WORCESTER, MA. _ The Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) was recently awarded a New Freedom Grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) totaling $111,902.  These grants are allocated through a formula based upon population of persons with disabilities and are designed to encourage services and facilities improvements to address the transportation needs of persons with disabilities that go beyond those required by the American Disabilities Act (ADA). 

This grant will be provided in three parts to the WRTA. The first part will help to extend service for the Northwest FLEX Route. The service has been extended to operate from 6:40 a.m. – 6:40 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Northwest FLEX route is a new service that the WRTA introduced in July 2008, as one of the requests from WRTA riders. In addition to circular route service in the Park Ave. area, there are two types of flexes available: A Standard FLEX, which offers service to popular destinations including JCC at Salisbury Street, Colony Retirement Home, YMCA on Shore Road, and the Bancroft School. In addition, a By-Request FLEX, which allows curb-to-curb service within one-quarter mile of the regular route, and the road must be accessible by the bus. Having flexes available on the fixed route system allows for curb-to-curb service for people with disabilities, providing a new option for same-day travel.

Passengers requesting flexes can do so by email, fax, or on the bus. There is a limit of three flexes scheduled per 40-minute round trip. If there are already three requests made in the timeframe a rider would like service, a rider can go to the nearest standard flex stop or to any of the other flex route stops, which are scheduled daily.

“Extending the Northwest FLEX Route hours is a direct result of the WTA listening to its riders and their needs, and then seeking creative ways to fund these transit needs,” said WRTA Administrator Stephen O’Neil. “It is grants such as these, which are being utilized to help stabilize our budget.”

Procuring a New Freedom Grant is a competitive process and according to David Schneider of the FTA, these funds are apportioned to all 54 states/territories for use in rural and small portions of the state, and to 151 large urbanized areas.

“The governor of each state designates a recipient to apply for the large urbanized area’s New Freedom funds. Usually the designated recipient for the large urbanized area is a transit provider or a metropolitan planning organization,” Schneider said. “This means that there are approximately 205 agencies that are eligible to apply for funds directly. The states and some of the designated recipients pass their New Freedom funds to sub-recipients at the local level, so there are many more agencies that ultimately get to use New Freedom funds for projects,” Schneider added. “Over the course of Fiscal Year 2008, the FTA awarded New Freedom Grants to 165 separate agencies across the United States.”  The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission is the designated recipient for this region.

“We were thrilledto be awarded a New Freedom Grant,” O’Neil said. “This grant will enable us to make a significant impact for all our riders, particularly those with disabilities.”

In addition to the extending of the Northwest FLEX Route hours, the grant will also help with WRTA Travel Training. According to WRTA officials, this is a program that trains disabled and elderly individuals on the use of the fixed route service, and also for those individuals who can use the fixed routes for some of their trips in combination with ADA Paratransit Service.

Lastly, the funds will be portioned to create a website for ADA and Elder individuals so they may be able to schedule trips via the Internet. The website will also be updated to include information on other travel options available to people with disabilities to help with travel within the area and to other areas, such as Boston.

Last year, staff at the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission completed the Coordinated Human Service Transportation Plan, which brought together riders and individuals from a variety of area agencies. The Plan helped to identify transportation needs of people with disabilities.

“Because of the information gleaned through work with the focus group, as well as the Area Agencies on Aging, elders, Public Transit Committee and others, our staff was able to develop a clearer picture of transportation issues in the region,” O’Neil said. “One of the identified gaps was the lack of intelligent transportation tools available to riders via a website or onboard public transportation vehicles for use by riders. Another was the limited ability of riders to obtain information on the full spectrum of available services.”

“These three initiatives are just some of the many things the WRTA is doing in to bring the best possible service to all our riders,” O’Neil added.

For more information visit the WRTA website at www.therta.com and the Northwest FLEX website at www.thertaflex.com.

                                    #                      #                      #