City's urban core and has received significant federal recognition and funding. At the heart of the Green Impact Zone initiative is a project that would put area residents to work weatherizing the 2,500 homes in the zone’s neighborhoods. Another piece calls for development of a green bus rapid-transit system that would include bio-diesel buses and green bus shelters. A third piece would provide job training and employment programs for ex-parolees in green building, park restoration and transit work. The Green Impact Zone project will include an employment and training program coordinated both with zone activities and business interests outside of the zone.

Legislation

To encourage the use of commuter transit and keep it on par with driving, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is urging its members to contact Congress to extend the commuter tax benefit for transit riders. APTA writes in its legislative update,

Under ARRA, the transit/vanpool portion of the benefit was increased to $230 per month, treating each mode of transportation as equal. This provision is set to expire on December 31, 2010, and without an extension, the transit tax benefit would be reduced by more than half to the previous $120 per month amount.

APTA is asking Congress to either extend ARRA's higher commuter tax benefit or to "permanently equalize the transit benefit and parking benefit."

Livable Communities : Legislative Information

The Livable Communities Act (S. 1619, H.R.4690) is proceeding in the Senate, having been approved by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The Act is receiving broad support in the transit and planning communities. If passed, the bill would provide more than $2 billion in investment for planning and challenge grant programs for public and community transportation infrastructure, services, transit-oriented development and other vital efforts, all under the auspices of the innovative working partnership among the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The text of the Act and actions in Congress are available at Thomas.

Analysis of the Act

Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) - CTAA has prepared an explanation of the Act's importance and an analysis and summary of the Act.

American Public Transportation Association (APTA) continues to have legislative updates on its homepage and in its weekly newsletters.

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) has its Association's testimony about the Livable Communities Act posted and linked from its home page at Latest News & Press.

National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) has a livability page devoted to resources and congressional information.

AARP has also posted a letter to Congress in support of the Act. AARP's Public Policy Institute also has released reports about livability and seniors.

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A) http://n4a.org/files/advocacy/campaigns/policy-priority-10.pdf

By the way, the American Public Works Association
will be participating in NARC's Regional Metropolitan and Urban Policy Forum in Austin, TX on Sept. 27-28. APWA staff will discuss sustainability, livability and infrastructure planning. APEA has more information at its Center for Sustainability

Legislation
For information about recent legislative activities related human services programmatic and funding decisions, the American Public Human Services Association has a nice summary linked to its homepage. Information about TANF and SNAP (food stamps) is included.

Events
American Bus Association - National Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Conference, on October 24-27, 2010, in Burlington, Vt. Sponsored by the Transportation Research Board, the conference will feature accessibility, rural transit policy and planning, alternative fuels, intelligent transportation systems and rural transit, regional systems, networks and coalitions, operations, safety, and security, and tribal transportation.

New online classes at the American Public Works Association include emergency preparedness and designing complete streets for all users.