|
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.
|
IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS BARRIERS
ACCT Awards Grants for Transporting Homeless Students
Sen. Patty Murray secured federal grant funds for projects through August 2005 to demonstrate innovative ways to provide transportation to homeless students.
ACCT staff worked closely with OSPI to award seven Washington school systems and educational service districts (ESDs) $845,468 in grants for the transportation of homeless children. The grants were awarded to Clarkston, Spokane, Central Valley, Everett, North Central ESD, Puget Sound ESD, and Northwest ESD. Several school districts will contract with the existing Medicaid brokers to arrange trips for students eligible under the federal McKinney-Vento Act.
The McKinney-Vento law requires school districts to arrange for transportation to and from school for homeless students. While the law supports school stability for youngsters in the midst of transition, it also creates multiple challenges for districts providing transportation. Often homeless students need to be picked up at changing locations and transported great distances. Thanks to Senator Murray, Washington has a chance to try new ways to efficiently meet student needs.
INCREASE ADVOCACY
Building a Community Bus: Guide to Coordinating Pupil and Public Transportation
ACCT has published Building a Community Bus: Guide to Coordinating Pupil and Public Transportation. We are in the process of printing CD's to access the report in pdf or word. The guide was written by the Pupil Transportation Safety Institute for ACCT and provides information and tools to facilitate coordination between schools and other community transportation providers.
ACCT commissioned this study because of the common issues between schools and community transportation
- School buses are everywhere
- Resources are limited
- Increasing demand for services in hard-to-serve areas and for hard-to-serve customers.
The study identified some benefits and opportunities
- Spread capital and maintenance costs across multiple programs
- Keep drivers employed longer
- Increase service for everyone and encourage student participation in extracurricular activities
FOCUS ON RESULTS
Regional Trip Planner Tested
WSDOT is sponsoring the development of a statewide passenger information system available online to assist in planning trips throughout Oregon and Washington. At the December ACCT meeting, Seija Blaylock presented the results from several focus groups held this fall, including a mock up of the site that both transit users and transit administrators will use. A model, known as a prototype, will be available on CD soon for review. The first Trip Planner training session will be held in March for transit systems. Please contact Seija Blaylock for more information: 360.705.7923
|