Research

SURTC Recommends Establishing Coordinating Boards

Based on a one-year study of transportation coordination among social service agencies in North Dakota, SURTC recommends establishing a state-level coordinating council and eight regional coordinating councils that include representatives of providers and users of all publicly funded transportation programs.

"The best approach to encouraging coordination is to take steps at both the state and local levels to increase the likelihood of successful efforts," says Gary Hegland, the SURTC researcher who coordinated the study.

As public and human service programs developed and grew, individual agencies funded or operated their own transportation programs in support of their goals. Recently, federal and state funding expanded public transit services in many areas of the state.

"Using those transportation resources as effectively as we can is crucial because of increasing needs for service and increasing difficulty in providing those services, especially in the rural areas of the state where population is declining and the remaining population is aging," Hegland notes.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) has increasingly emphasized coordination among agencies in the state, especially those with transportation funds managed by the NDDOT and human service programs. NDDOT commissioned the SURTC study to examine policy as well as funding and operational options available to maximize the efficiency of transportation resources in the state. SURTC outlined five steps in a one-year implementation plan.

1. Issue a governor's directive to administrators of state agencies that fund transportation to appoint a member to the North Dakota Personal Mobility Council, assist in staffing the council and encourage local grantees to participate in coordination efforts.
2. Establish the North Dakota Personal Mobility Council to promote coordination and communication among state agencies and local agencies.
3. Establish regional transportation coordination boards and employ regional transportation coordinators to plan and implement coordinated transportation programs.
4. Provide state funding to support start-up and ongoing operation of regional boards.
5. Provide training and technical assistance to regional boards.

The recommendation calls for all state-managed transportation funds to flow through the regional coordinating councils. The state-level coordinating council will advise state agencies on funding allocations and barriers to increased coordination and will oversee the activities of the regional councils.

The N.D. Personal Mobility Council could include members from the NDDOT, the Department of Human Services, Job Service North Dakota, the Department of Public Instruction, at least one representative of a user advocacy group and a representative from a private-sector transportation provider. Regional Transportation Coordinating Boards could include representatives from fixed-route bus systems, public paratransit operators, city mayors, county commissioners, regional human services centers, county social services offices, Head Start programs, long-term care facilities, developmental disabilities facilities, businesses, consumer advocates and school districts.

Hegland worked with SURTC researchers Jim Miller, Jon Mielke and Jill Hough to assemble a list of transportation services in the state, including fixed-route, paratransit, taxis and services provided by agencies like the Veterans Administration, Head Start, Medicaid, nursing homes and others.

Next, the researchers held focus group meetings in each of the state's eight economic planning regions to meet with representatives from transit and human service agencies. The focus groups discussed how improved coordination would benefit their customers and agencies and identifying some barriers to coordination.

"Those meetings showed us there is interest in making better use of transportation resources, but we also learned there are barriers standing in the way," Hegland says.

The study found cases of overlapping transportation services. For example, vehicles from different agencies serving different clientele in the same region sometimes make trips to similar destinations. Ownership issues, funding, insurance and federally mandated policies are often key issues preventing more coordination and cooperation. In some cases, agencies serving similar clients in the same region weren't aware of each other.

"The cost of transportation services is going up while the demand for those services is growing. We hope this study provides a roadmap to using existing dollars more efficiently and effectively to meet those needs," Hegland says.

A copy of the report is available at www.surtc.org/research/reports.php.