Staff from the County and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (Authority) are currently in discussions regarding the subject grant. Caltrans's unexpectedly rapid release of this grant cycle after the passage of Senate Bill 1 has resulted in staff moving quickly to complete the grant and request necessary approvals. Additional clarity on the arrangement will be available by the October 9 TWIC meeting.
The subject of the grant application, the Accessible Transportation Strategic (ATS) Plan, is the culmination of both the 2016 Measure X Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP) effort and the 2017 Countywide Transportation Plan (CTP). Both plans were developed under the leadership of the Authority.
This particular topic, accessible transportation(1), was the subject of several comment letters from the Board of Supervisors and numerous conversations between County and Authority staff. During the TEP and CTP development, both the Authority Board and Staff were responsive and supportive of comments relative to the ATS Plan.
The ATS Plan was originally included as an implementation activity to be initiated immediately if and when Measure X passed. With the failure of Measure X, the draft CTP was amended in its final version to include the ATS Plan as an implementation task:
Initiate the Accessible Transportation Service Strategic Plan
To further support mobility opportunities for seniors and people with disabilities, the Authority will develop an Accessible Transportation Service (ATS) Strategic Plan. The plan will evaluate how accessible services are delivered by all agencies and where appropriate coordination can improve transportation services. The ATS Strategic Plan will also determine the investments and oversight of funding and identify timing, projects, service delivery options, administrative structure, and fund leverage opportunities.
As mentioned in the September 19, 2017 report to the Board of Supervisors ("ACCEPT the 'Accessible Transit in Contra Costa County' white paper") County staff initiated outreach efforts after acceptance of the report. During a meeting with Authority staff the subject grant opportunity was discussed and staff agreed to investigate the possibility of a collaborative effort. Both County and Authority staff agree that the Authority is best positioned to be the lead on the study.
As indicated in the Recommendations section, the necessary agreements and grant administration strategy is currently being finalized by staff from both agencies including determination of how the local match will be funded. The intent at this point is to have the Authority act as the lead in the administration of the study and the County, and potentially other entities, act as sub-applicants and/or study participants. Authority staff is in the process of seeking similar approvals.
Staff understands that the lack of complete clarity at this time on grant administration and match funding is not ideal. County and Authority staff have been working quickly to respond to the short timeframe and upcoming deadline. Staff intends on having all of the necessary information available by the time the Board of Supervisors hears the item on October 17th if the Committee chooses to move this request to the full Board.
(1) Accessible transportation, for the purposes of the grant, is defined as a range of transportation/transit and supportive services such as; Americans with Disabilities Act mandated public paratransit service, city/community programs, transportation provided by private non-profits, mobility management programs, volunteer based transportation programs, etc.
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