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The Agency Council on Coordinated Transportation (ACCT) is a partnership of members from the legislature, state agencies, transportation providers and consumer advocates whose mission is to direct and promote activities that efficiently use all available state and community resources for special needs transportation across the state. The legislature created ACCT in 1998 to facilitate coordination and eliminate cross-jurisdictional and government program barriers to transportation. The ACCT Council concentrates on three critical areas: Identify and Address Barriers, Focus on Results, and Increase Advocacy.
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IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS BARRIERS
28th Annual Public Transportation Conference
More than 500 people and 50 exhibitors gathered in Yakima for WSDOT's 28th Annual Public Transportation Conference held August 23 - 25. U.S. Senator Patty Murray opened the conference, describing public transportation as "an engine that drives our economy, creates jobs and makes business more productive."
ACCT staff also presented workshops on a number of topics including the trip planner project, call center management, and the new non-profit insurance pool. ACCT local coalition leaders held a joint meeting with Community Transportation Association of the Northwest (CTA-NW) members to discuss legislative issues and prepare for the upcoming legislative session.
Leaders in the public transportation field were recognized at conference award ceremonies. WSDOT Chief of Staff and ACCT Chair, Paula Hammond, presented a special award to Transportation Commissioner Aubrey Davis-a star named in his honor. WSDOT also presented an achievement award to CTA-NW President and ACCT council member, Marilynn Mason-Plunkett, for her dedication. CTA-NW presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to People for People Operations Manager, Chris Fix, who is retiring after almost thirty years in the public transportation industry.
Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald met with the transit system managers and their board members at a breakfast where they discussed the Washington Transportation Plan and the challenges of funding our transportation system.
INCREASE ADVOCACY
Transportation Grants Available
ACCT and their partners would like to announce the availability of several new grants:
The Washington State Department of Transportation has grants available for capital, operating, or development projects. The project development grants can be used to do coordination type activities. Applications are due by November 17.
ACCT is teaming up with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide grants for homeless student transportation. School districts and their partners are eligible for these new grants for providing unique solutions for transporting homeless students.
ACCT has technical assistance grants available through the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA). With these grants, CTAA will provide resources to help communities with: Innovative Service Promotion and Design, Building Community Partnerships, Creating Transportation Choices for People with Special Needs, and Risk Management and Safety.
For more information on any of these grants, please contact Don Chartock at 360-705-7928 or ChartoD@wsdot.wa.gov
FOCUS ON RESULTS
Progress on the Regional Trip Planner
The Regional Trip Planner, an on-line travel-planning tool that will allow public transportation users to search for providers, routes and schedules, is moving forward. In preparation for the Fall 2005 launch, Washington and Oregon team members and consultants held focus groups in Vancouver to get feedback on the technical aspects of the system. Participants representing a variety of transportation providers offered feedback on the system design.
The next steps for the trip planner team include finalizing the system design, developing a prototype, and developing information sharing agreements with transportation providers.
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