Program Description: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provides Federal funds for the purchase of equipment to support transportation services for the elderly and people living with disabilities where existing transportation is unavailable, inappropriate, or insufficient. The FTA provides 80% of the cost of capital items, with the remaining 20% being provided through local funding match. The local funding may include transportation funding from other federal programs other than U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) programs or from DOT’s Federal Lands Highway Program. ODOT writes the specifications and purchases the vehicles with costs reimbursed by FTA and the recipient.

Eligibility Requirements: Private nonprofit (501(c)(3)) corporations, public bodies identified by the state as a lead agency in a coordination project, or public bodies which certify that no private nonprofit corporations exist within their jurisdiction for the provision of transportation for the elderly and people living with disabilities. Effective for Federal Fiscal Year 2007, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA-LU) requires that all projects funded from the Specialized Transportation Program be derived from a Locally Developed Coordinated Public Transit-Human Service Transportation Plan.

Application Process: Funds are available each year and are distributed through a competitive application process. There are two types of applicants – those from urbanized areas and those from non-urbanized (rural) areas. While ODOT administers the program for the entire state, certain responsibilities are assigned to the seventeen Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) s. The Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) serves as the MPO for Lucas and Wood counties in Ohio. ODOT has established the eligibility requirements to be used for all applicants. Each MPO may establish additional eligibility requirements and deadlines to fit its urbanized area’s needs so long as such requirements and deadlines are not less restrictive than those set forth by ODOT.

If your agency is interested in participating in ODOT’s Specialized Transportation Program, a letter of intent must be submitted to ODOT no later than October 30, 2008. Please send letters of intent to:

Marianne E. Freed
Ohio Department of Transportation
1980 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43223

Phone: 614-644-7237
Fax: 614-466-0822
E-mail: pat.pikula@dot.state.oh.us


For further information regarding the Specialized Transportation program, please contact David Gedeon, Director of Commuter Services, at (419) 241-9155 x.125 or via email at gedeon@tmacog.org.


Related Documents
Coordinated Public Transit - Human Services Transportation Plan for the Toledo Metropolitan Area
2009 Specialized Transportation Letter of Intent
2009 Specialized Transportation Guidelines