Elderly Transportation Services (1998)

In 1998, the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee authorized a study of elderly transportation services. The study examined access and availability of publicly funded dial-a-ride programs for the elderly and provided by transit districts and municipalities. Overall the committee found:

· no state agency has responsibility for program oversight because there is no state mandate for dial-a-ride programs for the elderly;

· there is no single funding source for elderly dial-a-ride programs, instead funding is a patchwork of federal, state, and local monies;

· multiple delivery models exist making identification of programs problematic; and

· the provision of dial-a-ride services for the elderly is largely driven by local concerns and delivered by municipalities or transit districts.

The committee found no regional approach to funding or delivery of dial-a-ride services could be mandated because, although there are 15 transit districts in the state, not all towns belong to a district. The committee also found the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) provides financial support to some towns and transit districts, for the operation of elderly dial-a-ride programs, while other towns must rely solely on their own funds. Although the use of federal and state transportation funds for dial-a-ride programs in some towns is based on historical funding patterns, this has led to broad funding inequities among towns in Connecticut.

The committee made seven recommendations, of which five were legislative and two were administrative. All of the committee's legislative recommendations were adopted into Public Act 99-265, with minor modifications. Although the act established a town-based grant program within available appropriation for dial-a-ride programs for the elderly, to date, no funding has been appropriated. The act also strengthens ConnDOT's planning and oversight role over special transportation services provided to persons who are elderly and disabled, by requiring the department to establish objectives for providing special transportation services and having DOT report on certain statutes that were never fully implemented.

As of January 2002, the committee finds the department has still not implemented several legislative mandates. These include the committee recommendation adopted in P.A. 99-265 to establish objectives for providing special transportation services, as well as existing mandates to coordinate and broker the purchase of special transportation services. In last year's compliance response, the department indicated that it would seek repeal of statutes concerning these provisions.

This year, the department provided the committee with copies of its Agency Legislative Proposal that was submitted to the Office of Policy and Management in September 2001 for the 2002 legislative session. In the proposal, the department notes that a pilot project for coordinating special transportation services in the Waterbury region was undertaken and was not successful and therefore, seeks repeal of those statutes concerning regionalization and coordination of special transportation services. The proposal also seeks to amend C.G.S. Sec. 13b-4c to exempt transportation services provided by state agencies to its clients from obtaining ConnDOT's written approval. The compliance status of the committee's recommendations is summarized in the table below.