[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6794-6795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02378]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) Under 
FTA's Technical Assistance Program

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; Request for Proposals (RFP).

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is soliciting 
proposals under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act's 
Section 5314 Technical Assistance and Standards Development Program 
from national non-profit organizations for a cooperative agreement to 
fund a National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC). FTA 
is releasing this notice of funding availability to promote the 
availability and accessibility of transportation options that serve the 
needs of people with disabilities, seniors and caregivers with a focus 
on effectively leveraging MAP-21 Section 5310 (5310) Enhanced Mobility 
of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Formula Grants and other 
transit investments. The NADTC builds upon twenty-five years of 
investment in accessible transportation training and technical 
assistance that improves mobility for seniors and individuals with 
disabilities throughout the country by removing barriers to 
transportation services and expanding community transportation mobility 
options.

DATES: Complete proposals must be submitted electronically by 11:59 
p.m., Eastern Time on March 31, 2015. All proposals must be submitted 
electronically through the ``GRANTS.GOV'' APPLY function. Interested 
organizations that have not already done so should initiate the process 
of registering on the GRANTS.GOV site immediately to ensure completion 
of registration before the deadline for submission.

ADDRESSES: Proposals must be submitted electronically to http://www.Grants.Gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general program information, as 
well as proposal-specific questions, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call Rik Opstelten at (202)-366-8094. A 
TDD is available at 1-800-877-8339 (TDD/FIRS).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview

    The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is soliciting proposals to 
create a technical assistance center called the National Aging and 
Disability Transportation Center (NADTC). The need for accessible 
transportation that supports independent community living is growing in 
the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey in 
2012 estimates that over 12 percent of the U.S. population (38 million) 
living in the community has a disability--up 2 percent from 2009. As 
people age, some will acquire a disability. For the fastest growing 
population in the U.S., older

[[Page 6795]]

adults over 65 (over 42 million people), the disability rate for those 
seniors living in the community was 36 percent in 2012. By 2030, people 
over 65 are expected to comprise 20 percent of the US population--72.1 
million people. Employment and poverty rates also disproportionately 
negatively affect people with disabilities. More resources are needed 
to help communities build ladders of opportunity so everyone can have 
access to a job, healthcare, a home in the community of their choice, 
recreation/leisure opportunities and education. Our communities greatly 
benefit by ensuring full inclusion for everyone regardless of their 
age, disability, income, and education level. Accessible public 
transportation, including the over $280 million spent in 5310 projects 
is an important enabler of the American Dream for many people. This 
center will make a significant difference in helping communities ensure 
the contributions of public transportation, including high impact 5310 
projects that improve mobility for people with disabilities and 
seniors.
    Ladders of opportunity build upon the legacy of United We Ride 
extending coordination to ensure persons of low income, disadvantaged 
communities and all groups benefit from coordinated planning activities 
and the resulting projects. So, targeting activities to address low 
income seniors, caregivers, and people with disabilities or those 
living in communities with limited resources, is an important component 
of this center's efforts. The NADTC will carry-out activities that 
demonstrate impact and achieve the below goals:
     Promoting the essential role of accessible public 
transportation in furthering the economic inclusion, access to 
healthcare, links to education, connections to recreation/leisure 
activities, and independent living of people with disabilities and 
seniors;
     Increasing the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of 
coordinated human service transportation activities;
     Ensuring that the planning of transportation services for 
people with disabilities, seniors and caregivers is done in conjunction 
with broader planning activities at all levels;
     Highlighting and assisting in the development of promising 
practices, including the use of technology, to solve transportation 
challenges, maximizing the effectiveness of federal investments in 
specialized transportation services.
    The NADTC will achieve their goals through the following functions:
     Training: Developing training materials in accessible 
transportation for people with disabilities and seniors that is online 
and available 24/7;
     Peer Networks: Encouraging peer exchanges through webinars 
and online forums;
     Product Development: Creating high quality useful products 
on topics associated with the above goals;
     Targeted Technical Assistance: Providing targeted 
technical assistance at the state and local level;
     800# Information and Referral: Supporting an 800# for ad 
hoc information referral and technical assistance that tracks trends, 
connects with other I&R resources, helps seniors and people with 
disabilities find a ride, and catalogs customer data;
     Online Tools: Maintaining a compelling Web site and online 
presence including a monthly newsletter and use of social media to 
promote promising practices;
     Community Grants: As FTA deems feasible and necessary, 
take some portion of overall funding per year to provide community 
grants that enhance accessibility and encourage innovation;
     Outreach: Implementing a yearly outreach project to 
publicize the resources, activities and findings of the center;
     Technology: monitor and promote emerging technologies that 
facilitate accessibility, wayfinding, scheduling/dispatching, one call 
and evolving public/private sector partnerships that can improve access 
to transportation options and improve mobility;
     Information Clearinghouse: Acting as a clearinghouse for 
useful and promising practices in human services transportation and 
provide online access to success stories;
     Community Accessibility Scorecard: Developing and 
maintaining a community accessibility scorecard and index to help 
communities easily assess where they are, what needs exist in their 
community and where gaps may exist--targeted technical assistance would 
then be available to address these gaps and help the community develop 
a roadmap to expanding accessible transportation;
     Broad Stakeholder Review Committees: Ensuring that people 
with disabilities and seniors themselves as well as the human services 
organizations that provide services for these individuals collaborate 
along with FTA in the work of the center and help to oversee and review 
materials, training courses and other activities;
     Bridging Research to Practice: Connecting research to 
practice by bridging the research efforts of university transit 
centers, gerontology university programs, university disability 
centers, evolving technology initiatives and TRB project findings with 
the training and technical assistance activities of the center;
     Yearly Trends Report: Writing a yearly state of accessible 
transportation report that identifies key trends, key issues, 
sustainable solutions and recommends areas of focus in accessible 
transportation to support the development of the following year's 
statement of work;
     Program Evaluation: Supporting a robust program evaluation 
component by an outside source that does a yearly assessment of the 
center including surveying key stakeholders on the utility they derived 
in working with the center;
    FTA intends to fund the NADTC at up to $ 2,500,000 for the first 
year with the option to extend for up to four additional years. FTA's 
decision to exercise these options will depend upon: 1) Decisions and 
program priorities established by the Secretary of Transportation 
related to the implementation of provisions set forth in Section 5314, 
Technical Assistance and Standards, of the Moving Ahead for Progress in 
the 21st Century Act (MAP-21); 2) future appropriations; and, 3) annual 
reviews of the NADTC's performance. The announcement below connects to 
the solicitation and describes the goals, functional activities, and 
evaluation measures established for the NADTC; the proposal submission 
process; and criteria upon which proposals will be reviewed.
    This announcement is available on the FTA's Web site at: http://WWW.FTA.DOT.GOV/GRANTS/13077.HTML. The funding opportunity RFP is 
posted in the FIND module of the government-wide electronic grants Web 
site at http://www.grants.gov.

Therese McMillan,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-02378 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
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