FINAL Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments/ Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority Coordinated Public Transit - Human Services Transportation Plan For Toledo Metropolitan Area Strategies and Solutions For Improving the Delivery of Transportation Services For Older Adults, Persons with Disabilities And Low Income Families Prepared for the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments Prepared by Akron, Ohio April 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction 1 II. Community Outreach Activities 4 III. Serving Customers with Mobility Needs 6 IV. Unmet Needs and Gaps and Overlaps in Transportation Services 13 V. Coordinating Transportation Services 31 VI. Moving Toward the Coordination of Transportation Services 36 VII. Strategies and Solutions for Coordinating Transportation Services 41 VIII. Transportation Coordination Plan 62 IX. Program Priorities 73 Appendices 81 ii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables Table 1 – Target Populations – Selected Demographic Characteristics 7 Table 2 – Population Projections 8 Table 3 – Public Transportation Characteristics 14 Table 4 – Summary of Human Service Transportation 18 Figures Figure 1 – Distribution of Persons Age 65 or more Years of Age 10 Figure 2 – Distribution of Persons with a Physical or Sensory Disability 11 Figure 3 – Distribution of Households by Median Income 12 Figure 4 – Public Transportation Services in the Toledo Region 15 Figure 5 – TARTA Fixed-Route and Complementary Paratransit Services 16 Figure 6 – Transit-Supportive Population and Employment Areas Unserved by TARTA 24 Figure 7 – Top Desired Destinations Unserved or Underserved by Transit 25 Figure 8 – Areas within and beyond TARTA’s Fixed Route Service Area Supportive of Transit Service Healthcare Facilities 26 Figure 9 – Number of TARTA Bus Routes in Service 27 Figure 10 - Overlap in TARTA Paratransit Service and Senior Transportation Services 30 Figure 11 - A Family of Transportation Services Concept 33 Figure 12 - The Key to Transportation Coordination 34 Figure 13 - A Mobility Management Concept 37 Figure 14 - Mobility Management Triangles 40 Figure 15 – Results of Workshop Priority Rating and Votes 43 Figure 16 - Unmet Needs; Gaps in Service; Overlaps in Transportation Services; and Strategies and Solutions 78 Figure 17 – Implementation Timeline 80 iii I INTRODUCTION The Coordinated Transportation Plan Requirement With the passage of federal transportation authorizing legislation (SAFETEA-LU) in August 2005, three new or modified funding programs administered by the Federal Transit Administration require a Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan and the competitive selection of projects for funding. The focus of the planning is on the transportation mobility of the following target groups: 1) older persons, 2) persons with disabilities and 3) persons from low income families. The plan should recommend strategies that improve travel mobility by making better use of federal programs across departments and agencies to meet the needs of the target populations. For the Toledo OH – MI Urbanized Area, this plan was developed collaboratively by the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) and the Toledo Metropolitan Area council of Governments (TMACOG). New or Modified FTA Programs Included for the Planning (cid:131) FTA Section 5310 Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities Program – This existing program, administered by ODOT, is an existing formula program that provides for public transportation capital projects planned, designed for and carried out to meet the special needs of elderly Individuals and Individuals with disabilities.. (cid:131) FTA Section 5316 Job Access and Reverse Commute Program – This modified program focuses on improving access to transportation services to employment and employment-related activities for welfare recipients and eligible low-income individuals. This program provides financial assistance for transportation services planned, designed and carried out to meet their transportation needs. (cid:131) FTA Section 5317 New Freedom Program – This program aims to provide additional tools to overcome existing barriers facing Americans with disabilities seeking integration into the work force and full participation in society. The program seeks to expand the transportation mobility options available to persons with disabilities beyond the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. To be eligible for funding, projects must be consistent with a locally-developed Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan. 6/4/2008 1 Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan To establish eligibility for funding through these three programs for Federal Fiscal Year 2007 (October 2006 through September 2007) and beyond, metropolitan areas are required to prepare a Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan. Projects to be funded through these three programs must be derived from this locally developed plan. The plan must be developed through a planning process that includes representatives of public, private and non-profit transportation and human service providers and private transportation providers. Public outreach will target especially older persons, persons with disabilities and people with low incomes. The planning includes significant community outreach to the three target populations, human service agencies and advocates serving the target populations and providers of transportation and human services funded by other federal programs. The coordination plan must address the following required elements: (cid:131) An assessment of available services that identifies current public, private and non-profit providers (cid:131) An assessment of transportation needs of older persons, persons with disabilities and people with low incomes (cid:131) Strategies and activities to address the gaps in services identified and achieve efficiencies in service delivery (cid:131) Relative priorities for implementation based on resources, time and feasibility for implementing the specific strategies and activities identified in development of the plan Completion of this plan enables TARTA, TMACOG and other stakeholders to work together to address and achieve several outcomes: (cid:131) Effective coordination of TARTA’s public transportation services with transportation services provided by human service agencies and private transportation companies. (cid:131) Use of Section 5316 – Job Access and Reverse Commute Program to help implement coordinated transportation services and projects to improve transportation services for low income people, including those enrolled in Ohio Works first programs (cid:131) Use of Section 5317 – New Freedom Program to help implement coordinated transportation services and projects to improve transportation services for people with disabilities (cid:131) Use of Section 5310 – Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities Program to help provide capital equipment to meet unmet needs and fill gaps in services 6/4/2008 2 Community outreach, collaboration and consensus building is important in ensuring that a coordination plan is responsive to needs and consistent with the resources that are available. The purpose of this plan report is to present the plan for coordinating public transit and human services transportation services. The plan addresses strategies and makes recommendations for action by which transportation services may be coordinated among TARTA and human services agencies in the Toledo region. The report is organized as follows: I. Introduction II. Serving Customers with Mobility Needs III. Unmet Needs, and Gaps and Overlaps in Transportation Services IV. Community Outreach V. Coordinating Transportation Services VI. Moving Toward the Coordination of Transportation Services VII. Strategies and Solutions for Coordinating Transportation Services VIII. Transportation Coordination Plan and Conclusions 6/4/2008 3 II COMMUNITY OUTREACH Community outreach activities have been central to looking at how well the broad range of transportation services in the Toledo region are meeting the mobility needs of residents, particularly older persons, persons with disabilities and persons with low income. These three groups are, in fact, among the people who have the greatest difficulty meeting their needs to travel with a personal motor vehicle. Community outreach activities have been conducted in two phases: (cid:131) Outreach during completion of TMACOG’s Regional Transit Study, completed in 2003 (cid:131) Outreach completed during the preparation of this plan Outreach during completion of the Regional Transit study included: (cid:131) A community survey of residents (cid:131) Focus groups with target population groups (cid:131) Public meetings (cid:131) Stakeholder interviews (cid:131) Outreach resulting in phone, mail, fax and email input This outreach is well-documented in the study. Outreach completed during preparation of the transportation coordination plan built on the Regional Study outreach, focusing more closely on the coordination of transportation services and included: (cid:131) Meetings of key stakeholders hosted by TMACOG’s Human Service Transportation Committee and the Toledo Mobility Alliance. (cid:131) A workshop to identify and prioritize alternative strategies for coordinating transportation services HUMAN SERVICES TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE During development of the transportation coordination plan, TMACOG’s Human Services Transportation Committee met to (cid:131) Identify unmet needs and gaps in transportation services (cid:131) Develop an understanding of the transportation coordination planning 6/4/2008 4 (cid:131) Establish priorities for the 5316 – Job Access and Reverse Commute and 5317 – New Freedom Programs MOBILITY ALLIANCE OF GREATER TOLEDO During development of the transportation coordination plan, the Mobility Alliance of Greater Toledo hosted a meeting to (cid:131) Identify unmet needs (cid:131) Identify gaps in transportation services (cid:131) Develop an understanding of the transportation coordination planning COMMUNITY OUTREACH WORKSHOP One half-day workshop was held to bring stakeholders together to review finding regarding target populations, unmet needs and gaps in transportation services and to discuss issues, express desires for change, evaluate alternative strategies for coordinating transportation services and reaching consensus. 6/4/2008 5 III SERVING CUSTOMERS WITH MOBILITY NEEDS THE TARGET POPULATIONS OLDER PERSONS, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AND PERSONS WITH LOW INCOMES Transportation services are typically provided in communities and regions to help people who do not have sufficient access to their own private transportation that meets their mobility needs; in other words to reach the places they need for work, school, shopping, personal business and other requirements. People who lack sufficient mobility include the target populations in this coordinated planning, specifically older persons, persons with disabilities and persons with low income. These are the segments of the population typically unable to fully meet the need for mobility with their own personal transportation. Communities develop transportation services to help them more fully meet their mobility needs to get to and from the places they need to reach. THE SIZE OF THE TARGET POPULATIONS In 2006, the Toledo region (Lucas, Wood and Ottawa Counties, had a total population of approximately 610,000. Older Persons Looking first at older persons in Lucas County region, there are 56,371 persons aged 65or more years of age Important indicators of mobility need among older persons are the following characteristics: (cid:131) Persons with a disability (cid:131) Persons with low income (defined as 150% of the poverty level) (cid:131) Persons without access to a motor vehicle It is well documented that as persons get older, the incidence of disability and low income increase, with negative impacts on older persons ability to move around and live 6/4/2008 6 independently. Table 2 shows that of the persons 65 or more years of age, 39% in Toledo, 32% in the rest of Lucas County and 42% in Wood County have a disability. Persons with a Disability Among the population 5 or more years of age, there are 71,971 persons with a disability. That represents 17.7% of the population, or about one person in six. Low Income Persons Looking at people living in households with income below 150% of the poverty level in Lucas County, these households account for nearly 18% of the population. Additionally, 10% of the population is living in households without access to a motor vehicle to meet their mobility needs. Table 1 6/4/2008 7