2012 Arkansas Transit Association Annual Conference ARKANSAS HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT TRANSIT PROGRAMS OCTOBER 17, 2012.

2012 Arkansas Transit Association Annual Conference

ARKANSAS HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT

TRANSIT PROGRAMS

OCTOBER 17, 2012

•MAP – 21 Transit Programs

•Arkansas Statewide Public Transit Needs Assessment

•Arkansas Statewide Transit Coordination Plan: 2012

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21)

• Signed into law by President Obama on July 6, 2012

• Extends current law (SAFETEA-LU) through September 30, 2012

• Goes into full effect October 1, 2012 • Authorizes programs for two years, through

September 30, 2014

Highlights of Program Changes New

•Safety Authority (5329) •State of Good Repair Grants (5337) •Asset Management (5326) •Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Grants (5339) •Public Transportation Emergency Relief (5324) •TOD Planning Pilot Grants (20005(b) of MAP-21)

Repealed

•Clean Fuels Grants (5308) •Job Access and Reverse Commute (5316) [ JARC ] •New Freedom Program (5317) •Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in the Parks (5320) •Alternatives Analysis (5339) •Over-the-Road Bus (Sec. 3038 – TEA-21)

Consolidated

•Urbanized Area Formula Grants (5307) [ JARC ] •Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (5310) [New Freedom] •Rural Area Formula Grants (5311)[ JARC]

Modified

•Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants (5309) •Metropolitan and Statewide Planning (5303 & 5304) •Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (5312) •Technical Assistance and Standards (5314) •Human Resources and Training (5322)

Urbanized Area Formula Grants

• Funds capital, planning, and JARC-eligible activities

• Allows operating assistance in urbanized areas over 200,000 population and operating fewer than 100 vehicles

Rural Area Formula Grants

• Provides funding to States for the purpose of supporting public transportation in rural areas

• Incorporates JARC-eligible activities • Establishes $5 million discretionary and $25

million formula tribal grant program • Establishes $20 million Appalachian

Development Public Transportation formula tier

Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities

• Name Change• Consolidates current 5310 and New Freedom program

eligibilities into single formula program • Continues the Transit Coordination Plan Requirement• Appropriates funds to three areas based on population

size (rural, small urbanized and large urbanized areas)• Allows States to continue a single program if larger

urbanized areas agree• Requires FTA to establish performance measures (such as

ridership, miles per vehicle, reduction of accidents)

Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities

• Consolidates current 5310 and New Freedom program eligibilities into single formula program – Continue as a single statewide program– One application for the two former programs– Capital assistance program only– Parent agencies submit on one application for all centers

and prioritize vehicle requests– Application Period : January 2nd – March 6th 2013

• No more New Freedom or JARC funds or applications• Agencies currently receiving funds from an “old” New

Freedom or JARC grant may continue using those funds

Metropolitan and Statewide Planning Program

• Requires all MPOs to include transit agency officials in their governing structures

• Requires states, transit agencies, and MPOs to establish performance targets; establishes a national performance measurement system

Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Program

• Replaces the Bus and Bus Facilities Discretionary Program

• Ensures funding to all states and urban areas• States receive $1,250,000 – rural public transit

systems and eligible non profit agencies• Eligible capital projects include – replacement

and purchases of new vehicles• Matching ratio is 80% Federal and 20% Local

Safety Program

• FTA granted new Public Transportation Safety Authority

• All public transit agencies must develop their own safety plan including bus and rail operations

• FTA is currently developing guidelines• Requires annual reporting

Transit Asset Management Provisions

• Establishes National Transit Asset Management system • System must include inventory of vehicles and facilities, condition

assessments, decision support tools, and investment priorities• All transit agencies (including 5310 agencies) must develop their own

asset management plan; covers all transit modes • Applies to all vehicles used to transport people, facilities and support

equipment• Requires performance measures.

– Secretary must set national measures within one year. – States are given three additional three months to set state and local

performance measures• Requires annual reporting • AHTD will likely report on more than 2000 vehicles, 100s of pieces of

shop equipment and administrative and maintenance facilities

Transit Asset Management System

Potential Data Requirements • Vehicle Inventory Number • Number of Vehicles by Vehicle Type

• Year of Manufacture • Vehicle Length

• ADA Accessible Vehicles • Funding Source

• Useful Life of Vehicle • Seating Capacity

• Condition

Performance Measures

• Objective is to gauge how well selected projects meet National and State goals

• Planning, Section 5310, and Asset Management programs must develop performance measures

• FTA has 12 – 18 months to develop guidelines• Section 5310 Performance Measures must address:

– Geographical area coverage– Ridership– Accessibility improvements

• Transit Asset Performance Measures may address:– Age of fleet, facilities and equipment– Condition (good, fair, poor)

Annual Transit Reporting

• Public transit systems will continue the existing National Transit Database (NTD) reports

• Section 5310 agencies must now submit NTD reports– Reports will include data for the performance measures

listed above– May require modification to AHTD quarterly reports or

annual applications• Transit Asset management is a new annual report for

all agencies– Must address progress of performance measures– Identify performance targets for subsequent fiscal year

Arkansas’ Transit FundingProgram Actual FFY 2012 Estimated FFY 2013

Section 5305 Planning $473,108 $520,550

Section 5307 Over 200,000 $6,282,303 $6,796,248

Section 5307 Under 200,000 $3,555,486 $5,106,894

Section 5310 Enhanced Mobility $1,492,218 $1,674,064

Section 5317 New Freedom $990,556 $0.00

Section 5311 Rural Transit $10,325,433 $11,772,760

Section 5316 JARC $1,775,663 $0.00

Section 5339 Bus Formula (Urban) $1,046,244 $1,447,064

Section 5339 Bus Formula (State) $156,000 $1,250,000

Total FTA Funds $26,097,011 $28,567,580

Arkansas Statewide Public Transit Needs Assessment

• Prepared by the TranSystems consultant firm• Purpose of the study was three-fold:

· Develop a statewide, regional, and county-level assessment of public transportation needs

· Develop service recommendations to address those needs

· Identify 10-year financial needs• Needs Assessment grouped the 75 Arkansas

counties into regions based on the state’s eight Planning and Development Districts

Arkansas Planning and Development Districts

Arkansas Statewide Public Transit Needs Assessment

• Statewide and eight Regional Advisory Committees were formed to provide input from statewide and regional perspectives

• Three rounds of meetings were held in each region– The first round was a review of demographic data collected,

and a discussion of specific unmet transportation needs in the region

– The second round focused on further discussion of specific unmet transportation needs

– The final round included a report of the final estimates of unmet need, cost of meeting that need, and a facilitated discussion of options to meet the transportation need

Arkansas Statewide Public Transit Needs Assessment

• In 2010, just 36% of the estimated overall need of over 13 million annual trips was being met – Unmet need of 64% (8.4 million annual trips)

• Over 7 million of those in rural areas

• This unmet need implies that nearly half a million people are in need of public transportation at some time.

• This need is projected to grow to 9.6 million trips and 560,000 people by 2020.

Arkansas Statewide Public Transit Needs Assessment

Total Public Transportation Needs

Region Total 2010 Population

Total County Need

(Trips)

Need Served (Trips)

Unmet Need (Trips)

Percent Unmet Need

New Vehicles Required

Annual Vehicle Purchase Cost

Central Region 688,323 5,776,348 3,159,378 2,616,970 45.3% 681 $5,353,200

East Region 390,274 3,559,416 1,119,934 2,439,482 68.5% 665 $5,500,800

Northwest Region 579,161 4,242,743 872,379 3,370,364 79.4% 853 $6,708,600

Southeast Region 213,808 1,857,149 651,401 1,205,748 64.9% 360 $2,896,200

Southwest Region 232,526 2,037,517 878,552 1,158,965 56.9% 333 $2,719,800

West Region 260,065 2,104,862 767,602 1,337,260 63.5% 392 $3,159,000

West Central Region 313,917 2,654,173 973,188 1,680,985 63.3% 482 $3,920,400

White River Region 237,844 2,082,882 668,843 1,414,039 67.9% 446 $3,774,600

Total Arkansas 2,915,918 24,315,090 9,091,277 15,223,813 62.6% 4,212 $34,032,600

General Public Transit Subtotal 13,102,076 4,658,119 8,443,957 64.4% 2,059 $18,531,000

Human Service Subtotal 11,213,014 4,433,158 6,779,856 60.5% 2,153 $15,501,600

• Major needs for public transportation can be grouped by trip purpose into a few categories:

– Transportation to Medical Services - These trips tend to be infrequent but are critical needs. They may be short trips to a doctor, but many are long trips to facilities in Little Rock.

– Transportation to Employment or Training - Many individuals with low incomes, disabilities, or age-related issues lack access to a private automobile and thus need public transportation for employment or even training. People who are employed need transportation on a daily basis and may require late night or early morning service.

– Transportation for Independent Living - In order to live independently, seniors and others without access to an automobile need to travel to banks, government offices, shopping, and recreational /social /cultural facilities to maintain their independence. These trips may be regular or infrequent but may involve travel to many different locations.

Arkansas Statewide Public Transit Needs Assessment

Arkansas Statewide Transit Coordination Plan (TCP)

• Plan applies to all agencies requesting assistance under Section 5310 Program

• Planning Requirement modified by MAP-21– Previous requirement was that the project had to be derived from

a TCP – Under MAP-21, an agency must participate in the planning process

• Plan must include four elements– Identify current level of service– Identify current needs– Develop a prioritized list of strategies to meet those needs– Adopt the plan

Arkansas Statewide Transit Coordination Plan: 2012Current Level of Service

• TCP contains a demographic profile of each county showing the number of elderly, disabled, low income and minority

• Approximately 200 agencies locating in 675 centers provide transit service through the Section 5310 and “old” 5316, and 5317 programs

• AHTD has obligated approximately $36M from April 2008 – October 2012

• Ridership grew from approximately 2.2 million passenger trips in 2008 to 3.1 million in 2011

Arkansas Statewide Transit Coordination Plan: 2012Demographic Profile

• 53% of all Arkansans fall within the three transit dependent groups: seniors, persons with disabilities, or persons living in poverty

• 14.4% of the State’s population is over 65 years of age

• 13.4% have some type of disability

• 18.7% are at or below the State’s poverty level

• 23.0% are minority persons

Arkansas Statewide Transit Coordination Plan: 2012 -- Service

Arkansas Statewide Transit Coordination Plan: 2012Prioritized Service Strategies

1. Preserve and maintain existing vehicles and equipment 2. Maximize the use of existing fleets operating within the same city or county3. Continue to support vehicle and operating needs of transportation providers

presently receiving assistance under FTA programs. 4. Support the development of mobility managers, other coordination programs or

one-call centers at the regional level5. Coordinate the development of model contracts or agreements for sharing

vehicles, personnel, joint supply purchasing, group maintenance and insurance, etc.

6. Expand service through existing transit providers7. Invest in new transit service where none presently exists8. Explore new ways to partner with agencies such as the Arkansas Department of

Workforce Services and the AAAs