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: Ohio non-profit agencies, Ohio Coordination Program or Ohio government entities certifying that there are no non-profit agencies available in the area to provide similar transportation services. Effective in 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.

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 Friday, November 11, 2011. 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: 614-887-4174

Or electronically to:
E-mail: ODOT.specialized.program@dot.state.oh.us

For further information regarding the Specialized Transportation program, please click here to go to the ODOT Specialized Transportation webpage or contact Tiffany Banks, TMACOG Car Buy Assistant, at (419) 241-9155 x.157 or via email at banks@tmacog.org.


2012 Specialized Transportation Grant Information
2012 Specialized Transportation Letter of Intent Form (Microsoft Word format)
2012 Specialized Transportation Letter of Intent Guidance
Business Filing Sheet Example
Federal Circular FTA C 9070.1F


Locally Developed Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan
Coordinated Public Transit - Human Services Transportation Plan for the Toledo Metropolitan Area