Analysis of Best Practice Section 5310 Programs and Competitive Funding Selection Frameworks

PROJECT SYNOPSIS

The Section 5310 program provides formula funding to states for the purpose of assisting private nonprofit groups in meeting the transportation needs of older adults and individuals with disabilities when the transportation service provided is unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate to meeting these needs. The funding selection process may be formula-based, competitive, or discretionary. Section 5310 program subrecipients can include states or local government authorities, private nonprofit organizations, and/or operators of public transportation. A literature review was conducted to determine how other state departments of transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and regional councils/councils of government (RCs/COGs) use Coordinated Public-Transit– Human Services Transportation Plans (i.e., coordinated plans) as a framework to prioritize strategies and allocate Section 5310 program funds. Select “best practice” coordinated plans, which were developed or implemented primarily after the December 2015 adoption of the federal Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST Act), were identified. Competitive selection frameworks were assessed to determine how competitive application processes, scoring, performance measures, and other criteria are being used to strategically allocate Section 5310 program funds. The analysis indicates that both an updated coordinated plan and a Section 5310 Program Management Plan (PMP) are essential to instituting a competitive selection funding process. Section 5310 recipients establish competitive selection frameworks to stretch limited resources, incentivize mobility management and coordination, provide an open and transparent funding distribution, and ensure accountability on the equitable and prudent use of funds to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).