Metro - File #: 2018-0478

• File #: 2018-0478
• Type: Program
• Status: Agenda Ready
• File created: 7/23/2018
• In control: Planning and Programming Committee
• On agenda: 9/19/2018
• Title: CONSIDER: A. APPROVING the programming of $281.5 million in federal Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP) funds for Access Services as shown in Attachment A for Fiscal Years (FY) 2020 through FY 2023; and B. AUTHORIZING the Chief Executive Officer to negotiate and execute funding agreements between Metro and Access Services.
• Sponsors: Planning and Programming Committee
• Indexes: Access Board, Access Services Inc., Americans With Disabilities Act, Budget, Budgeting, Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, Funding plan, Grant Aid, Long Range Transportation Plan, Metro Vision 2028 Plan, Paratransit services, Persons with disabilities, Program, Ridership, Short Range Transportation Plan, Southern California Association Of Governments, Strategic planning, Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, Transfers
• Related files: 2018-0673

Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

Subject
SUBJECT: PROGRAMMING FOR FEDERALLY MANDATED PARATRANSIT SERVICES

Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS

Heading
RECOMMENDATION

Title
CONSIDER:

A. APPROVING the programming of $281.5 million in federal Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP) funds for Access Services as shown in Attachment A for Fiscal Years (FY) 2020 through FY 2023; and

B. AUTHORIZING the Chief Executive Officer to negotiate and execute funding agreements between Metro and Access Services.

Issue
ISSUE

Access Services provides complementary paratransit service required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on behalf of Metro and 44 other fixed-route operators in Los Angeles County. Metro supplements the local funds it provides to Access Services with federal funds. However, Metro does not include federal funds for paratransit services in its annual budget. The Board must approve the programming of STBGP funds in the Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) so that Access Services can apply for and receive the funds directly from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Attachment A identifies the annual amounts of federal STBGP funds recommended for programming for Access Services during FY 2020 to FY 2023.

Background
BACKGROUND

ADA paratransit service is a federally mandated civil right for persons with disabilities who cannot ride public fixed-route buses and trains within 3/4 of a mile of the fixed-route service. Metro's programming of federal funds for ADA paratransit service began in FY 1998 with the transfer of Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to FTA's Section 5310 Program. Metro has continued this process through the last four federal reauthorization acts. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which was signed into law in December 2015, changed the program's name from STP to STBGP an...