Transit funding in flux
by Amy Kolb Noyes

Public transportation for the elderly and disabled is not equitable in
Vermont. Although the federal government provides 80% of the funds
intended to serve that segment of the population with un-met
transportation needs, the money is doled out by the state to various
regions in Vermont. While some regions have had to cut out trips to the
grocery store due to budget constraints, others are taking seniors
out-of-state on entertainment excursions.
The federal 5310 funds are administered by the Federal Transit
Administration to the state Agency of Transportation. The state then
parcels out the money to various regions as grants. In recent years,
according to Lamoille County Planning Commission Sr. Transportation
Planner David Pelletier, VTrans has been passing the job of
administering the 5310 grants to the Agency of Human Services Department
of Aging and Disabilities.
Pelletier went on to explain the FTA has been scrutinizing the way
Vermont allocates its funds and has told the state it needs to come up
with a new plan immediately.
"There aren't enough funds for this program," said Pelletier. He said
some regions are only meeting urgent, basic transportation needs, such
as doctor appointments.
Further complicating the issue in Lamoille County is a shake-up of
transportation providers. Rural Community Transportation is now the sole
provider of this type of transportation services in the area.
Previously, Alpha Transit served some clients here. Meanwhile, GMTA
service) has taken over some public transportation (the "Hub & Spoke"
and Stowe Trolley) in Lamoille County, but not the so-called 5310
services. Pelletier said some of the problem is also that consumers
don't know who to call for transportation services.
Pelletier said part of what the state is struggling with at this point
is how to redistribute funds between regions, when one part of the state
is restricting services while other regions have surplus funds.
Cathy Voyer recently took over as director of Housing & Transportation
for the Agency of Human Services. She explained part of the challenge
will be to get better services to rural areas, where trips to the
doctors office and the grocery story are longer and more costly than in
urban areas.
Voyer said one of the issues the FTA has with Vermont's allocation
system is that Vermont depends partially on volunteer drivers, making
some of the state/local 20% match in in-kind services. Voyer said the
federal agency has ruled an in-kind match can not be used in the 5310
program, which means Vermont may have to switch to a different program
for federal funding.
As for increased state coordination of the funds, Voyer agreed it is
crucial. The 5310 funds are intended to provide transportation for the
disabled and anyone over 60 years of age. The transportation is intended
to take clients grocery shopping, to medical care, and to services such
as adult day care centers like Out & About. However, the 5310 funds are
secondary to Medicaid funds, meaning Medicaid is billed before 5310 for
its clients.
Voyer said some areas simply have more emergency medical needs not
covered by Medicaid. A major complicating factor is Vermont's lack of
dialysis centers. Voyer acknowledged one region has had to cut out
grocery shopping trips in order to transport dialysis patients to the
three-day-a-week treatment they need to stay alive. People suffering
kidney failure are typically rendered too weak to drive themselves home
after the four-hour dialysis treatment, meaning a driver is tied up with
one patient for up to a full day, three days a week. Similar
considerations apply to cancer patients.
It was this same story contrasting dialysis with trips to a New York
racetrack, along with calls to Lamoille's Senator Sue Bartlett, that had
Bartlett up in arms early this week and demanding action of state
agencies with a two week period. She told the News & Citizen that the
problems with the flow of funding to local transportation providers must
be solved, and soon, or the "fur was going to fly."
To remedy the problem, state officials are hoping to devise a way to
combine federal funding sources to allow for volunteer drivers to
qualify in fulfilling the in-kind services match. Voyer said next month
AHS and AOT will propose a new funding scheme to the joint fiscal
committee.