Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families (2014)

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Page 6-1 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families This chapter provides guidance on using existing transportation resources in your community to help meet the transportation needs identiied through your planning efforts. “Starting with what you have”—that is, with the transportation services and programs currently available in your community—is a foundation of transportation coordination and mobility management. Step 1: Define Coordinaon and Mobility Management Transportation coordination and mobility management enable a community to use existing resources more effectively. Those existing resources—which may include a local city public transit system, senior center vans, DAV volunteer transportation—likely will not meet all the transportation needs identiied in the community for veterans, service members, and their families, even with efforts to coordinate and manage mobility, but they are a good start. First, let’s deine coordination and mobility management, which are closely related but not the same. Coordination is the process of sharing transportation resources, including information, among public and private community organizations to improve or expand local transportation. Coordination has a systems focus. Mobility Management is the process of using coordinated transportation resources to meet the mobility needs of individuals. Mobility management takes coordinated transportation to the next step—that is, helping individuals ind appropriate mobility options among the shared community resources. Mobility management has an individual focus. Remaining steps in this chapter present categories of actions and projects that fall within the deinitions of coordination and mobility management. It’s important to understand that these steps do not need to be followed sequentially; the order in which you consider and use them is more a function Coordinaon and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have ” Chapter 6

Page 6-2 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” of the existing transportation services in your community and where you and your leadership team want to direct improvement strategies. Note that the actions and projects described in the chapter focus on improving community transportation speci
ically for veterans, service members, and their families. They do not address the full range of coordination and mobility management options, which are topics of many resources produced over the past 30 years and include guidebooks, reports, archived webinars, and academic papers. A number of these are listed under Additional Resources at the end of this chapter and may be useful as you pursue transportation improvements in your community for veterans, service members, and families. Step 2: Centralize Informa on Compiling information about available transportation options in a central location is a good way to begin transportation coordination. In larger communities as well as smaller and rural areas, residents—certainly including veterans, service members, and their families—are probably not aware of all the transportation resources that do exist. Given the frequency that military families move—on average, every three years—they are often new in a community and might particularly bene
it from a centralized source of transportation information. Building from your planning efforts that involved identi
ication of existing transportation resources, you can develop a central repository of key information about the transportation services in your community. An objective of this effort is to provide enough information that allows a veteran, service member, or family member to determine if there is an option—or options—among the compiled and documented transportation resources that could meet the individual’s trip needs. Information that should be documented for each available transportation resource includes: The name and full contact information. The type of service—
ixed route, paratransit, other specialized transportation, volunteer drivers, intercity bus, taxi. Eligibility—general public service, seniors only, veterans only, etc. Any restrictions on types of trips served. General service area. Days and general hours of service. The fare or cost for the service, if any. How to access the service—location of routes (if the service has
ixed routes) or the phone number to call to request a trip. Basic information on the type of vehicles used—vans, sedans, small buses, larger buses, whether accessible (which could be useful

Page 6-3 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” information later if vehicle sharing among partner agencies is considered as a strategy to improve transportation). Directory of Information—Start with a List Compiling transportation information should start with a list. As basic as a list may sound, it can be very useful for staff and others at agencies and VA facilities who are not familiar with public transit and specialized transportation. You can use the information collected through planning efforts described in Chapter 5 to construct a simple listing. Consider organizing your information geographically or by destination. It can be valuable to agency staff and to individuals seeking trips to have even a simple list showing which transportation services go to which destinations, such as the VA Medical Center, the CBOCs, the Vet Centers, or the military base. An example of a listing of veterans’ transportation options is provided in Tools at the back of this chapter. The listing can evolve to a simple directory— which is a low- cost option. The directory should be available both as a printed document and as a .pdf document that can be shared electronically. Printed copies can be distributed to all human service agencies and organizations in your community, public of�ices, VA facilities, and military of�ices dealing with family issues. The electronic version should be available online at the public transit agency’s website, participating partner agencies’ websites, and other places people might look when faced with a transportation challenge. Once the directory is created and posted, advertise its availability widely so that individuals know about it. TIP Be sure to establish a process to keep the information up-to-date, at a minimum, once a year. And be sure to prominently date the directory so that users can tell if they’re using the current version. One of the resources created through United We Ride is an online framework with drop-in pages to develop a transportation directory; see Tools for more information and a link to the resource.

Page 6-4 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Create an Information Portal—Coordinate with 2-1-1 and 5-1-1 To expand the availability of the compiled information, explore whether the centralized information could be made available through your local 2-1-1 service (the phone number reserved for community social services) or 5-1-1 service (the phone number reserved for traveler information). Or both! These options would capitalize on already existing centralized information services. Figure 6-1 illustrates information on veterans’ transportation services available through the Inland Empire’s 5-1-1 service in Southern California. Figure 6-1: Veterans Transportation Information, Inland Empire 5-1-1 Transit Trip Planner If you can build an information portal that brings together a number of transportation information resources, it will be important to include your public transit agency’s “trip planner,” if your transit agency has one. Larger transit agencies have developed sophisticated online trip planners, which allow an individual to input a trip origin and destination along with desired travel time and the trip planner quickly provides trip options by transit. Transit agencies are also, increasingly, using Google Transit to help users �ind transit options for their trips. Google Transit is an integrated feature in Google Maps, enabling users to plan their trips using public transit, with information about transit stops and schedules.

Page 6-5 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Transit agencies that provide GTFS data (general transit feed speciications) to Google have trip planners powered by Google that can readily be accessed via smartphones. Particularly for tech-savvy younger veterans and military service members, this is an effective way to provide public transit information. Google Transit and similar trip planners are most effective in urban areas. It is more dificult in rural settings to have an effective trip planner and your basic list of transportation providers remains important. Google Transit is also limited to ixed-route information. It cannot yet tell you about lexible services such as ADA paratransit, van pools or other modes. The National RTAP provides a tool for developing the GTFS data needed for Google Transit, which may be particularly useful for smaller ixed- route systems. For more information, see Tools in the back of this chapter. TIP Many people are not aware that Google Transit exists and how powerful it is. In a public meeting, ask for a show of hands as to how many people use Google Maps. Then ask them if they have noticed or used the Bus icon that is immediately to the right of the Car icon in Google Maps. Inform your audience that they can obtain real-time transit information to their desired destination, usually right from their smartphone! Build on Exisng Call Center A call center, providing one phone number for individuals to call to obtain information on available transportation in the community, is an enhancement to a directory of information. If your transit agency has an existing call center with personnel who provide information on ixed route and other transit services, it may be possible to expand this function and also provide information about other transportation services in the community. This option is a more personalized version of an online or printed directory and may be helpful particularly for individuals who do not have reliable access to the Internet. A call center is only effective, however, if the intended clientele knows of its existence. So if you are able to expand upon an existing call center, it will be crucial to think about how to publicize its availability. Articles in local newspapers and newsletters, inserts in utility bills, lyers on transit vehicles and placed in community and human service agency ofices are just a few ideas of how to get the word out about a call center that provides information on available transportation resources in the community. You can also use your partners that are participating in the community endeavor to improve transportation to communicate the call center’s existence and its capabilities.

Page 6-6 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Step 3: Enhance Existing Public Transit for Improved Service to Target Groups Most communities have some level of public transportation and depending on what your planning efforts revealed about how effectively—or not—the community’s public transit system serves identi�ied needs, you might consider enhancing those transit services. This can be as straightforward as promoting transit to community organizations that work with veterans to fare incentives for veterans and service members, to possible transit service modi�ications so key destinations are better served. Promote Public Transit to Organizations That Work With Veterans and the Military Community Promotion of public transit can take various forms: Provide information about your community’s public transit services to the DOL employment specialists who work with veterans. http://dvoplverlocator.nvti.ucdenver.edu/ default.aspx Ensure that any local facility providing housing for veterans has current information about local public transit. Take transit information to VA medical facilities and related facilities, such as Fisher Houses, which provide housing for families of wounded warriors. http://www.�isherhouse.org/houses/ Extend travel training and transit familiarization to veterans and VSOs in your community. A listing of VSOs is available from the VA website: http://www.va.gov/vso/ Provide Fare Incentives Consider whether your public transit agency can provide fare discounts for veterans and military service members. A number of transit agencies offer such discounts with proper ID. As just one example, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) allows active duty military in full uniform with military ID and disabled veterans to ride CTA buses and trains for free with the agency’s Military Service Pass. Your community might also consider providing discounted bus passes to the veterans’ employment specialists who serve your area. The specialists could in turn provide the bus passes to veterans lacking transportation, which would help those individuals access employment possibilities. Less than one-third of Transitional housing and shelters for homeless veterans are provided by various community based organizations, with support from the VA’s Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program. The program supports development and provision of supportive housing and services for homeless veterans. For example, Catholic Charities in Clearwater, Florida operates a Transition in Place (TIP) Housing Program that offers safe, affordable housing and services to homeless veterans and their families for up to 24 months. Residents will have trip needs, such as daily travel to seek work or to hold down jobs.

Page 6-7 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” the veterans’ employment specialists surveyed through this research project indicated that they are able to provide bus passes or tickets; if the passes are discounted, the employment specialists may be able to stretch their resources and purchase greater numbers of passes, assisting more veterans with transportation. For student veterans, work with your local college, university, or technical school to offer discounted bus passes for enrolled students. This could be done in partnership with the school, which might provide funding support for the student passes or for public transit service to the campus. A variation on direct fare discounts for the target groups is a campaign involving transit riders, who generate a free-ride ticket for a homeless veteran when they donate canned or nonperishable food during a speci�ied week. Typically, the donate-food campaigns generate a free ride ticket for the rider who donates; in this variation, the rider’s donation guarantees a free ride ticket given to the local homeless veterans’ shelter. Target Information and Marketing Working with your public transit agency, develop transit information materials that are focused on the VAMC, or, if you have a military base nearby, develop materials speci�ically for that base. These materials would feature the different routes or other transit services such as ADA paratransit that serve the location. The Morongo Basin Transit Authority (MBTA), located in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, has done just that, generating signi�icant ridership from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), one of the largest Marine bases in the country. To highlight the commuter and neighborhood routes serving the base, MBTA has developed marketing and information materials targeted to the Marines and military contractors on the base. MBTA information is made available in all the barracks as well as in the installation’s Community Service Of�ice, and the transit agency has also created a dedicated “Marines” page on its website.

Page 6-8 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” You could also prepare information tools that are speciic for selected staff members and individuals who work with veterans, for example, those working within the VAMC, such as the DAV Hospital Service coordinator, VTN staff, VA staff providing general patient information services, as well as Community- Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) administrators. Once these individuals have speciic information on public transit options serving their medical facility, they can in turn provide information to veterans who need transportation beyond what the DAV/VTN program can provide. Modify Service for Improved Access to Key Desnaons If you have created maps of key destinations for veterans overlaid with local public transit service through your community’s planning efforts, refer to those maps and, working with transit planning staff, consider if there are modiications to the routes and/or schedules that would improve access to those destinations. If might be possible, for example, to lex a portion of a route to serve a particular facility on a request-stop basis. This would require some schedule adjustment and development of procedures for riders to request service to that off-route destination. Service to low- and moderate-income housing in your community may already be served by local public transit. Veterans and their families may be tenants in such housing, so it is important that transit serve those locations. Be aware that, with additional funding to a joint program of the Federal Department of Housing (HUD) and the VA’s Supportive Housing Program, known as HUD- VASH, veterans and their families are increasingly eligible for rental housing vouchers. This program, with an objective of moving veterans from homelessness and temporary housing to more permanent arrangements, allocates “housing choice” vouchers across the country, allowing veterans and their families to live in market rate rental housing while the VA provides case management services. A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord, with the veteran paying the difference between the full rent and the amount subsidized by the program. The program targets more vulnerable veterans, with support services for women veterans, for those recently returning from combat, and for veterans with disabilities. TIP If these efforts identity transit service revisions to improve access, but they cannot be implemented right away, due to operational or budget constraints, be sure to include those improvement options for consideration in the longer term, perhaps at the time of the next Five-Year Transit Development Plan or short range transit plan.

Page 6-9 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Encourage Public-Private Partnerships to Support Public Transit Collaborate with local businesses to see if they might provide �inancial support for public transit modi�ications that improve service for veterans, service members, and families. If you extend service during evening hours to better serve employment destinations, for example, consider asking the businesses now served with additional hours if they might contribute to the additional operating costs for those additional revenue hours. If any local businesses collaborate with you, be sure to acknowledge their support—through print and e-marketing, through Chamber of Commerce channels, and through other community-wide opportunities. As noted earlier, seek out your local college, university or technical school to see how they might collaborate with you for public transit service to their campus that bene�its student veterans. Schools may be willing to partner with the community for funding support. Step 4: Coordinate with Other Public Transit Services and Regional Providers for Trips Beyond the Community For veterans who need access to a VA Medical Center but live many miles from that facility, trips for healthcare are long and may be dif�icult. Veterans who cannot make those trips on their own—for reasons of disability, lack of reliable personal transportation, capacity issues related to an available DAV volunteer driver program, or other reasons—may bene�it if neighboring transit systems coordinate their services to facilitate those regional trips. Coordination can improve regional trips by public transportation in several ways, including: the development of common transfer points between neighboring transit systems, scheduling services to facilitate transfer trips, and consideration of a joint fare arrangement. Importantly, coordination also involves consolidating information, so that once transit services are better coordinated, veterans and others can obtain one-stop information on how to use the services and make the regional trip on connecting, neighboring systems. Additionally, depending on regional transportation carriers such as intercity buses and Amtrak that may serve your community, you can explore ways that local public transit can coordinate with those services. Can a transit route directly serve the Greyhound station, for example, or the Amtrak station? Local transit can provide access to those regional transportation options and will help those veterans and

Page 6-10 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” service members with regional trip needs. As noted earlier, your community may already be able to locate such connections on Google Transit. If you have a regional airport, public transit access to that location would provide an affordable feeder service for air travel. The MBTA in Southern California, noted above, provides a long distance commuter route, operating three times each weekday and twice on weekend days, that connects the Marine base to the regional airport in Palm Springs, as well as the Amtrak and Greyhound stations, in addition to other locations in the Palm Springs area. For very rural places and tribal reservations that have limited transit of their own, it might be possible for those communities to provide a connection to the closest public transit system of some size, which would then open up greater transit service options. Such a connection might be provided on an advance reservation or otherwise limited basis, but would give those who are transit dependent an option for regional trips. Step 5: Coordinate with and Support Community- Based Transportation Services Your community can also coordinate with and support locally-based transportation services that are provided by non-pro�it and for-pro�it organizations, to expand the ability to serve transportation needs of veterans, service members, and families. Look �irst to local VSOs that have a transportation element as part of their services. Also look for community based agencies that include veterans, service members or their family members as eligible riders. The latter may include non-pro�its that have a volunteer transportation program or a senior services agency that also provides transportation. Many veterans are also seniors and qualify for such services. There are various possibilities for coordinating with and supporting such organizations, including assisting with vehicle acquisition and providing support with day-to-day operations. It may be particularly important to coordinate with VSOs to ensure they know about available public transit services as options when their own transportation program cannot meet trip needs. Assist with Acquisition of Vehicles There are several ways your community can help VSOs with vehicle needs:

Page 6-11 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Arrange with your local public transit agency to donate retired vans from the agency’s paratransit service (often these vehicles have plenty of miles left in them) to the VSO. Help VSOs apply for accessible vehicles through the Federal Section 5310 grant program. Refer VSOs to useful vehicle resources including the National RTAP publication titled “How to Buy a Vehicle,” which is available at the organization’s website http://www.nationalrtap.org/Home.aspx under that website’s Resources link. Provide Support with Operations VSOs and other local community organizations with a transportation component may bene�it from assistance with transportation, since their primary focus is something other than transportation. Your community’s transit agency might support these smaller, adjunct transportation programs with: Driver training—Open up the transit agency’s driver training classes on a periodic basis to driver-trainees from local VSOs and other local non- pro�its. This will save those organizations resources normally spent on driver training and will provide their trainees with comprehensive instruction. Background checks—Support volunteer transportation programs by providing driver background checks. As with driver training, this support builds on functions already provided by your public transit agency. Operational assistance—Consider offering training and support in trip and vehicle scheduling as well as data collection to document transportation services provided. Vehicle maintenance—Explore whether your transit agency’s maintenance function could provide maintenance for VSO vehicles or vehicles used by other non-pro�its that serve the target groups. Encourage existing community based providers to provide feeder service to DAV pick up points. Support DAV and VSO Trip Coordinators The DAV volunteer driver program and other local VSOs providing transportation receive trip requests that they are not always able to serve. Providing them with speci�ic information about public transit options and other transportation services available in the community will allow them to give that information to veterans whose trip needs they cannot meet. A centralized transportation information center can help meet this need for information sharing, but in addition, you should consider direct outreach to these organizations that provide veterans’ transportation and ensure they

Page 6-12 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” The American Legion/DAV in Flagstaff, Arizona provides long- distance trips from the northern Arizona region that includes the City of Flagstaff, the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation, and many small rural communities to the Prescott VAMC. The volunteer driver program began providing local dialysis trips for a veteran in Flagstaff but found it dif�icult to combine the veteran’s six trips per week with the long, out-of-town trips to the VAMC. The DAV trip coordinators were not aware of the local Flagstaff ADA paratransit service, Mountain Lift, until the FTA’s coordinated planning process. With the information connection, the veteran became ADA certi�ied, with his local trips served by Flagstaff’s ADA program, freeing up the volunteer driver program for the long distance trips to the VAMC. know about other transportation options in the community. With this information, the trip coordinators can refer veterans to other mobility options when they are unable to provide requested trips. Be sure to include information on your transit agency’s ADA paratransit service, if this is among local services. With direct outreach to the DAV/VTN and other VSO programs, consider suggesting that they collect data on trip needs they cannot meet. Providing them with a simple chart to record trips they cannot meet will help establish what additional transportation needs exist for veterans in the community, and this information will feed into ongoing planning efforts to improve transportation for the target groups. Coordinate with Private Transportation Providers and Services Private transportation providers should be included in your community’s efforts to improve transportation for veterans, service members, and families. In particular, taxis serve an important role for spontaneous trips within a community, and they are a resource used by many VAMCs to provide transportation for veterans’ medical appointments. Several ideas to consider regarding taxis include: Encourage local taxi companies to provide discounted fares for veterans. Some cab companies, on their own, offer discounts to seniors. For example, they might sell coupon books worth $20 for $18, a 10% discount, and veterans who are seniors bene�it. A similar program might be developed for veterans of all ages, where the veteran would be eligible for discounted fares upon showing a de�ined veteran identi�ication card. The taxi company could then use the program for marketing and public relations purposes. Consider encouraging the taxi companies to acquire accessible vehicles so they can transport veterans who use wheelchairs and cannot transfer to a sedan seat. This may require that the local taxi ordinance include a mandate for accessible vehicles. For example, taxi companies of a de�ined size measured by number of vehicles could be required to have a certain percentage of accessible taxis; even just two accessible taxi vehicles is a good start for a company. Funding for accessible taxi

Page 6-13 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” The yellow ribbon has come to symbolize support for the country’s service members and the war effort in general. Its origins are not entirely clear: some think it dates back to the Civil War; more believe it originated with the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979, inspired by the popular song from the 1970’s titled “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree.” The symbol emerged again during Desert Storm in 1991 and has endured. vehicle purchase is available through the Federal Section 5310 grant program. The community might be able to provide the local match for the grant program, facilitating the taxi company’s addition of accessible service. While more costly than a traditional taxi sedan, a ramp-equipped mini-van, often used for accessible taxi service, is not a major expense—costs range from $30,000-$45,000. Intercity carriers, such as Greyhound and Jefferson Lines, provide options for longer distance, regional trips. Greyhound, among other transportation providers, offers discounted fares for veterans, active duty military, National Guard and Reserve, and their families. Ensure that your community’s transit agency provides service to the intercity bus terminal or stop location, which in smaller towns may be co-located with a convenience store or service station on a roadway just outside town. Investigate when the buses arrive and depart, and, if outside normal transit service hours, consider whether your transit agency might provide advance reservation service to or from that stop, facilitating access to regional transportation service for members of the target groups. Some transit agencies purchase tickets for these intercity Greyhound trips to “buy down” the face value, providing a discounted ticket to lower income riders. In these cases, the transit agency has become the Greyhound ticket agency with a formal ticketing relationship with the intercity carrier. Step 6: Coordinate with and Support Community Organizations Serving Target Groups In addition to community organizations that include transportation among the services they offer, there are likely other organizations in your community that serve veterans and the military in other ways, for example, a homeless shelter or an organization that supports military families, such as a local Yellow Ribbon non-pro�it. These organizations do not have their own transportation program but transportation may be an issue—they need to ensure that their clients or members can get to the services that are provided, or transportation may be among the services that they try to arrange for their clients or those they help. As part of earlier planning efforts, you likely identi�ied such organizations.

Page 6-14 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Your coordination endeavor may be able to help these organizations, so that they in turn can assist their clients or members access available transportation resources. Options to consider: Provide information on available public transit services. A centralized transportation information resource would be the most helpful regarding information, so that staff at the local organizations could look among available options for speciic transportation services that would help their clients or those they assist. Offer transit familiarization and/or travel training. Staff from your transit agency might provide hands-on assistance for using public transit, with a transit familiarization session or individual travel training for an organization’s clients. Instruction should cover the basics of trip planning and how to read a bus schedule, how to pay the fare including any opportunities for discounted fares, and how to transfer among routes and, if applicable, with neighboring transit systems, assuming the transit systems have coordinated service. You might also provide “train-the-trainer” instruction, so that a staff member of the organization learns how to provide one-on-one assistance to the organization’s clients. Help veterans with disabilities apply for ADA paratransit. For a VA facility that serves wounded warriors or a local organization that works with individuals with disabilities including disabled veterans, offer to facilitate the ADA paratransit application process. This can be done with a transit agency certiier on-site at the organization, who would explain ADA paratransit and its application process and then help those interested complete the process in an expedited manner. Step 7: Connect Individuals with Transportaon Resources—Mobility Management Actions and strategies described earlier in this chapter address transportation services for veterans, service members, and families, as well as organizations that work with the target groups. The focus of this step—mobility management—is the individual veteran, service member or family member who needs transportation. The objective of mobility management is to help individuals with trip needs connect with appropriate transportation services, with mobility management serving as a personalized “one-stop” for those needing transportation. While a directory with transportation information and well-designed online tools can help individuals navigate among possible transportation options, mobility management provides a speciic person—the mobility manager—whose responsibility is to assist individuals, one-on-one, ind transportation services

Page 6-15 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” to meet their trip needs. The mobility manager may even be able to help individuals learn how to use those services—with travel training. The mobility manager can be a staff member of any number of different organizations—the public transit agency, the regional planning organization, a human service agency, or the city or county government, or may be located within the VAMC. And funding for the position may be shared among cooperating agencies that bene�it from the availability of the manager’s services, with support available for the position from FTA grant programs. Information resources to assist in establishing a mobility manager position are extensive; see suggestions in Tools at the end of this chapter. Providing mobility management to speci�ically bene�it veterans and the military community should consider a range of activities, from coordinating with transportation services provided through the VA Medical Center serving your area, to providing or sponsoring travel training. These various activities are discussed below. Coordinate with the Veterans Transportation Service at the VA Medical Center Find out if the VAMC serving veterans in your area has implemented a Veterans Transportation Service (VTS) program. The VA plans to implement a VTS program at all VAMCs by 2015. Each VTS program, funded by the VA, includes a mobility manager, who is assigned to provide transportation for veterans to access VA medical services, particularly veterans living in rural areas and veterans with disabilities. This VTS mobility manager (who may not have this exact title but is the person in charge of the VTS program) is also tasked with coordinating with other transportation services, such as the DAV/VTN program, as well as other services in the community. Collaborate with the VTS mobility manager and the VTS program so resources and capacity can be shared, maximizing trip availability for veterans. The mobility manager at one of the early VTS sites coordinates her vehicles with both the DAV program serving the Medical Center and the local public transit system. Sharing trip scheduling with the DAV program, this VTS manager looks to that program for ambulatory trips (most DAV programs have no accessible The VA initiated the Veterans Transportation Service (VTS) in 2010 as a new program of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Funded at more than $16 M, the main objective is to provide veterans access to VAMCs, particularly veterans with disabilities and veterans in rural areas. The VTS program is intended to supplement existing transportation provided by local VAMCs, with the provision of routing/scheduling software, accessible vehicles, and start-up funds for staf�ing each local VTS.

Page 6-16 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” vehicles) so the VTS program, with accessible vehicles, can maximize capacity for veterans in wheelchairs. And working with the local transit system, the VTS manager encourages veterans with disabilities to use the transit system’s ADA paratransit service when possible so the VTS program has capacity for trips outside the transit system’s service area. Contact and Establish Relationships with Neighboring Transit Systems The mobility manager should contact transit systems that neighbor your community and develop relationships to share information and plan coordination opportunities. Improved transfer arrangements, shared bus stops, and coordinated fare structures will be more meaningful to pursue once the mobility manager learns of challenges that veterans face in traveling distances to reach the VAMC that serves your area. Connect with Community’s 2-1-1 Service Find the provider of 2-1-1 services and connect with the manager of that service to explore an exchange of information. If your community’s public transit system is on Google Transit, be sure the 2-1-1 organization—and its call takers—are aware of this and able to utilize it when assisting callers. Be proactive in supplying the 2-1-1 provider with information on available transportation services, and ensure that the contact information for the mobility manager, including a description of the personalized services offered, is also provided for 2-1-1 purposes. Establish Relationships with Local VSOs The mobility manager should reach out to the VSOs in your community and establish relationships with staff that work directly with veterans. This should be more than a phone call. Organizations that work with veterans may not be attuned to transportation as a key issue; these organizations are new to the notion and importance of transportation coordination. A personal visit will allow for a more complete discussion. Also, once there is a more personal relationship, cooperative efforts are more easily planned and implemented. Explore Availability of Volunteer Transportation Services The DAV/VTN volunteer driver programs provide a vital service for many veterans throughout the country. Trip The Center for Independent Living for Western Wisconsin (CILWW), serving a ten-county area of rural northwestern Wisconsin, operates a large volunteer driver program, with about 100 volunteer drivers. The program served more than 12,000 passenger trips in 2011 for a variety of trip purposes. Somewhat more than 10% of the riders were veterans.

Page 6-17 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” purposes are limited to VA medical trips, however, which leave veterans who lack their own transportation with additional trip needs. To meet these other needs, veterans may bene�it from a volunteer driver program. This may be a particularly good option for those veterans who have dif�iculty in crowded situations or with noise, issues for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a problem for many of the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Available data indicates that about 15% of the recent veterans may have PTSD and, of those seeking VA health services, almost 30% may have PTSD (11, 12). The mobility manager should look to and connect with local community based volunteer driver programs, which may be provided through the Red Cross, a community action agency, a senior center, or local faith-based organizations. Programs may be open only to seniors, but since many veterans are also seniors, they would be eligible. However, since volunteer transportation may be a good option for younger veterans with PTSD, it may be possible for the volunteer driver programs to consider expanding eligibility to also serve younger veterans. Provide Travel Training Mobility management should highlight transit travel training, and it may be a function to include under the mobility manager and offer when a veteran or family member indicates they are not familiar with public transit when this is provided as a transportation option. For those not familiar with riding the bus, reading a bus schedule or understanding how to transfer among routes may be dif�icult. And often, people don’t even know that the local bus may be an option for trips. Travel training can address these issues. In addition to travel training, many transit agencies use volunteer transit riders who act as “transit ambassadors” or “bus buddies,” helping others in the community learn how to ride transit. Perhaps the mobility manager could �ind a veteran who is also a transit rider and who might serve in this role and help other veterans learn how to ride the bus. Resources on travel training are listed in the Tools section at the end of this chapter. The East Texas Council of Governments in cooperation with the Dallas VAMC and DAV Auxiliary in Tyler sponsored travel training, titled Basic Training, for a group of about 20 veterans, with a trip from East Texas to the Dallas VAMC on three connecting modes of transit: rural “GoBus,” Amtrak, and the Dallas public transit system, DART. This was the lead event on Inter-connectivity Day, held in May 2012, showcasing the bene�its of public trans- portation and a commitment to coordinating transportation. The regional coordination planning group, EasTex- Connects, and Moore & Asso- ciates spearheaded efforts.

capital Page 6-18 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Look for Addional Opportunies Part of mobility management is seeking out new ideas and options that will help expand transportation options within the community. A mobility manager based at a community action agency in Washington State commented, “Mobility managers are opportunity seekers.” One idea for a small community that does not have a formal ride-share matching program would be to develop a “community bulletin board” that would post ridesharing opportunities. This could be organized and managed by the mobility manager, and depending on the willingness of local residents to share rides and the nature of their travel patterns, there may be opportunities to connect a person offering a ride to a veteran or military family member needing a ride. Provide Training and Support to the Mobility Manager While the mobility management concept developed some years ago (in the 1990s, following passage of the 1991 transportation legislation with its multi- modal philosophy), it is now developing into a signi†icant strategic approach to managing transportation options. Contributing to its growing signi†icance are various training and support resources available for mobility managers, and it is useful for those involved with mobility management to take advantage of these opportunities when possible. Training may identify new strategies to explore, new coordination options to try, and new funding programs as potential resources. Organizations and opportunities for mobility management training are provided in the Tools section of this chapter. Step 8: Consider the Built Environment The built environment may not feature prominently in coordination plans, but sidewalks, crosswalks, paths of travel from transit stops to community destinations, and even land-use planning that encourages mixed-use development have a supporting role in public transportation’s ability to meet mobility needs. There are many ways the built environment can support public transportation, a topic of a growing number of resources, several of which are included in this chapter’s list of Additional Resources. Suggestions that might particularly bene†it veterans and the military community are described below. Some of these are more than low-cost improvements, and bus stop improvements will trigger the need for full compliance with ADA requirements for bus stop accessibility. Funding may be available through local or state

Page 6-19 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” improvement programs, the Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), or other transportation funding programs. Improve Bus Stops Serving Frequented Destinations Assess your public transit agency’s bus stops at destinations with higher use by veterans and the military community. Do they have a bench? A shelter? Particularly at stops serving VA medical facilities, consider improving those stops so it is easier for veterans, especially those who use a wheelchair or scooter or who are older, to use transit. Installation of a shelter and/or bench would be particularly useful, as waiting times can be long. A simple bus shelter will cost from $10,000 to $20,000 and usually includes a bench on the interior. An additional $3,000 to $5,000 will also be needed for installation (constructing a concrete slab, and assembling and mounting of the shelter) of the shelter. A stand-alone bench will cost from $250 to $500 and will also have an additional cost of $500 to $1,000 for installation (constructing a concrete slab and mounting the bench). Other additional costs for these improvements may be necessary for land acquisition if there is not adequate right-of-way, for permits, and possibly for design and engineering. Improve Pedestrian Pathways at VA Medical Facilities Related to stop improvements at VA medical facilities, determine if there are sidewalks with accessibility features leading from the bus stop to the actual facility buildings. Improvements may be needed for sidewalks, curb cuts, marked crosswalks, pedestrian refuge islands, and/or pedestrian signals. Many times the improvement may entail removing or relocating obstructions along the pedestrian pathway. For example, parking that is adjacent to a pathway may have parking bumpers that are placed too close to the curb thus allowing the vehicles’ front or rear end to hang too far over the sidewalk creating an obstruction for someone in a wheelchair. Moving the parking bumpers further away from the curb will provide greater clearance for wheelchair users. Improve Locations Used as Pick-Up Points by DAV/VTN If your community has a DAV or other volunteer driver program for veterans that picks up only at designated locations, identify those locations and consider if those stops can be improved. Perhaps they are co-located with one of your public transit system’s bus stops.

Page 6-20 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Lighting is important, too, particularly because the pick-up times are often very early in the morning when it is dark (and drop-off times may also happen in the dark, depending on the season). Solar lighting options exist at moderate prices that can make such lighting affordable. Bike Racks at Key Desnaons Veterans without their own transportation may use bicycles for local transportation, and this is an option depending on weather and trip distances. The research project’s survey of veterans’ employment specialists found that several of the specialists provide bikes to veterans to help them get to and from work locations and for other local travel. One specialist noted that the bikes were donated by Catholic Charities. If you spot bicycles locked or leaning to fences or railings at key VA destinations or if staff at a VSO report that veterans are riding bikes to access the VSO services, this would indicate a good location to place a bike rack. This would provide an organized and, depending upon placement, potentially safer (more visible, close to an entrance with foot traf†ic) place for bike storage.

Page 6-21Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Chapter 6: Community Tools 6.1 Example of a Lisng of Veterans Transportaon Opons 6.2 United We Ride’s “Community Transportaon Opons Directory” 6.3 Naonal RTAP’s Tool for Developing GTFS Data for Google Transit 6.4 Organizaons and Opportunies for Mobility Management Training 6.5 Resources on Travel Training

Page 6-22 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” 6.1 Example of a Listing of Veterans Transportation Options Services not yet started Service Type of Service Eligibility Fare/Passenger Costs VA Travel Budget Beneficiary travel program – mileage reimbursement to eligible veterans to or from VA or VA facilities Veterans with service connected disability Pays $0.415 per mile VA Special Mode Accessible vans dispatched to provide trips to eligible veterans Veterans with service connected disability Trip free, only provided upon authorization VA VTS program Additional accessible vehicles being provided Targets veterans with disabilities and living in rural areas 2 vehicles, 2 drivers, Route Match software, Mobility Manager position Disabled Am. Vets (DAV) Volunteer drivers providing trips in DAV vehicles (not accessible vans) Veterans with service connected disability 9 vehicles Public Transit Omnitrans Route 2 1-800-966-6428 Fixed-route bus: CalState - E Street Corridor General public $1.50 full fare $4 day pass Sen/Dis/Medicare (S/D/M) -- $.60 or $1.85 day pass Omnitrans Route 9 SB Fixed-route bus: Redlands -Yucaipa General public Omnitrans Route 19 Fixed-route bus: Fontana-Colton- Redlands General public Omnitrans OmniGo – Grand Terrace Fixed-route bus, community circulator: Grand Terrace General public Omnitrans BRT- E St. Corridor High-speed bus service, limited stops, E St. Corridor: 15.7 Miles – Northern San Bernardino to Loma Linda General public Not yet operational RTA Route 14 (951) 565-5002 Rt. 14 to VA Loma Linda from Riverside, Tyler Mall, Downtown Riverside-Grand T. General public $1.50 Cash $4 Day S/D $.70 $2 Day SunLine/RTA Route 110 1-800-347-8628 Riverside Commuter Express Service: Palm Springs/ Banning-Beaumont/ Moreno Valley/Riverside General public $6 one-way/$14 RT S/D/M -- $4 Morongo Basin Transit Authority 760-366-2395 Routes 12 & 15 -Twenty-nine Palms MCAGCC to Palm Springs airport General public $10 one-way/ $15 RT S/D/M Victor Valley Transit Authority (760) 948-3030 Planned down-the-hill medical service, currently called B-V Link will travel from Barstow to VV to Loma Linda VAMC General public Not yet operational

Page 6-23Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” 6.1 Example of a Listing of Veterans Transportation Options (continued) Service Type of Service Eligibility Fare/Passenger Costs ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Complementary Paratransit Programs Omnitrans Access East Valley: (909) 383-1680 West Valley: 1-800-990-2404 Shared ride demand response intracity service throughout South Western San Bernardino County; curb-to-curb service. Advanced reservations. Seniors and persons with disabilities who are ADA certified Zone based fares based on mileage: $2.75 - $5.75. PCA’s ride free; companions pay zone fare Omnitrans Access – Beyond ADA Boundary Service Access service for ADA certified residents living outside the ¾ mile boundary but still within the city limits of Omnitrans service area. Trips must originate or end within the ADA service area. Seniors and persons with disabilities who are ADA certified. $5.00 surcharge + ADA fare. PCA’s ride free; companions pay zone fare RTA Dial-A-Ride* 1-800-795-7887 (951) 565-5002 Shared ride demand response intracity service throughout Western Riverside County. All service is within 3/4 mile of fixed route service. curb-to-curb service Advanced reservations. Seniors 65+ and persons with disabilities who are ADA certified. Zone based fares based on mileage: $3.00 - $9.00. PCA’s ride free; companions pay zone fare Specialized Transit Riverside’s County TRIP 1-800-510-2020 951-867-3800 Mileage reimbursement for residents of Western Riverside Co. Seniors and persons with disabilities, approved Vets and spouse Free. $0.32 per mile reimbursement to pay driver San Bernardino County’s TREP Mileage reimbursement for residents of unincorporated areas of San Bernardino Co. Seniors, age 60+ and persons with disabilities, approved Vets and spouse Free. $0.48 per mile reimbursement to pay driver Hemet Vet Express Trips to Loma Linda VA & Murrietta clinic Veterans; some caregivers Free

Page 6-24 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” 6.2 United We Ride’s “Community Transportation Options Directory” United We Ride is a Federal initiative that supports states and communities in developing coordinated transportation, including the provision of technical assistance and resources. One of the resources is the “Community Transportation Options Directory,” available at http://www.unitedweride.gov/1_934_ENG_HTML.htm Among other features, this resource has a Drop-in-the-Facts Guide for creating a transportation options directory customizable for any community.

Page 6-25 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” 6.3 National RTAP’s Tool for Developing GTFS Data for Google Transit The National RTAP offers a tool that enables a transit agency to develop the GTFS (general transit feed speci�ication) data that is needed for Google Transit. The tool is available on the National RTAP website: http://nationalrtap.org/ under the link “Web Apps.” The tool—called the GTFS Builder—is a web application for managing data that is needed for Google Transit’s integrated online trip planning through Google Maps. The GTFS Builder is available for free and includes various resources, including webinars, Excel tools, a “Getting Started Guide,” and online topic-speci�ic training videos to create and update the data �iles. The “how to videos” are designed to walk the user through the process of getting the transit data into Google Transit. The GTFS Builder also can securely host the validated GTFS data �ile.

Page 6-26 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” 6.4 Organizations and Opportunities for Mobility Management Training American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Mobility Management Technical Assistance Center APTA provides a resource library on mobility management, including common questions and answers and research on mobility management’s economic bene�its: http://www.apta.com/resources/hottopics/mobility/Pages/default.aspx. The resource library documents the following pro�iles of effective mobility management programs implemented in systems and organizations around the country: o Airport Corridor Transportation Association (ACTA) o COAST (Rural Washington and Idaho) o Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) o Ithaca and Tompkins County, New York o Louisville, Kentucky o Pace (northeastern Illinois) o Paratransit, Inc. (Sacramento County, California) o San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) o Savannah Mobility Management, Inc. o The State of Wisconsin APTA also provides a sample exam for potential mobility managers from the state of Wisconsin, which contains both multiple choice and short essay questions: http://www.apta.com/resources/hottopics/mobility/Documents/Mobility-Manager-Sample-Final-Exam.pdf. Partnership for Mobility Management The Partnership for Mobility Management is a joint effort of mobility management professionals and national organizations working to improve transportation options for all Americans and to assist those who are especially in need. National members of the Partnership for Mobility Management are: o American Association of State Highway and Transportation Of�icials (AASHTO) o American Bus Association o Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) o American Public Transportation Association (APTA) o Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) o Easter Seals Project ACTION o Taxi, Limousine, and Paratransit Association (TLPA) The Partnership website includes an archive of webinars, training opportunities, technical assistance programs, and monthly partnership newsletters: http://web1.ctaa.org/webmodules/webarticles/anmviewer.asp?a=1790&z=95.

Page 6-27Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” 6.4 Organizations and Opportunities for Mobility Management Training (continued) Transportation Solutions Coordinator Training The Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) offers a “Transportation Solutions Coordinator” training course that teaches human service, workforce development, and non-pro�it organization staff and volunteers how to enhance collaboration among all those invested in improving transportation options in the community: http://web1.ctaa.org/webmodules/webarticles/anmviewer.asp?a=813&z=5. The training includes an online introductory module and a 1.5- day, in-person class. Certi�ication is available through the completion of additional steps. The Transportation Solutions curriculum was developed by CTAA and Easter Seals Project ACTION, with input from a 17-member national advisory committee. The project was funded by the Of�ice of Disability Employment Policy and the Employment & Training Administration (U.S. Department of Labor) and administered by the FTA through the United We Ride initiative.

Page 6-28 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” 6.5 Resources on Travel Training Easter Seals Project ACTION Travel Training Resources Easter Seals Project ACTION offers a variety of resources dedicated to travel training. Communities can take advantage of the free online “Fundamentals of Travel Training Administration” course, which provides information pertinent to launching, operating, and maintaining a travel training program. A 3-day, in-person “Introduction to Travel Training Course” is also available to increase the skills, knowledge, and abilities of travel training professionals. Anyone interested in travel training can also join Easter Seal Project ACTION’s Global Travel Training Community. This online forum allows members to pose questions, discuss issues, and share answers, ideas, and resources. http://www.projectaction.org/Training/TravelTraining.aspx The National Center for Senior Transportation The National Center for Senior Transportation works to increase transportation options that will help older adults live independently in their communities and offers information about alternative transportation solutions. http://seniortransportation.easterseals.com/ Ride Connection, Portland, Oregon Ride Connection, a nonpro�it dedicated to customer-focused transportation solutions and located in northwest Oregon, has developed a comprehensive guide for travel trainers and agencies. It walks through all the steps in designing an appropriate program and approach based on the individual’s needs. http://www.rideconnection.org/ride/Services/RideWise.aspx Ride Connection’s A Guide to Travel Training, revised December 2009, is available here: http://www.rideconnection.org/ride/LinkClick.aspx?�ileticket=dwrbjbCP7_o%3D&tabid=69

Page 6-29Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 6 Coordination and Mobility Management: “Start with What You Have” Chapter 6: Additional Resources Creating Livable Communities: How the Transportation Decision Making Process Can Support More Livable Community Outcomes, Federal Highway Administration, October 2011, http://www.�hwa.dot.gov/livability/creating_livable_communities/livabilitybooklet.pdf. Fostering Livable Communities Quarterly Newsletter, Federal Highway Administration, http://www.�hwa.dot.gov/livability/newsletter/. Livability in Transportation Guidebook: Planning Approaches that Promote Livability (FHWA- HEP-10-028), prepared by ICF International for the Federal Highway Administration, http://www.�hwa.dot.gov/livability/case_studies/guidebook/livabilitygb10.pdf. Mobility Management: A New Role for Public Transportation. American Public Transportation Association, May 2008, http://www.apta.com/gap/policyresearch/Documents/mobility_management.pdf. Mobility Management Overview, Massachusetts Executive Of�ice of Health and Human Services, Human Service Transportation Of�ice, http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/provider/guidelines-resources/services-planning/hst/mobility-manage/mobility-management-overview.html. Performance Measures for Public Transit Mobility Management (Report 0-6633-1), prepared in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, by L. Sen, S. Majumdar, M. Highsmith, L. Cherrington, and C. Weatherby, December 2011, http://d2dtl5nnlpfr0r.cloudfront.net/tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6633-1.pdf. Managing Mobility: Mobility Management Special Edition, CTAA’s Community Transportation, Fall 2010, http://web1.ctaa.org/webmodules/webarticles/article�iles/Fall-2010-DigitalCT-Final.pdf. Mobility Manager Job Descriptions, National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation Coordination, http://web1.ctaa.org/webmodules/webarticles/anmviewer.asp?a=372&z=78. National Transit Institute, course on Managing Community Mobility, http://www.ntionline.com/courses/courseinfo.php?id=44. United We Ride Mobility Management Strategies. http://www.unitedweride.gov/1_8_ENG_HTML.htm. Wolf-Branigin, K. et al., Can Travel Training Services Save Public Transportation Agencies Money? TR NEWS 278 January–February 2012, http://www.trb.org/PublicTransportation/Blurbs/166815.aspx