Arizona Rides is moving ahead! In December 2005, on the heels of the Action Plan & Statewide Assessment conducted last year, ADOT submitted a grant application on behalf of Arizona Rides to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for a second round of United We Ride grants. The intent of FTA’s 2006 UWR program is to assist states with implementation of their action plans, and February brought the good news of preliminary approvals for funding Arizona’s proposal. Levels are down somewhat from those hoped for – for Arizona and other states – due to the number of proposals received by the FTA. ADOT’s proposal focuses on assisting regions, via their Council of Governments (COGs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), to form regional and sub-regional coordination councils to reinforce implementation of the Arizona Rides Action Plan at the local level, “where the rubber meets the road.”

In the March 2 nd Executive Council meeting (see minutes), Rick Evans of RAE Consultants presented three “white papers,” kicking off discussion on three areas which are major building (and often stumbling) blocks for coordination: training, maintenance and insurance. Each of these themes have complex undertones with broad implications for different levels of coordination – with insurance in particular warranting further investigation. The Council will be addressing this important topic in further detail in future sessions.

Pinal Rides Coordination Pilot: As a support element of the Arizona Rides initiative, the Pinal Rides Transportation Coordination project is also moving ahead. The Study Advisory Committee (SAC) has formed into a regional coordination committee comprised of the main actors involved in the Pinal action plan elements developed over the past year. Three areas of endeavor are currently underway: 1) Collaboration among agencies within central Pinal County on training resources and activities, including driver and Passenger Safety & Security (PASS) training ; 2) formation of a regional Coordination Council, and; 3) Development of pilot routes for local connections between Florence, Coolidge and Casa Grande, and Eloy and Casa Grande.

As intended, the Pinal project has become a test pilot for local human service providers working together, including important successes as well as lessons learned along the way. The group is now working through some financial constraints which have delayed on-the-road commencement of routes; as well as slowing the finalizing of a formal Council structure. However, all participants remain optimistic and enthusiastically committed to project success despite some challenges along the way. The project has been particularly impressive in the way its members, representing many diverse interests and client groups, have embraced matters of mutual interest with a consistent collaborative and win-win mindset.

Section 5310: ADOT and its regional planning partners kicked off the 2006 FTA Section 5310 grant year with regional application workshops across the state in January and early February. Section 5310, or Elderly Individuals & Individuals With Disabilities, is a Federal transit grant program which assists private-non-profit (PNP), public agencies and tribal governments with their capital (primarily vehicle) needs. It is one of the core grant programs available to human service agencies. Vehicles and communications equipment are provided on an 80 percent federal/20 percent local (or other non-DOT federal) match basis. With over 300 ADOT vehicles active in the field—a large percentage of these wheelchair accessible—5310 is seen as a key element in coordination between human service and other special needs transportation providers by providing important fleet infrastructure. To this end, ADOT has invited its Arizona Rides state partners into the process as direct grantees.

The new Congressional re-authorization of surface transportation programs, SAFETEA-LU, and the increased federal focus on coordination all combine to permit greater flexibility than ever in the distribution of funding and delivery of services. In prior years the 5310 emphasis has been on PNPs , many of which receive the funding support of the Department of Economic Security (DES), Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Department of Health Services (DHS) and others, but otherwise operate primarily as independent entities. These organizations remain the core of the program and essential to human service transportation statewide, but the addition of the state partners in the mix should serve to strengthen the “toolbox” of available services and expand the availability of resources for coordination efforts across all regions.

Arizona Rides Background

Soon after the issuance of the President’s UWR Executive Order, Governor Napolitano called for a Working Group to begin to build a framework for Arizona action. In the fall of 2004, the Working Group submitted a grant proposal to the FTA to assist with United We Ride planning, and in January of 2005 the grant was awarded. Public Consulting Group (PCG) was selected to conduct the two primary components for this work: conducting a statewide assessment of funding sources, streams and coordination conditions, and developing an action plan for State agencies, including recommendations for further regional implementation. Lending further commitment to improved coordination in Arizona, on July 6, 2005, the Governor signed her Executive Order 2005-16, formalizing the “Arizona Rides” initiative and instituting the Arizona Rides Council with membership including several State departments, Councils of Government (COGs) and the Governor’s Office itself.

United We Ride . . .

In February 2004, President Bush issued an Executive Order #13330, termed “United We Ride” (UWR), which was the culmination of several years of work at the federal and other government levels nationwide to develop a concept to improve coordination in human services transportation. A UWR “Framework for Action” was drafted by the Interagency Transportation Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM), a coalition of the US Departments of Transportation, Health & Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Labor and others. These guiding principles provided the foundation for state and local government to develop their own action plans for coordination among and between departments and regional and local agencies.

During the course of planning for United We Ride, CCAM discovered that 62 federal programs provide some form of funding assistance for state, regional and local transportation for human services, with the DOT and more specifically Federal Transit Administration (FTA) being only a few of these. With this surprising revelation, a variety of recommendations ensued that formed the foundation for UWR. A premise was developed by the CCAM that by reducing redundancy and other inefficiencies in federally funded human services transportation, the end-use customer would benefit by enjoying improved (time, cost, convenience) transportation services.

• 2007 Arizona Rides Annual Report
• 2007 MAG Human Services Coordination Transportation Plan
• 2007 PAG Human Services Coordination Transportation Plan
• Rural and Small Urban Regional Transportation Coordination Plans
• 2006 Arizona Rides Annual Report
• Pinal Transportation Coordination Demonstration Project - Final Report
• 2005 Arizona Rides Statewide Assessment of Human Services Transportation (file size: 2.6MB)
• 2005 Statewide Inventory of Human Services Transportation Resources (file size: 16MB)
• Arizona Rides Action Plan
• Arizona Rides Council Meeting Minutes
• Arizona Rides Executive Order
• Arizona Rides Interim Report
• Arizona Rides Overview

Arizona Rides Project Manager is Mr. Steve Rost.

Documents are posted as they become available in PDF format, which requires Adobe Reader to view.