# Presentation: 701484

## SENIORS BENEFIT FROM TRANSPORTATION COORDINATION PARTNERSHIPS — A TOOLBOX

*Promising Practices From the Aging Network*

- PowerPoint Presentation

## Acknowledgments

- This research and resource compilation was done under contract number 282-98-0001 for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources, Administration on Aging, Jon E. Burkhardt Senior Study Director was the WESTAT Project Director for this effort. Publication development and design by BETAH Associates, Inc., under contract number GS-23F-0261M.
- Communities are encouraged to adapt and use this presentation and the information it contains.

## Main Components of This Presentation

- Transportation’s Vital Role in Seniors’ Lives
- What Is Coordination?
- Typical Benefits of Coordination
- Case Studies
- Framework for Action
- Techniques Used to Achieve Benefits
- Conclusion
- Recommended Call to Action

## Transportation’s Vital Role in Seniors’ Lives

- Mobility is essential for independent living
- Aging demographics show vast increased demand for more transportation options
- Suburban and rural communities have greatest need for transportation options
- Elder-friendly communities and aging in place require transportation options
- Coordination – “the best way to stretch scarce resources and provide more mobility for all.” [Ohio DOT]

## What Is Coordination?

- A strategy to better manage scarce resources
- Committed partners who:
- Share power
- Share funding
- Share responsibility
- Share benefits
- Plan together, work together, support the broader community
- A way to increase transportation options for those who most need it in their communities

## Typical Benefits of Coordination

- Increases service efficiency and availability of transportation options
- Increases service effectiveness, often lowering cost per ride
- Increases seniors’ satisfaction with transportation services
- Increases seniors’ quality of life through enhanced mobility

## Case StudiesCommunity Service Organizations

**Community Association for Rural Transportation* (Harrisonburg, VA)**
**Council on Aging and Human Services Transportation (Colfax, WA)**
**Dakota Area Resources and Transportation for Seniors (West St. Paul, MN)**
**Medical Motor Service (Rochester, NY)**
**Partners In Care (Severna Park, MD)**
**RIDES Mass Transit District (Harrisburg, IL)**
**St. Johns County Council on Aging / The Sunshine Bus Company (St. Augustine, FL)**

- * One of the case studies discusses an innovative program called Community Association for Rural Transportation, no longer in operation as of the date of this publication.

## Case Studies Area Agencies on Aging

**Area IV Agency on Aging Transportation Program ****(Twin Falls, ID)**
**Arlington Agency on Aging Transportation Options (Arlington, VA)**
**East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging Transportation Service Providers (Bloomington, IL)**
**Malheur County Transportation Service (Ontario, OR)**
**The New InterUrban Rural Public Transportation System ****(Yorktown, IN)**
**Sedgwick County Transportation Brokerage (Wichita, KS)**
**South Carolina Appalachian Council of Governments ****(Greenville, SC)**

## Framework for Action – Techniques Used to Achieve Benefits

- A Community planning process developed by the coordinated council on access and mobility
- A planning process for community self-assessment through five key steps:
**Making things happen by working together**
**Taking stock of community needs and moving forward**
**Putting customers first**
**Adapting funding for greater mobility**
**Moving people efficiently**
- The Promising Practices case studies are organized around the five “Framework for Action” steps

## Techniques Used to Achieve BenefitsWorking Together

- Partnerships Are Essential
- Case study programs succeeded by working with these partners:
**Federal programs like those from the Administration on Aging and the Federal Transit Administration**
**State, city, and county governments**
**Public transit authorities**
**Agencies and organizations unique to each community include the following:**
**Area Agencies on Aging**
**Community service providers**
**Foundations**
**Faith-based groups**
**Greyhound**
**Local businesses**
**Metropolitan planning organizations**
**Welfare-to-work programs**

## Techniques Used to Achieve BenefitsTaking Stock

- Coordinated planning efforts include:
- The creation of transportation plans
- The development of shared client databases
- Inventories of local transportation resources
- Focus groups and planning conferences
- One-on-one agency meetings
- Needs assessments surveys
- Geographic Information Systems that identify riders and their common destinations

## Techniques Used to Achieve BenefitsCustomers First

- Putting customers first includes:
- Emphasizing customer satisfaction to staff
- Hands-on assistance
- Door-through-door services
- Free rides for escorts
- Multiple payment options
- Sensitivity training for staff
- Public information using multiple media
- Reminder calls on the day of the ride
- Special attention for first-time riders
- Fare subsidies
- Focus groups and surveys to monitor client satisfaction

## Techniques Used to Achieve BenefitsAdapting Funding

- Case study programs leveraged funding from
- many sources, including:
- Medicaid
- Title III Older Americans Act
- Rural public transportation funds
- Local governmentslocal property tax millages (special taxes)
- Contracts with human service agencies
- Other local funding sources

## Techniques Used to Achieve BenefitsMoving People Efficiently

- These sites increased their efficiency by applying techniques such as:
- Ride sharing
- Central dispatching
- Mixing client types on vehicles
- Brokering trips through multiple providers
- Centralizing key functions, such as maintenance, driver training, purchasing, and insurance
- Using volunteers for long-distance and time-intensive trips

## ConclusionMajor Innovative Strategies and Techniques

- All of the case studies applied interesting innovations.  Unusual and effective examples included:
- Direct property tax funding (COAST)
- Selling transportation and other services to human service agencies   (DART, Medical Motor Service)
- Service exchange program for volunteer hours (Partners In Care)
- Hospitality focus for customer satisfaction (St. Johns COA)
- Mobility resource and advocacy services (CART, Arlington AA)
- Multiple trip types offered at different prices (SCTB)
- Designated transfer points to public transit (New InterUrban)
- Aging network leader serves as public transportation provider (COAST, RIDES, St. Johns COA, ECIAAA, Area IV AAA, MCTS)

## ConclusionAreas to Manage and Monitor

- Most agencies faced the following opportunities and challenges:
- Bringing more local agencies into coordination activities
- Obtaining benefits from new technologies
- Ensuring the most effective use of volunteers
- Obtaining additional funding
- Increasing service levels and quality
- Offering long-distance trips

## ConclusionKeys to Success

- Tailor services to the community
- Use Older American Act funds to leverage other resources
- Engage other partners
- Promote ride sharing to increase cost effectiveness
- Use multiple kinds of agreements and arrangements

## ConclusionKeys to Success (continued)

- Adopt flexible approaches to services and partnerships
- Offer a variety of services to meet diverse needs
- Build realistic expectations about coordination outcomes
- Collect detailed data on finances and operations
- Participation by all stakeholders frequently
- Listen intently to riders and partners
- Ensure the continued participation of all stakeholders

## Conclusion – Areas to Manage and Monitor

-  Bringing more local agencies into coordination
-   activities
-  Obtaining benefits from new technologies
-  Ensuring the most effective use of volunteers
-  Obtaining additional funding
-  Increasing service levels and quality
-  Offering long-distance trips
***NOTE:  Most agencies faced these issues; some communities found innovative solutions***

## Recommended Call to Action

- Develop partnerships with other community agencies interested in transportation
- Analyze local needs and conditions
- Use the examples cited here to help develop options for better services
- Assess what options work best in your community and implement them
- Evaluate and improve the services
***The consensus from those in the know is that innovation results from leadership!***

## For More Information

- Go to _[www.aoa.gov/prof/transportation/transportation.asp](http://www.aoa.gov/prof/transportation/transportation.asp)__ and get a copy of the _*Coordinating Transportation Choices for Seniors Toolbox* with more details on the case studies, a transportation coordination *Resource Guide*, an *Executive Summary*, and *Synthesis Report*
- Go to _[www.Unitedweride.gov](http://www.unitedweride.gov/)__ _
- United We Ride:  Framework for Action
- _[www.unitedweride.gov/1_81_ENG_HTML.htm](http://www.unitedweride.gov/1_81_ENG_HTML.htm)__ _
- New Transit Cooperative Research Program reports
**Toolkit for Rural Community Coordinated Transportation Services:** _[www.trb.org/publications/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_101.pdf](http://www.trb.org/publications/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_101.pdf)_
**Strategies to Increase Coordination of Transportation Services for the Transportation Disadvantaged: ** _[http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_105.pdf](http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_105.pdf)_
**From Handshake to Compact: Guidance to Foster Collaborative, Multimodal Decision Making:** _[http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_536.pdf](http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_536.pdf)__ _