Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations: Federal Agencies Are	 
Taking Steps to Assist States and Local Agencies in Coordinating 
Transportation Services (24-FEB-04, GAO-04-420R).		 
                                                                 
In June 2003, we reported that over 60 federal programs can fund 
transportation services for certain				 
"transportation-disadvantaged" populations (such as some elderly 
persons, persons with disabilities, or low-income persons) that  
lack the ability to provide their own transportation or have	 
difficulty accessing conventional public transportation, but that
several obstacles impede coordination of these programs. Most of 
the programs are administered by four federal			 
departments--Transportation, Health and Human Services, Labor,	 
and Education. Coordinating these disparate federal efforts could
result in more efficient use of federal resources and in improved
services for these transportation-disadvantaged populations. In  
fact, some local areas that have overcome existing obstacles and 
successfully coordinated the services offered by federal programs
and others available in their area have realized improved	 
customer service and substantial cost savings. To promote and	 
encourage further coordination of the transportation services	 
provided by these programs, we recommended that (1) the 	 
Departments of Labor and Education join the Departments of	 
Transportation and Health and Human Services as members of the	 
Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (Coordinating	 
Council); (2) the members of the Coordinating Council develop and
distribute additional guidance to states and other grantees that 
encourages the coordination of transportation services; (3) the  
member departments ensure that the Coordinating Council's	 
strategic plan and each member department's strategic and annual 
performance plans have long-term goals and performance measures  
related to coordinating the departments' programs and improving  
transportation for transportation-disadvantaged populations; and 
(4) the member departments link their Web sites to the Web site  
of the Coordinating Council and advertise the site in		 
departmental correspondence and other outreach opportunities. In 
addition to these recommendations, we identified several more	 
general options for improving coordination--including developing 
improved leadership and establishing interagency forums at the	 
federal, state, and local levels; harmonizing differing federal  
program standards and requirements; and providing financial	 
incentives to encourage state or local agencies to coordinate.	 
Congress asked us to (1) determine whether the four federal	 
departments and the Coordinating Council have taken steps to	 
address our recommendations and (2) identify actions taken by the
four federal departments in relation to the options we outlined  
for improving coordination.					 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-04-420R					        
    ACCNO:   A09354						        
  TITLE:     Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations: Federal	      
Agencies Are Taking Steps to Assist States and Local Agencies in 
Coordinating Transportation Services				 
     DATE:   02/24/2004 
  SUBJECT:   Federal aid for transportation			 
	     Interagency relations				 
	     Performance measures				 
	     Strategic planning 				 
	     Community development programs			 
	     Program evaluation 				 

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GAO-04-420R

United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548

February 24, 2004

The Honorable Thomas E. Petri
Chairman
Subcommittee on Highways, Transit, and Pipelines
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
House of Representatives

Subject: Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations: Federal Agencies Are
Taking Steps to Assist States and Local Agencies in Coordinating
Transportation Services

Dear Mr. Chairman:

In June 2003, we reported that over 60 federal programs can fund
transportation services for certain "transportation-disadvantaged"
populations (such as some elderly persons, persons with disabilities, or
low-income persons) that lack the ability to provide their own
transportation or have difficulty accessing conventional public

1

transportation, but that several obstacles impede coordination of these
programs. Most of the programs are administered by four federal
departments-Transportation, Health and Human Services, Labor, and
Education. Coordinating these disparate federal efforts could result in
more efficient use of federal resources and in improved services for these
transportation-disadvantaged populations. In fact, some local areas that
have overcome existing obstacles and successfully coordinated the services
offered by federal programs and others available in their area have
realized improved customer service and substantial cost savings.

To promote and encourage further coordination of the transportation
services provided by these programs, we recommended that (1) the
Departments of Labor and Education join the Departments of Transportation
and Health and Human Services as members of the Coordinating Council on
Access and Mobility (Coordinating Council);2 (2) the members of the
Coordinating Council develop and distribute

1U.S. General Accounting Office, Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations:
Some Coordination Efforts Among Programs Providing Transportation
Services, but Obstacles Persist, GAO-03-697 (Washington, D.C.: June 30,
2003).

2The Departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services formally
established the Coordinating Council on Human Services Transportation in
1986, renamed the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility in 1998. The
Secretaries of the two departments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to
create a forum where coordination of transportation programs sponsored by
the two departments could be pursued to achieve the basic objective of
improving mobility.

additional guidance to states and other grantees that encourages the
coordination of transportation services; (3) the member departments ensure
that the Coordinating Council's strategic plan and each member
department's strategic and annual performance plans have long-term goals
and performance measures related to coordinating the departments' programs
and improving transportation for transportation-disadvantaged populations;
and (4) the member departments link their Web sites to the Web site of the
Coordinating Council and advertise the site in departmental correspondence
and other outreach opportunities. In addition to these recommendations, we
identified several more general options for improving
coordination-including developing improved leadership and establishing
interagency forums at the federal, state, and local levels; harmonizing
differing federal program standards and requirements; and providing
financial incentives to encourage state or local agencies to coordinate.

You asked us to (1) determine whether the four federal departments and the
Coordinating Council have taken steps to address our recommendations and
(2) identify actions taken by the four federal departments in relation to
the options we outlined for improving coordination.

To determine what actions have been taken or planned in response to our
June 2003 report, we interviewed officials at the Departments of
Transportation, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education
responsible for those departments' transportation coordination efforts, as
well as officials from the Coordinating Council. We reviewed internal
agency documents and publicly available documents describing several of
the departments' planned actions regarding coordination. We reviewed
departmental strategic plans issued since June 2003 and determined whether
linkages had been established between the Web sites of the Coordinating
Council and the Web sites of the four departments. We also reviewed the
departments' written responses to questions posed at a congressional
hearing on coordination held in May 2003,3 as well as their written
responses to our recommendations. We compared the departments' actions to
the recommendations and options we outlined in our June 2003 report. To
obtain perspectives on the extent to which the departments' actions are
responsive to the recommendations and options we outlined, we sought the
input of officials responsible for implementing some of these actions, and
officials from the Community Transportation Association of America and
associations representing transportation-disadvantaged populations,
including AARP and the National Council for Independent Living. We
conducted our work from November 2003 through February 2004 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Results in Brief

Federal departments and the Coordinating Council have made progress
implementing the recommendations in our June report, which should result
in improved

3Joint Hearing on Coordinating Human Services Transportation, House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and House Committee on
Education and the Workforce; Washington, D.C.; May 1, 2003.

coordination of federal programs at the state and local level. However,
the departments have made limited efforts to include coordination in their
strategic and annual performance plans. The Departments of Labor and
Education have been invited to join the Coordinating Council, and have
been active in interdepartmental working groups under the council. In
addition, several efforts are under way to improve and expand the range of
guidance and technical assistance offered by three of the four federal
departments; however, the Department of Education has yet to begin
developing guidance on coordination for its programs. These federal
coordination efforts are designed to help state and local agencies
coordinate some of the key federal programs, such as Health and Human
Services' Medicaid program and Labor's programs under the Workforce
Investment Act, with transportation services funded by the Department of
Transportation. All of these actions are in the early stages of
implementation, and their success will depend on whether the departments
can muster a sustained effort focused on measurable performance goals
related to coordination efforts. While the Federal Transit
Administration-an agency within the Department of Transportation-has
included coordination-related performance goals in its strategic plan,
other agencies and departments have not yet fully incorporated
transportation coordination objectives, goals, or performance measures
related to coordination in their strategic and annual performance plans.
Officials within the involved departments and agencies, however, have
identified transportation and the coordination of these services as an
area to consider in the next cycle of planning efforts. Finally, while
some of the agencies within the Departments of Health and Human Services,
Labor, and Education have linked their Web sites to the Coordinating
Council's Web site, or have plans to do so, other agencies within these
departments have not yet implemented this recommendation.

The Departments of Transportation, Health and Human Services, Labor, and
Education have also taken additional actions related to the other options
outlined in our report for improving coordination. In December 2003, the
four departments launched a five-part coordination initiative-"United We
Ride"-that is designed to help states and communities overcome obstacles
to coordination. This initiative is designed to provide financial
incentives for coordination and establish an interagency forum for
communication. While this initiative holds promise for improving
coordination at the state and local levels, it is too soon to comment on
its ability to do so. Also, while there have been some onetime funding
contributions from three of the four departments, a more long-term
commitment of resources could make the success of these ongoing actions
more likely.

The Departments of Transportation, Health and Human Services, Labor, and
Education all commented on a draft of this report. All agreed with the
findings of the report and provided technical comments that have been
incorporated where appropriate.

Background

Many federal programs authorize use of funds to provide transportation to
transportation-disadvantaged people so they can access government
programs.

Programs that can fund incidental transportation services include health
and medical programs or job-training programs. For example, Medicaid,
which is administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), spent an
estimated $976.2 million on transportation in fiscal year 2001. In
addition, the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)4
identified several programs as routinely providing transportation for
clients, including Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs, administered
by the Department of Labor (DOL), and Vocational Rehabilitation Grants,
administered by the Department of Education.5

In addition to these services, the Department of Transportation (DOT)
funds several programs that focus on the specific transportation needs of
transportationdisadvantaged populations. For example, Job Access and
Reverse Commute Grants are aimed at connecting low-income individuals to
employment and support services, and the Capital Assistance Program for
Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities provides financial
assistance to nonprofit organizations for meeting the transportation needs
of elderly persons and persons with disabilities.

Recognizing the potential problems created by uncoordinated approaches to
providing transportation to transportation-disadvantaged populations, DOT
and HHS formed the Coordinating Council on Human Services Transportation
in 1986, renamed the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility in 1998,
to have responsibility to coordinate and address issues of transportation
access and mobility in the member Departments' respective programs.
Besides meeting as a whole body, members of the Coordinating Council also
participate in various working groups to address coordination issues for
specific populations, such as the elderly or persons with disabilities, or
specific types of trips, such as medical trips.

Federal Departments and the Coordinating Council Are Making Progress in
Implementing Our Recommendations

Numerous actions and plans to implement our recommendations to improve
coordination are under way by federal departments involved in providing
transportation services for the transportation-disadvantaged and by the
Coordinating Council, though some departments have made more progress than
others. In addition, the Coordinating Council has recently formed a
working group to address the obstacles to coordination we identified in
our report. The group, which first met in January 2004, was formed to
determine which obstacles can be addressed administratively and which
require legislative action and to propose next steps for administratively
addressing the obstacles.

4CTAA is a national, professional membership association that conducts
research and provides technical assistance for community transportation
providers.

5Community Transportation Association of America, Building Mobility
Partnerships: Opportunities for Federal Investment (Washington, D.C.:
March 2002).

The Departments of Labor and Education Have Been Invited to Join the
Coordinating Council

The Secretaries of Transportation and Health and Human Services sent the
Secretaries of Labor and Education letters inviting them to join the
Coordinating Council on January 29, 2004. While the Coordinating Council
has yet to meet formally with its new members, the expectation of joining
has led to increased communication and collaboration among the four major
departments involved in providing transportation services for the
transportation-disadvantaged. For example, representatives of DOL and
Education attended the most recent Coordinating Council meeting in
November 2003, and both departments have participated in the council's
Obstacles Work Group and Persons with Disabilities Transportation Work
Group.

Federal Departments Are Taking Steps to Improve Guidance and Technical
Assistance for Transportation Coordination

Federal departments have efforts under way to develop and disseminate
additional guidance to states and other grantees that are designed to help
clarify program rules and encourage coordination of some key programs (see
table 1). Many of these efforts are centered in the Coordinating Council's
work groups and focus on specific opportunities to coordinate
transportation services for particular populations or types of trips.

Table 1: Federal Actions in Response to Recommendation to Develop
Additional Coordination Guidance

                         Recommendation Federal actions

Develop and distribute additional guidance to states  o  and other
grantees that encourages the coordination of transportation services  o

o

o

o

o

DOT and HHS: Medicaid transit-pass brochures
being updated
DOT and HHS: Guidance on Medicaid
transportation brokerage under development
DOL and DOT: Guidance on using WIA program
funds in coordination with other program funds
forthcoming
DOT and HHS: Providing proactive technical
assistance in eight states
DOL, DOT, and HHS: Existing technical assistance
centers are coordinating and streamlining their
efforts
DOL, DOT, and HHS: Developed the "Framework
for Action," a human services transportation
coordination self-assessment tool for states and
communities

Source: GAO.

Guidance for Coordinating with Medicaid Is Being Updated

The Medical Transportation Work Group of the Coordinating Council, which
includes officials from DOT's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and
HHS's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), plans to issue an
updated Medicaid transit-pass

brochure6 that provides guidance on how to coordinate Medicaid
transportation with local transit services. In addition, the group is
working to issue a new brochure on Medicaid transportation brokerages
aimed at providing guidance on coordinating the various medical
transportation providers within a community.7 These materials, when
issued, could help states better utilize existing transit systems and
other medical transportation resources in communities to provide
transportation for Medicaid beneficiaries. Medicaid transit-pass programs
and brokerage systems in some states have resulted in significant cost
savings and expanded transportation services for Medicaid beneficiaries,
and additional guidance could encourage more states to develop these
systems. In addition, an official from the work group said the group is
working to clarify Medicaid's cost allocation policy, which was cited as
an obstacle to coordinating transportation services provided under
Medicaid with other programs.

Guidance Is Being Developed to Help Communities Identify Resources and
Improve Planning

Additional efforts designed to encourage local coordination are also under
way by the Older Adult Transportation Work Group of the Coordinating
Council, which includes officials from HHS's Administration on Aging and
FTA. One effort involves developing a template, being piloted in 15
communities, for each community to use in identifying existing
transportation resources. In our June 2003 report, we found that an
important first step for communities to coordinate transportation services
is to identify the extent of services being offered in the community. The
group is also working with the National Consortium on the Coordination of
Human Services Transportation8 to develop guidance for state and local
transportation agencies to develop and coordinate state and local
transportation plans with human services agencies that are involved in
providing transportation for their older adult clients. Including human
services agencies in transportation planning has been an important factor
in the development of coordinated transportation projects under FTA's Job
Access and Reverse Commute program, and further participation of human
services agencies in transportation planning could lead to improved
coordination of the transportation services provided by those agencies
with other transportation resources. This project began in November 2003
and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2004, according to a CTAA
official involved with the work group.

6In the summer of 1999, DOT and HHS issued a brochure on the results of
Medicaid bus-pass usage in six states. According to the Medical
Transportation Work Group, the new brochure will highlight several
communities and models that have implemented a transit-pass program.

7CTAA defines brokerage as a method of providing transportation where
riders are matched with appropriate transportation providers through a
central trip-request and administration facility. The transportation
broker may centralize vehicle dispatch, record keeping, vehicle
maintenance, and other functions under contractual arrangements with
agencies, municipalities, and other organizations. Actual trips are
provided by a number of different vendors.

8The National Consortium, composed of national professional organizations
and interest groups, is designed to provide coordination information,
support, and resources to those concerned with community transportation.

Another effort, aimed at helping communities identify coordination
resources, occurred when DOT and HHS convened four regional meetings of
transportation and human services providers and staff from various
state-funded programs.9 The purpose of these meetings was to discuss
coordination issues and programs, such as the Medicaid transit-pass
program and brokerage programs. According to a DOT official, attendees
developed state action plans for coordination and discussed best practices
in service delivery. DOT and HHS officials indicated that they plan to
hold similar meetings in the remaining six regions in 2004 that will also
include representatives from DOL and the Department of Education.

Guidance on Coordinating DOL Programs Is Forthcoming

DOL, in conjunction with FTA, is developing additional guidance. According
to officials from these agencies, the agencies are in the process of
developing responses to questions posed by CTAA with regard to how DOL
program funds, such as from the WIA programs, can be used for
transportation and in conjunction with other programs that serve similar
populations and purposes. In our June report, we found that the lack of
guidance about how WIA funds could be used to coordinate transportation
was a common obstacle for states trying to coordinate the transportation
services provided under WIA with other programs. Agency officials told us
the responses will also address other obstacles mentioned in our June
report, such as liability insurance issues related to carrying
participants of other programs, and the proper sharing of funds from
multiple programs. The responses are currently awaiting administrative
approval for release and dissemination. DOL plans to post the responses on
its Web site, as does CTAA.

Department of Education Has Not Developed Additional Guidance

While DOT, HHS, and DOL have developed guidance for some of their key
programs, the Department of Education has not yet done so. According to
Education's response to questions posed at the May hearing on
coordination, the department agrees in principle with providing additional
guidance and technical assistance with regard to how its programs can be
coordinated at the local level. However, Education officials said they had
been awaiting the invitation to join the Coordinating Council before
pursuing the recommendations in our June report, and they also cited the
impending reauthorization of some of the department's key programs as the
reason for delaying action.

        Technical Assistance Programs Are Being Expanded and Coordinated

Federal departments are also improving and expanding technical assistance
for coordination in several ways. First, as part of the "United We Ride"
initiative, representatives from existing federally sponsored technical
assistance programs- including DOT's Rural Transportation Assistance
Program, Easter Seals Project ACTION technical assistance center, and
Intelligent Transportation Peer-to-Peer

9DOT and HHS each have 10 regional offices.

Program; HHS's Community Transportation Assistance Project; and DOT's and
DOL's Joblinks Technical Assistance Program-have begun meeting regularly
with the goal of determining how best to collaboratively address the
coordination of human services transportation and technical assistance
needs.

DOT and HHS have been conducting a pilot project using two technical
assistance "ambassadors." These individuals, who are active technical
assistance specialists with CTAA and Easter Seals Project ACTION, are
testing a new approach in eight states (Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Idaho,
Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, and Texas). According to agency officials, the
ambassadors are to proactively assist these states, and communities within
the states, in following through on coordination action plans and other
initiatives begun in joint FTA/HHS regional workshops. The job of the
ambassadors is to ensure that states are actively identifying the extent
of coordination that currently exists in their states, to offer assistance
along the way, and to pinpoint potential trouble spots and bring
additional resources to bear in addressing them, according to a CTAA
official who works with one of the ambassadors. For example, according to
the official, the city of Birmingham, Alabama, was experiencing
significant difficulties in their coordination efforts, and technical
assistance from the Joblinks program was insufficient to overcome the
difficulties. The CTAA official said he and the ambassador were able to
tap into the other federal technical assistance programs' resources to
help the city develop a strategic vision and plan, and to connect city
officials with peers elsewhere in the country, with the goal of improving
coordination of programs. DOT officials also said that they hope this
pilot project will help the agencies within DOT and HHS assess the
resources that would be required to provide such intense technical
assistance to additional states.

Additional Guidance Has Been Developed for Assessing Coordination Efforts

As part of the "United We Ride" initiative, DOL, DOT, and HHS recently
developed the Framework for Action, a coordination self-assessment tool.
According to DOT, states and communities can use the tool to identify
areas of success and highlight the actions still needed to improve the
coordination of human service transportation. It includes a facilitator's
guide and descriptions of the core elements of a fully coordinated
transportation system in a state or community. For example, the Framework
for Action core elements for states include (1) evaluating the degree of
existing state leadership and partnership; (2) determining whether current
transportation resources have been identified, transportation needs have
been assessed, and a strategic plan has been developed; (3) assessing the
degree of customer focus; (4) identifying cost-sharing arrangements; (5)
determining technology needs; and (6) assessing the extent of
community-level mobility management arrangements.

Federal Departments and the Coordinating Council Have Yet to Fully
Incorporate Coordination Activities with Measurable Performance Goals in
Their Strategic and Annual Performance Plans

Officials from DOT, HHS, DOL, Education, and the Coordinating Council have
indicated that they plan to consider including information on coordinating
transportation services for the transportation-disadvantaged in their next
strategic and annual performance plans. However, for various reasons, only
FTA has demonstrated progress in this area at this time (see table 2).

Table 2: Federal Actions in Response to Recommendation to Incorporate
Coordination in Strategic Planning Efforts

Recommendation Federal actions

Ensure that the Coordinating Council's strategic plan  o  Coordinating
Council and HHS strategic plans are

and each member department's strategic and annual under revision

performance plans have long-term goals and  o  FTA has added
coordination-related performance performance measures related to
coordinating the measures to its strategic plan

departments' programs and improving transportation  o  Officials from DOL
and Education say they are

for transportation-disadvantaged populations waiting for reauthorization
of several key pieces of

legislation before incorporating transportation

coordination into their strategic and performance

plans

Source: GAO.

DOT's most recent departmentwide strategic plan, issued in September 2003,
does not specifically address coordination of transportation services for
the transportation-disadvantaged. However, a DOT official noted that some
of the strategies presented in the plan for increasing access to
transportation-disadvantaged populations do support coordination. In
particular, one strategy is to "work with stakeholders in all modes to ...
operate the system at its highest level of efficiency," which supports
coordination with other service providers. Furthermore, FTA has added an
objective to its own strategic plan creating, as a key deliverable,
accountability for each of the 10 federal regions to help states complete
assessments using the Framework for Action. The target goals for fiscal
year 2004 are for 30 percent of states overall (15 states) to complete the
assessment and for at least one state in each region to implement one or
more of the core elements of the Framework for Action.

HHS's strategic plan for fiscal years 2003-2008 is still in draft form. An
HHS official said that the department is developing more detailed goals
and measures of collaboration and transportation efforts that cut across
departments.

Officials from DOL and Education told us that their departments' ability
to respond to our recommendations is limited by reauthorization issues. A
DOL official said that the department is making an effort to make
coordination of transportation services more of a priority in its
strategic and performance planning process. However, the most recent
departmentwide strategic plan, issued in September 2003, does not address
transportation as a component of DOL's programs. In a written response to
our recommendation, a DOL official stated that while the department's
strategic plan

does not specifically address transportation, it includes strategies for
developing a competitive workforce through establishing crosscutting
strategic initiatives with other government agencies. In a separate
written response, an official from DOL's Employment and Training
Administration noted that the administration plans to revisit its own
strategic and annual performance plans to address coordination after
reauthorization of WIA-a key piece of legislation governing most of that
administration's programs that can be used to fund transportation
services. An official from Education had a similar response, saying that
the department is limited in its ability to respond to this recommendation
until several key pieces of legislation are reauthorized. However, DOT has
included several provisions that are intended to improve coordination of
human service transportation in the department's surface transportation
reauthorization proposal. These provisions include (1) requiring local
coordination plans for funds allocated through the Capital Assistance
Program for Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities, New Freedom
program, and Job Access and Reverse Commute program; (2) the ability to
use other federal dollars for the required state/local match for these
programs; (3) an increase in the percentage of funds for these programs
that can be used for administrative, planning, and technical assistance
purposes; and (4) allowing mobility management to be an eligible expense
under the Urbanized Area Formula Program.

DOT and HHS officials active in Coordinating Council activities estimate
that the council's strategic and action plans will be updated by the end
of 2004. The officials said they plan to align the tasks of the action
plan with the Coordinating Council's long-term goals and objectives and to
include measurable annual performance goals for coordination efforts.

Federal Departments Provide Web Links to the Coordinating Council

The four federal departments have made progress in adding Web links to the
Coordinating Council's Web site (see table 3). In our June report, we
found that some state and local officials involved in providing
transportation services were unaware of the Coordinating Council or the
coordination information available on its Web site. Accordingly, we
recommended that DOT, HHS, DOL, and Education link the Web sites of their
agencies involved in providing services for the
transportationdisadvantaged to the Coordinating Council's Web site and
advertise the site in departmental correspondence and during conferences
or other outreach opportunities. As we noted in our June report, the FTA
Web site already contained a link to the Coordinating Council's Web site
prior to our recommendation.

Table 3: Federal Actions in Response to Recommendation to Provide Links to
Coordinating Council's Web Site

Recommendation Federal actions

Link departmental Web sites to the Web site of the  o  HHS's
Administration on Aging, DOL's Employment Coordinating Council and
advertise the site in and Training Administration, and Education's Office
departmental correspondence and other outreach of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services opportunities provide links to the Coordinating
Council's Web site

o  	Other agencies within HHS, DOL, and Education have not linked their
Web sites to the Coordinating Council

Source: GAO.

An official from CMS in HHS said that CMS plans to include transportation
information and links to FTA and the Coordinating Council on its Web site.
This action is awaiting administrative review. HHS's Administration on
Aging's Web site contains transportation information and a link to the
Coordinating Council's Web site. There is also a link to the Coordinating
Council on HHS's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Staff Information
page under the name of a key member of the Coordinating Council. However,
other HHS agencies that fund transportation services for the
transportation-disadvantaged-Administration for Children and Families,
Health Resources and Services Administration, and Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration-do not provide such a link.

DOL's Employment and Training Administration has added a link to the
Coordinating Council in its Web page. Other DOL agencies involved in
transportation, such as the Veterans Employment and Training Service, do
not have links to the Coordinating Council. However, the Employment and
Training Administration administers the majority of DOL's programs that
can fund transportation services for the transportation-disadvantaged.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services administers
the bulk of Education's programs for the transportation-disadvantaged, and
that agency has added a link to the Coordinating Council on its Web page.
Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and Office of
Innovation and Improvement do not provide links to the Coordinating
Council on their Web pages. According to Education's written response to
questions posed at the May hearing on coordination, the department
indicated that its response to this recommendation could be accomplished
through its participation as a member of the Coordinating Council. In
addition, the department stated that it plans to cross-link Web-based
resources with other departments and the Web site of the Coordinating
Council after the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the
Rehabilitation Act are reauthorized.

The "United We Ride" Initiative Holds Promise to Improve State and Local
Coordination of Transportation Services

A significant response to some of the other options identified in our June
report has been "United We Ride," a five-part transportation coordination
initiative-developed by DOT, HHS, DOL, and Education-that was officially
launched in December 2003.

The options we identified for improving coordination include developing
improved leadership and guidance and establishing interagency forums at
the federal, state, and local levels and providing financial incentives to
encourage state or local agencies to coordinate (see table 4).

Table 4: The Five Components of the "United We Ride" Initiative and Their
Relation to the Coordination Options in GAO's June 2003 Report

Component Description Related coordination options

Framework for Action 	A tool states and communities can use to  o 
Provides additional coordination assess their coordination efforts and
identify guidance to states and communities areas for improvement

State Leadership Awards to recognize 3-5 states   o  Recognizes successful 
                    that have                        state                    
        Awards      made significant progress in       leadership efforts and 
                    coordination;                                  encourages 
                    awards are to be presented at        other states to      
                    National                                coordinate        
                            Leadership Forum         

National Leadership Transportation and human service teams  o  Provides
opportunities to Forum on Human from each state have been invited to
demonstrate federal and state Services participate in this February 2004
conference leadership in coordination Transportation to highlight
coordination successes,  o  Provides forum for interagency Coordination
technical assistance programs, and peer communication

advice

State Coordination Grants to address transportation  o  Provides financial 
                                                                incentives to 
         Grants       coordination gaps and needs         encourage states to 
                      identified                                   coordinate 
                      through the Framework for Action; 
                      states                            
                      participating in the Forum are    
                      eligible to                       
                                    apply               

Help Along the Way 	Technical assistance program; federal  o  Provides
additional coordination departments and national organizations are
guidance to states and communities working to coordinate existing
technical assistance services and provide "hands-on" coordination
assistance to states and communities (e.g., the technical assistance
"ambassadors")

Source: GAO analysis of information from DOT, HHS, DOL, Education, AARP,
Community Transportation Association of America, and National Councils for
Independent Living.

The initiative takes steps to improve federal leadership and commitment to
coordination by establishing coordination as a priority and providing some
dedicated financial support and proactive technical assistance. According
to FTA officials, states and local communities will be encouraged to use
the Framework for Action to identify gaps in their coordination efforts
and specific steps to address those gaps, and FTA is holding itself
accountable-through performance measures in its strategic plan-for getting
states to implement the Framework for Action. To date, DOT has committed
approximately $1 million for the state coordination grants, which provides
states with financial resources for addressing the identified gaps.
According to DOT officials, other agencies have indicated that they plan
to commit funds to these grants as well.

The initiative also recognizes the importance of state leadership in
successful coordination. Similar to what was outlined in our report, an
expert panel10 advised DOT officials that strong leadership at the state
level is necessary for coordination to succeed; subsequently the
secretaries of all four departments invited the governor of each state and
territory to appoint state leadership teams of transportation and human
service officials to participate in an interdepartmental coordination
forum. All four secretaries are scheduled to make presentations during
this National Leadership Forum. According to DOT officials, State
Leadership Awards will be presented to selected states that have
implemented exemplary models of coordination transportation, and
representatives from those states will be asked to share information on
their successful coordination efforts. In addition, technical assistance
resources are scheduled to be available at the National Leadership Forum
to help states and localities implement the Framework for Action, identify
peers who can coach them through coordination challenges, and provide
other types of coordination advice and assistance, according to officials
from FTA. The DOT officials also stated that FTA, the Federal Highway
Administration, and DOL's Office of Disability Employment Policy have
pledged financial support for the forum. In addition, DOL's Employment and
Training Administration is also considering financial contributions in
support of United We Ride activities, according to DOL officials.

"United We Ride" shows promise for improving coordination because it
addresses our recommendation for federal departments to provide additional
guidance on transportation coordination and it addresses other options
highlighted in our report. However, it is too soon to comment on the
effectiveness of this initiative because many of the components are just
being implemented. Also, with reauthorization of key federal legislation
pending and with growing federal and state deficits, the future
sustainability of funding for these activities is uncertain. A long-term
commitment of resources could make the success of these ongoing actions
more likely.

Agency Comments

We provided the Departments of Transportation, Health and Human Services,
Labor, and Education with a draft of this report for review and comment.
All generally agreed with the findings in the report and provided
technical comments, which we have incorporated where appropriate. The
Department of Health and Human Services also provided general comments,
which are presented in enclosure I.

                                   _ _ _ _ _

As agreed with your office, unless you announce the contents of this
report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days after the
issue date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to the
appropriate congressional committees and to the Secretaries of the
Departments of Transportation, Health and Human Services, Labor, and
Education. Copies will also be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at

10In August 2003, FTA convened a panel of transportation and human service
experts-representing users, service providers, state governments, urban
and rural areas, and other groups-to identify the elements of fully
coordinated systems and the lessons that have been learned about how
communities make progress toward becoming fully coordinated.

www.gao.gov. If you have any questions concerning this report, please
contact me at
(202) 512-2834 or [email protected], or Rita Grieco at (202) 512-2834 or
[email protected]. Jessica Lucas-Judy and Andrew Von Ah also made key
contributions to this report.

Sincerely yours,

Katherine Siggerud
Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues

Enclosure

Enclosure

Comments from the Department of Health & Human Services

                                   Enclosure

                                    (542030)

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