Metro - File #: 2023-0092

• File #: 2023-0092
• Type: Program
• Status: Passed
• File created: 2/8/2023
• In control: Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting
• On agenda: 3/23/2023
• Final action: 3/23/2023
• Title: CONSIDER: A. APPROVING the programming of $246.7 million in federal Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP) funds for Access Services for Fiscal Years (FY) 2024 through FY 2026, as shown in Attachment A; and B. AUTHORIZING the Chief Executive Officer or their designee to negotiate and execute funding agreements between Metro and Access Services.
• Sponsors: Program Management (Department), Maria Luk
• 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, Southern California Association Of Governments, Strategic planning, Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, Transfers

Date	Action By	Action	Result
3/23/2023	Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting
3/15/2023	Planning and Programming Committee

Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
MARCH 15, 2023

Subject
SUBJECT: FUNDING PROGRAMMING FOR FEDERALLY MANDATED PARATRANSIT SERVICES

Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS

Heading
RECOMMENDATIONS

Title
CONSIDER:

A. APPROVING the programming of $246.7 million in federal Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP) funds for Access Services for Fiscal Years (FY) 2024 through FY 2026, as shown in Attachment A; and

B. AUTHORIZING the Chief Executive Officer or their designee 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 of Directors 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 from FY 2024 to FY 2026.

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 started 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 four federal reauthorization acts, including the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act signed into law in December 2015. The FAST Act changed the progr...