New Information has been provided by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) about the Mobility Ohio pilot program.
Launching in Coshocton, Guernsey, Muskingum, and Tuscarawas counties, Mobility Ohio is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Ohio’s state agencies, funding community and human service transportation (HST).
The pilot program was awarded grant funding in 2022 from the Federal Transit Administration in order to establish a Regional Transportation Resource Center (RTRC-9), a one-stop hub where clients and customers can conveniently schedule trips by phone or online for multiple trip purposes.
The goal of the program is to improve safety, availability, and quality of transportation for the elderly, those with disabilities, and people with lower incomes.
ODOT has reported progress on the project:
- ODOT is working with the Ohio Department of Education to expand the use of DRIVES. DRIVES is the real time, online registry of all drivers, vehicles and providers to the human service transportation network, providing the most up-to-date status of training and compliance with safety requirements.
- Request for proposals for the Mobility Ohio pilot scheduling software was issued last month. The software will provide the RTRC-9 access to a four-county network of dozens of transportation providers. The software will make it possible to share trips for multiple clients between multiple funders and bill each funder for their share of a trip.
- ODOT has also made progress in standardizing safety and quality standards for all participating HST agencies in the pilot area. This means all providers will operate by the same rules and be more able to coordinate the delivery of more trips to clients and customers.
ODOT said those three steps alone will dramatically improve HST and public transit service delivery in the four-county RTRC-9 pilot area and serve as a model for the nation.
ODOT continues to pursue American Rescue Plan Act dollars. While a Federal Transit Administration grant was won, additional ARPA funds would provide more flexibility in how the pilot program is administered and delivered.
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Source: CoshoctonTribune.com
