During the past 20 years, a great deal of effort has been directed to improving coordination of publicly funded transportation services for the transportation disadvantaged. These efforts include transportation for persons with disabilities, clients of human-service agencies, recipients of Medicaid, participants in Headstart programs, and others with special needs who can be described as transportation disadvantaged. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) have worked together for more than a decade to foster increased coordination among the transportation services sponsored by each agency.

Several states have followed suit and are pursuing improved coordination of their transportation services. Florida has enacted legislation that mandates coordination of all publicly funded transportation programs in its 67 counties. North Carolina has instituted transportation coordination through administrative rather than legislative initiatives. This service coordination has involved methods to integrate transportation services among human-service agencies providing transportation to senior citizens and persons with disabilities as well as integration of general public transportation. The state of Washington has established five regional brokers to coordinate Medicaid and human-service transportation. In many instances, these initiatives have reduced costs, improved mobility, and increased administrative efficiency.

Despite the progress that has been made, there are still many more opportunities throughout the United States to improve the local and regional coordination of transportation services for the transportation disadvantaged. There is still duplication of services, insufficient funds, unmet trip demand, numerous regulatory constraints, lack of interagency coordination, and poor service quality. Service area boundaries often preclude trips from being made by publicly funded transportation to important destinations such as medical facilities, jobs, and training. In addition, rapid growth and suburbanization in many communities have made it far more costly and difficult to provide accessibility by publicly funded transportation to many destinations.

The objective of this research project is to develop strategies for initiating or improving coordination of local and regional publicly funded transportation services for the transportation disadvantaged. The results of this research may be used throughout the United States by public transportation agencies, human-resources agencies, transportation brokers, planning organizations, or other organizations and entities seeking methods and concepts that can be used to initiate or improve the local or regional coordination of publicly funded transportation services.

Status: The research is complete. The final report has been published as TCRP Report 105.