Hello newsletter readers,

As more and more people receive inoculations across the United States, and life moves along to "a new normal," it may be time for your agency to freshly consider how it can best move along in serving your clients. With this in mind, let's go back in time to visit a couple of important resources published last year and currently hosted on our website. NCMM's One-Call/One-Click resource center and NCMM's Technology for Mobility Management: A Framework for Moving Forward resources

are the places to go when considering the next steps of your service. Whether that's fare collection technology, trip booking avenues, or other areas of service, these two resources show what's worked in other parts of the country and can provide models for the potential next versions of important aspects of your service. One thing has become clear in the last year: we can only move forward if we prepare and plan for the future. With the NCMM, and particularly these resources, we're here to help you do so.

Stay well,

Kirby Wilhelm

(202) 489-6020

NCMM's webinar series focused on public health and public transportation partnerships completed its third session on April 7. It featured Flint MTA of Michigan and Oxford, Ohio discussing innovative vaccination coordination efforts between the public transportation and public health sectors.

You can view this webinar here and the previous webinars featuring North Carolina Department of Transportation and Vermont Public Transportation Association & Twin Transit of Washington & SPARTAN Transit Services of Texas.

Please save the date for the webinar "The Future of Mobility Management Post-COVID," hosted by NCMM's Mobility Management Connections, on Wednesday, May 26, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. EST.

During this webinar, open to all, you will hear from mobility management professionals from a diverse range of backgrounds and geographical locations. Each will share insights, expertise, and experiences on the current state of mobility management, challenges faced in the wake of the COVID pandemic, and what the future of coordinated transportation will look like across suburban, urban, rural and tribal areas following the restoration and stabilization of human-centered transportation services post COVID.

Please pre-register here. Additional information forthcoming.

NCMM's COVID-19 Resource page is the place to find information focused on the role mobility managers can play in furthering COVID-19 vaccination efforts. You can access quick links to FTA and CDC COVID-19 resources, as well as view NCMM's frequently updated table presenting over 55 examples of transit agencies' involvement in local vaccination efforts. 

Of note, is the new Practical Vaccine Partnership Examples brief series, with three agency's experiences showcased in easily digestible one-page briefs. You can visit the latest brief focused on the North Carolina Department of Transportation here.

Mobility management professionals will have a double-header Tuesday, Nov. 9, at this year's CTAA EXPO, which will be in person! In the morning, you are invited to a half-day Mobility Management Forum from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The morning session will feature two panel presentations: one in which former NCMM grantees talk about the value human-centered design techniques have brought to their work, and the other in which practitioners discuss technological innovations in transportation. Register here.

In the afternoon, from 2:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m., mobility management practitioners will join other transportation professionals for an "unconference" on Mobility Innovation. For this session, the attendees drive the agenda-bringing forth issues they would like to learn and share with others in three fast-paced 50-minute sessions.

If you have suggestions for other presentations or workshop content, please email them to Amy Conrick.

Begin preparing now to showcase a poster of your work on the CTAA EXPO Trade Show Floor. The poster sessions give mobility management practitioners a chance to shine, sharing their innovative practices in an informal setting with all EXPO attendees. $500 scholarships will be provided to all accepted poster presenters.

The Transportation Technical Assistance Coordination Library (TACL) provides a sustainable methodology and platform for access and findability of coordination resources across a diverse range of transportation technical assistance centers and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

 

The FTA-funded technical assistance centers participating in this ongoing work are:

 

The TACL Task Force uses a systematic review process for resources included in this database.  Visit TACL and its resources here.

The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) is recruiting 2021-2023 TCRP Ambassadors from the public transportation community to share information about TCRP products and results at industry events and with transit providers. Applications are due by May 28, 2021.

On Friday, March 26, 2021, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, FTA hosted a National Peer Exchange on Vaccine Access. The virtual event highlighted how transit agencies are working to provide vaccine access to transit workers and their communities. Participants included the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and state and local partners, including transit agency representatives.

FTA funded eight Rides to Wellness demonstration projects in 2016 to identify and test promising, replicable public transportation healthcare access solutions that support increased access to healthcare, improved health outcomes, and reduced healthcare costs.

 

You can download the recently released program evaluation report here to learn more about the successes of the demonstration projects funded under the Rides to Wellness program. 

TP4A's Mobility on Demand Affinity Group is an online community promoting the sharing of agency-developed resources and peer-to-peer problem solving. The Basecamp-hosted group addresses mobility on demand and inclusive planning topics featuring ongoing online engagement, ad hoc virtual meetings/think tanks, and a resource repository. This month's topic is on rural mobility-on-demand.

NCMM's Easterseals director Judy Shanley will be a panelist on a webinar sponsored by the Eno Center for Transportation to be held May 5 at 2 p.m. ET. The webinar, featuring panelists from Denver RTD, MBTA, and Uber, will take a deeper look into the future of paratransit discussing how on-demand transportation could play a central role.

The National Center for Applied Transit Technology (N-CATT) is now accepting applications for transit agencies to receive one-on-one technical assistance through the Center's Innovative Technology Strike Teams. N-CATT will work with up to three transportation providers to navigate a technology challenge or opportunity that results in a useful starting product for the agency, such as an implementation plan or ready-to-go technology solicitation.

N-CATT has two upcoming workshop series now open for registration. 

The National Rural Transit Assistance Program (NRTAP), just announced their Community Rides Grant Program RFP. Current recipients and subrecipients of FTA's Formula Grants for Rural Areas (Section 5311) program have the opportunity to apply for these grants of up to $100,000 for projects that develop or strengthen transportation partnerships that improve social determinants of health in rural and tribal communities. The project duration is fifteen (15) months. FTA's Tribal Transit Program (TTP) grantees are also eligible, as TTP is a set-aside from the Section 5311 Rural program. For detailed information, download the Community Rides Grant Program Request for Proposals (RFP) here.

An informational webinar was held April 15 at 2:00 p.m. ET. You can visit the recording and find out more information about the grant program here.

CDC - COVID-19 Health Disparity Funding Opportunity 

The CDC has released a $2.25B funding opportunity to address COVID-19 health disparities. Applicants will be awarded once in year one, and the grant has a two-year period of performance. Recipients are encouraged to develop partnerships and collaborate with key partners who have existing community or social service delivery programs for people with disabilities, elderly, African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American, or other racial and ethnic minority groups or people living in rural communities. The deadline is May 3.

Community Catalyst has announced its Vaccine Equity and Access Program, a national initiative that supports community-based organizations led by and working with people of color to facilitate information about, and access to, vaccines. This program is part of a broader effort led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce adult vaccination disparities, specifically those in COVID-19 and influenza vaccination rates. Successful applicants will receive $100,000 for a 12-month project building both COVID-19 and influenza vaccine confidence and will join a growing network of experts in the field in expanding vaccine access.

The turnaround time on this funding opportunity is short! Applications will be accepted April 21- May 5, 2021. There will be an info session Monday, April 26 at 3:00 p.m. (ET) for to better understand the program, the funding opportunity and the application process.

The Community Transportation Association of America's (CTAA) 2021 EXPO to originally take place in Richmond, Virginia on June 14-17 has been rescheduled for Nov. 7-11, 2021. All already purchased registrations will be honored for the new dates. In this upcoming EXPO, a variety of training sessions will be offered, as well as the popular trade show event - showcasing the latest community transportation goods and services.

This video created by the American Museum of Natural History examines what happened to the economy and environment in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores how solutions like renewable energy changes, directly impacting transportation fuels, can lead to a more resilient economy while cutting CO2 emissions.

Send your transportation photos, videos, and infographics to the NCMM at wilhelm@ctaa.org. 

Mobility Management News is the newsletter of the National Center for Mobility Management (NCMM), which is operated jointly by the Community Transportation Association, the American Public Transportation Association and Easter Seals under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Transit Administration.