Regional Information & Resources
HSTP Region 8 Meeting April 26th 2012 Agenda & Meeting Details
RTAC Conference Presentations 2012
DOT Final Rule on Transportation for Individuals with Disabilities
Technology Impact on Senior Transportation
Rural Transportation Medical Network
The Basics About Public Transit In Your County
RTAC Conference Handouts 2012
Common Wheel Chair Def ADA Change
Steps to Successful Travel Training
For the latest approved meeting minutes click here.
Introduction
The Human Services Transportation Plan (HSTP) is a unified, locally-derived, comprehensive strategy for delivery of public and specialized transportation services that identifies transportation needs, specifically those of persons with disabilities, older adults and persons with limited incomes, lays out strategies for meeting these needs and prioritizes the services.
Background
Per reauthorization of transportation funding under SAFETEA LU, projects to be selected for funding under 5310 Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities, 5316 Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) and 5317 New Freedom programs must be projects that, in regards to selection and planning, are derived from a locally developed, coordinated public Human Services Transportation Plan (HSTP) and are developed through a process that includes representatives of the public, private, and nonprofit transportation and human services providers and participation by the public.
Illinois Department of Transportation-Division of Public and Intermodal Transportation (IDOT-DPIT) has defined, through a public process, 11 planning regions for downstate Illinois that will be used as a framework for developing the coordinated HSTPs, and will be working with regional transportation planning coordinators to accomplish this task. In this particular project, coordinated HSTPs will have a focus on the needs of rural downstate areas (population 50,000 or less).
Goals
The overall goals of the project are to develop the Regional HSTP, select projects for funding, and develop a Regional Program of Projects (RPOP). The HSTP must be developed and adopted through the Regional Transportation Committee (RTC), which includes stakeholders from public transportation service providers, human service agencies (especially those representing elderly, disabled, and low income populations), planning organizations and county government representatives.
The HSTP will consist of the following:
- inventory of existing transportation services
- transportation needs assessment & gap analysis
- recommended short term and long term transportation strategies to address service gaps and improve coordination
This plan must be reviewed and adopted by the RTC. The plan will be used as a baseline for identifying transportation projects that meet service coordination needs of the region and become part of the RPOP. The coordinator will first review projects with the RTC before submitting them to the state for final selection and approval.
All public transportation projects funded through rural transportation dollars will be reviewed by the local review committee and included in the RPOP, however 5310 applications must be endorsed by the RTC to receive funding. Projects that are requesting funds through 5316 Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) and 5317 New Freedom will be reviewed, prioritized and submitted to the State Oversight Committee (SOC) for final selection and approval. Rural projects not receiving these funds are sent directly to IDOT-DPIT, after being reviewed by the RTC.