Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee
Keypoints
ELDERLY TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
Provision of dial-a-ride services for the elderly is largely driven by local concerns and delivered by municipalities or transit districts.
The vast majority of towns in Connecticut operate dial-a-ride programs for the elderly; 62 towns offer services through a transit district and 97 towns operate programs directly.
Only 10 towns are without a dial-a-ride program.
No state agency has responsibility for program oversight because there is no state mandate for dial-a-ride programs for the elderly.
No single funding source for dial-a-ride programs exists; instead funding is a patchwork of federal, state, and local monies.
Multiple delivery models exist making program identification problematic.
There is no way to determine the exact amount of funding that goes to dial-a-ride transportation.
ConnDOT provides financial support to some transit districts and towns for the operation of elderly dial-a-ride programs, while other towns rely solely on municipal funds.
Specifically, 90 towns benefit in some way from federal or state transportation dollars to operate dial-a-ride programs, while 79 towns do not.
The most recent federal reauthorization of public transportation funds, which was adopted in May 1998, eliminated operating grants for five transit districts in Connecticut.
The Connecticut General Assembly appropriated $2.5 million for dial-a-ride during the 1998 legislative session – to cover the loss of operating assistance for the five districts.
Of the five transit districts that lost operating funds, two provide dial-a-ride transportation to the elderly and persons who qualify under the Americans with Disabilities act (ADA); the other districts to the ADA-eligible population only.
With the loss of federal transit operating assistance for large urban areas in FFY 99, state transportation dollars are making up an increasingly greater share of funding for dial-a-ride programs.
No regional approach to funding or dial-a-ride service delivery can be mandated because no statewide delivery structure exists that covers the entire state.
Several legislative mandates giving ConnDOT broad authority over transportation expenditures of other state agencies and directing ConnDOT to coordinate paratransit services have never been implemented by the department.
The selection process for the Section 5310 grant program needs to be more formalized, and thresholds for evaluating coordination need to be developed.