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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
Cost Allocation Project Moving Forward
The Pierce County Coordination Coalition is moving forward in implementing their Common Ground project, which aims to break down program barriers by allocating proportionate transportation costs between programs. The goal is to blend funding streams when transporting riders from different programs on the same vehicle. The project members have agreed that a cost allocation formula based on shared mile or a base fee plus shared mile is the most desired mechanism for sharing the cost of trips.
ACCT will work with the Pierce Coalition, Department of Social and Health Services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Federal Transit Administration to ensure the project meets with all regulatory requirements
INCREASE ADVOCACY
Puget Sound Leadership Forum a Success
ACCT Chair, Paula Hammond, co-hosted the Puget Sound Leadership Forum on Coordinated Special Needs Transportation on June 14 at the Washington State Convention Center. The goal of the forum was for leaders and managers in the region to understand what it will take to make the necessary but difficult changes to achieve more efficient mobility.
Jennifer Dorn from the Federal Transit Administration opened the general session. Attendees included policy makers and agency leaders from throughout Puget Sound and speakers from across the country. King County Executive Ron Sims was the first speaker of the day and outlined the importance of coordinated transportation to the Puget Sound region.
"Will we part here comfortable in our own silos," Sims challenged the attendees, "or will we move away from those silos and leave a legacy for people to have access to lifeline services?"
A showing of support for coordinated transportation came from Congressman Rick Larson, who agreed to take a coordination work plan to the Washington delegation. Additionally, State Representative Ed Murray, Chair of the House Transportation Committee, agreed to hold a legislative hearing on coordinated transportation.
Also at the forum Andrew Johnson announced that Governor Locke has signed
a proclamation declaring June 14 as Coordination Day. Read
the proclamation
FOCUS ON RESULTS
Performance Measures Collected
ACCT has collected performance measures data from Yakima and Pierce counties for all types of special needs transportation providers. The purpose of the data collection is to establish a performance baseline, which we will use to identify the value of transportation improvements made through coordination in the future.
ACCT gathered data for 2003 from transit fixed route and demand responsive services, Medicaid broker purchased trips, vanpools and school transportation. Analysis of the data yielded useful results, giving a picture of the cost range for transportation services. School transport had the lowest per passenger trip cost, because the rider demand and the routes do not vary. Demand responsive transportation had the highest per passenger trip cost, due to unpredictable customer demand, varying pick up points, and the need to provide assistance for passengers boarding the vehicles.
The baseline data will be the standard against which progress made in coordinating transportation will be measured. ACCT staff will also begin collecting similar data from the other counties in the state in preparation for an annual report this fall.
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