THE OHIO SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM CRITERIA FOR FY 2012
I. SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM
Under 49 USC Section 5310, the U.S. DOT Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is authorized to issue capital grants for the purpose of assisting organizations in providing transportation services to meet the special needs of elderly persons and persons with disabilities where existing transportation services are unavailable, insufficient or inappropriate. This includes riders who are either sixty years of age or older or who by reason of illness, injury, age, congenital malfunctions, or other permanent or temporary incapacity or disability, are unable without special facilities, special planning or design to utilize mass transportation facilities and services as effectively as persons who are not so affected. FTA allocates Federal funds to the states for the purpose set forth in 49 USC Section 5310 and the Governor of each state, or his/her designated state agency, is responsible for administering and distributing these funds. In Ohio, the program is administered under the name of the Specialized Transportation Program.
ODOT administers the Specialized Transportation Program for the entire state, but certain responsibilities are assigned to the seventeen Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) for their respective urbanized areas. A map of the Urbanized Areas and a list of the MPOs are found in Appendix 1 of the “2012 Specialized Transportation Program Appendices.”
For further information, please contact:
Marianne E. Freed
Administrator
Office of Transit
Ohio Department of Transportation
1980 W. Broad Street, Second Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43223
(614) 466-8955
II. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS
Eligible applicants are private nonprofit corporations, public bodies which serve as a current grantee in an Ohio Coordination Program project or other current Mobility Management Project, or public bodies which certify to ODOT that no private nonprofit corporations are readily available in their area to provide transportation services to elderly persons and persons with disabilities. To be eligible to receive capital items through this program, the applicant must have submitted a Letter of Intent and been invited to apply by ODOT. The applicant must be registered with the Ohio Secretary of State as an active, private non-profit agency, if it is not a coordination project or government entity.
III. ELIGIBLE PROJECTS
FTA and ODOT encourage the maximum use of all vehicles funded under the program. Eligible projects are defined as projects meeting the intent of the program to meet the special needs of the elderly and persons with disabilities. Vehicles, equipment, and mobility management services awarded under the program are to be used first for program-related needs. Beyond that purpose, however, vehicles or equipment or mobility management services awarded as part of a Section 5310 grant may also be used as follows:
A. For Section 5310 Project and Program Purposes: The Section 5310 project must meet the criteria and intent of the Program as described earlier in these Criteria and provide for maximum feasible coordination with transportation services assisted by other Federal sources. As part of their Section 5310 project, applicants are encouraged, to the extent feasible, to provide service to other elderly persons and persons with disabilities not affiliated with their agency, as well as to the general public on an incidental basis if such service does not interfere with transportation services for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
B. For Other Federal Programs or Project Purposes: During the Section 5310 project period, the applicant shall make the vehicles and/or equipment available for use on other projects or programs, as long as such other use does not interfere with the FTA-related service for which it was originally acquired. Vehicles and equipment may be used by non-federally funded providers, first to meet the needs of elderly persons and persons with disabilities, and then to serve the transportation needs of the general public on an incidental basis.
C. For Meal Delivery: The applicant may coordinate and assist in providing meal delivery services for homebound persons on a regular basis if the meal delivery services do not conflict with the provision of transportation services or result in a reduction of service to elderly persons and persons with disabilities. Vehicles may not be altered in order to provide meal delivery, e.g. seats may not be removed. The number and size of vehicles applied for under Section 5310 must be determined only by the number of passengers to be transported, not meal delivery capacity.
There is neither a requirement for, nor a prohibition against, charging a fare for service provided with Specialized Transportation Program vehicles. This is a local decision dictated by the applicant=s policy board and funding source requirements. For example, the Older Americans Act prohibits the charging of a fare for services provided with Older Americans Act funding, although donations can be accepted.
The following items are eligible to be requested under the program:
A. Vehicles:
a. Converted vans – with or without wheelchair lift
b. Standard minivans – no wheelchair option
c. Modified Minivans – wheelchair accessible
d. Light transit vehicles – with wheelchair lift
ODOT requires that at least fifty percent of an applicant’s active fleet must be wheelchair accessible, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) before an applicant is permitted to request any vehicle without a wheelchair lift. However, an agency may need to have a much higher percent of its vehicles equipped with wheelchair lifts or ramps to meet the local demand and to be in compliance with the ADA.
Any changes or modifications to the type of vehicle offered by ODOT must be made in writing to ODOT and approved prior to the modification being made.
Participants are responsible for 20% of the purchase price (from non-US DOT funded sources) of vehicles purchased through the program. ODOT acting as an administrator for the Federal Transportation Administration pays 80% of the purchase price of vehicles. All vehicles are selected from ODOT’s Specialized Transportation Program Vehicle Selection Guide.
B. Computer Equipment, primarily awarded to assist with scheduling and dispatch functions:
a. Hardware; and
b. Basic software packages
Computers are purchased for agencies with more than five vehicles and for agencies who are current participants in the program.
Computers systems are purchased by the agency and invoices are submitted to ODOT for reimbursement. ODOT will reimburse the agency for 80% of the purchase price of the computer. Participants are responsible for 20% of the purchase price of computers.
*NOTE: Computers purchases must follow the procurement procedures of your agency.
Communications Equipment as needed for the efficient operation of a multi vehicle (more than five) operation.
c. Radio
d. Other Communications Equipment
There must be an agency purchasing policy and procedure in place. The policy and procedure should clearly define the price point when the agency may get quotes to purchase an item and state clearly when the agency must obtain sealed bids to purchase items. If a sealed bid is required, ODOT must approve the bid before it is published to insure all federally required clauses are included.
Mobility Management Services will be subsidized by the Section 5310 P program but must be applied for through the Ohio Coordination Program.
IV. PLANNING AND COORDINATION
The goal of the Section 5310 Program is to improve mobility for the elderly and persons with disabilities. The program requires coordination of federally assisted programs and services for the most efficient use of Federal resources. In order to receive capital items through this program, projects must be derived from a Locally Developed Coordinated Public Transit – Human Service Transportation Plan.
V. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
ODOT has asked the seventeen Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in Ohio to assist in the administration of the Program by coordinating the submission of applications in each urbanized area. ODOT has established the eligibility requirements and deadlines set forth in these Criteria to be used for all applicants. Each MPO may establish additional eligibility requirements and deadlines to fit its urbanized area's needs so long as such requirements and deadlines are not less restrictive than ODOT's and do not conflict with the region’s Locally Developed Coordinated Public Transit Human Service Transportation Plan. Each applicant located in an urbanized area should contact the (MPO) for their area to determine if earlier deadlines will apply. Consult Appendix 1, “Metropolitan Planning Organizations” of the “Appendices for Specialized Transportation Program Grant” to determine your agency’s MPO contact information.
VI. DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAM FUNDS
Applicants may apply for up to eighty percent of the total project cost. The remaining twenty percent must be provided by the applicant from non-DOT sources.
VII. APPLICATION PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS
If through the Letter of Intent process the applicant and the project have been determined eligible for the program, applications postmarked on or before February 24, 2012 and received by ODOT or the appropriate MPO will be considered for the program. Where MPOs have established a date earlier than the February 24, 2012 applicants must comply with the earlier date.
If an applicant is located in or plans to provide service primarily within an urbanized county, all communications and applications must be submitted to the appropriate MPO (see Appendix 1of the Appendices for Specialized Transportation Grant Program). If an applicant is located in or plans to provide service within a nonurbanized county, all communications and applications must be submitted to ODOT. Applicants serving both urbanized counties and nonurbanized counties should contact ODOT prior to submitting an application. All applicants must comply with deadline dates.
Applications must contain the following and meet the established deadlines for each item:
A. Public Participation and Private Sector Involvement
All applicants must ensure public participation and private sector involvement to the maximum extent feasible as well as exhibit their willingness to coordinate the use of vehicles requested in this application by either publishing a public notice in the local newspaper of widest circulation or sending a letter to all human service agencies operating or located within the area to be served by this project. The public notice must appear no later than February 2, 2012. All letters must be sent by February 2, 2012. Each agency must decide the best method for notifying agencies in their area. Applicants may complete this requirement separately or share the costs jointly with one or more agencies in the area.
B. Public Hearing
Public body applicants are required to conduct a public hearing; to consider the economic, social, or environmental effects of the project; and to find the project consistent with official plans for the area. The public hearing must be held in an accessible location and accessibility must be indicated in the advertisement. The advertisement must also state that other accommodations will be available, if requested. Public hearings must be held no later than February 2, 2012, and notices should be published no later than two weeks prior to the public hearing date. This fulfills the public participation and private sector involvement requirement, however, public bodies may send letters, as described above, to all human service agencies and transportation providers if they so choose.
VIII. EVALUATION CRITERIA
If an applicant meets all the requirements set forth in Sections I through VII of these Criteria, the application will be evaluated and scored. A total of 100 points are distributed among the eight categories listed below. Applications must receive a total score of 65 or better to be considered for funding. All applications will be ranked according to score, and vehicles and equipment will be awarded based on funding available to ODOT. There are two scoring sheets, one for new applicants (applicants who have never participated in the Specialized Transportation Program or have not participated in the last 7 years) and one for applicants who have had active Specialized Transportation Program vehicles projects within the last seven years.
Applications for vehicles are evaluated in the following areas:
A. Access to Transportation and Need
a. Lack of public transit services
b. Lack of other private nonprofit or private for-profit service providers
B. Managerial Capacity
a. Agency’s ability to operate transportation program and maintain program vehicles
C. Days of service per year
D. Trips provided per year (one-way passenger trips)
E. Vehicle mileage per year
F. Replacement vehicles
a. Does the vehicle being replaced meet current disposition standards
b. Agencies without vehicles will be given full points for this item.
G. Coordination Efforts
a. Coordination of human service agency and public transit system resources
H. Previous Usage of Specialized Transportation Program vehicles (new applicants are not eligible for points)
I. Application completeness. (All information provided, exhibits signed, etc.)
Applications for computer and other equipment are reviewed on a case by case basis.
IX. USE AND OPERATION OF VEHICLES
Vehicles acquired through the Program may be used only as follows:
A. By the applicant as described in the application.
B. By the applicant and one or more private nonprofit corporations in the provision of coordinated services primarily for elderly persons and persons with disabilities as described in the application.
C. By the applicant for services other than described in the application, providing such services do not conflict with the project originally described in the application. Applicants proposing to use program vehicles to provide competitively bid service must include the capital costs in their fully-allocated cost proposal.
D. By a private nonprofit corporation other than the applicant through a lease or other contractual agreement which, at a minimum, assures the same quality and level of service to primarily elderly persons and persons with disabilities described in the application.
E. By a private transportation provider by lease or other contractual agreement with the applicant and which, at a minimum, assures the same quality and level of service to elderly persons and persons with disabilities described in the application. Any lease must be approved by ODOT.
F. By a public transportation provider or governmental entity by lease or other contractual agreement with the applicant and which, at a minimum, assures the same quality and level of service to elderly persons and persons with disabilities described in the application. Any lease must be approved by ODOT.