The Government Accountability Office said in a recent report that the Federal Transit Agency must better coordinate with state and local governments to help rural transit services reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve service, Bill Lucia reports for Route Fifty.
An FTA database lists about 1,500 rural transit providers. Such service can be critical for those who can't drive, such as seniors, the poor, or disabled. Coordination among rural areas is essential because passengers often need to travel long distances to access grocery stores or doctors, the report said.
But coordination can be challenging, so the report recommends that the FTA come up with a better plan for communicating with state agencies and local transit providers as well as best practices for carrying out the plan. "This might include taking steps like setting common drop-off points or schedules, or aligning service to ease access to places where people go for medical care," Lucia reports. The report notes that all of the rural transit providers interviewed for the report already coordinate with each other on a limited basis.
Rural transit providers often face obstacles that can limit transit or coordination, including "staff shortages, tight funding, limited technology and long distances between the places where they operate and the neighboring jurisdictions serviced by their counterparts," Lucia reports. In the past three years, "the FTA has allotted about $2.1 billion in grants to support public transit in rural areas, including tribal lands."
An FTA database lists about 1,500 rural transit providers. Such service can be critical for those who can't drive, such as seniors, the poor, or disabled. Coordination among rural areas is essential because passengers often need to travel long distances to access grocery stores or doctors, the report said.
But coordination can be challenging, so the report recommends that the FTA come up with a better plan for communicating with state agencies and local transit providers as well as best practices for carrying out the plan. "This might include taking steps like setting common drop-off points or schedules, or aligning service to ease access to places where people go for medical care," Lucia reports. The report notes that all of the rural transit providers interviewed for the report already coordinate with each other on a limited basis.
Rural transit providers often face obstacles that can limit transit or coordination, including "staff shortages, tight funding, limited technology and long distances between the places where they operate and the neighboring jurisdictions serviced by their counterparts," Lucia reports. In the past three years, "the FTA has allotted about $2.1 billion in grants to support public transit in rural areas, including tribal lands."
No comments:
Post a Comment