Description

The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21)—the legislation that currently provides funding for federal transportation—allows metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) or eligible large, urbanized area (UZA) agencies to assume administrative responsibility for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5310—the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities grant program. Caltrans engaged Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) to conduct research and facilitate a dialogue with the State’s 5310 stakeholders. The MTI team conducted interviews with key stakeholders and Caltrans staff and performed in-depth quantitative analysis of the existing administrative activities of the 5310 program. This research was followed by two statewide 5310 program workshops led by Drs. Ferrell and Appleyard to facilitate discussion among stakeholders and reach consensus on how the new MAP-21 program would be implemented. The key findings from this research and dialogue are: A “full transition” to MPO Program administration could significantly reduce the benefits of the 5310 program for the entire state. A full transition could leave smaller MPOs lacking sufficient administrative funds to adequately run the program in their jurisdictions. Stakeholders are concerned that their local project funding priorities may not receive enough attention if Caltrans retains sole administrative responsibilities for the program. A majority of stakeholders prefer to pursue a partnership with Caltrans to jointly run the 5310 program (the “Hybrid/Partnership Option”). The Hybrid/Partnership Option can provide the maximum amount of flexibility for the program over the long term while building the administrative capacities of all partners.

Publication Date

4-1-2014

Publication Type

Report

Topic

Planning and Policy

MTI Project

1229

Keywords

MAP-21, 5310; Mobility; Seniors; MPO

Disciplines

Transportation

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