PRINTER'S NO. 2775
No. 2090 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY McCALL, BEBKO-JONES, BELFANTI, BROWNE, CAPPELLI,
CLARK, COLAFELLA, COY, CURRY, DALEY, DERMODY, DeWEESE,
FICHTER, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GEIST, GRUCELA, HALUSKA, HARHAI,
HORSEY, JAMES, JOSEPHS, LAUGHLIN, LEH, LESCOVITZ, MANDERINO,
MARKOSEK, MELIO, PALLONE, PETRARCA, PETRONE, SAINATO,
SANTONI, SCHRODER, SHANER, B. SMITH, SOLOBAY, STABACK,
STEELMAN, SURRA, TANGRETTI, J. TAYLOR, THOMAS, TRAVAGLIO,
TRELLO, WALKO, WANSACZ, WASHINGTON, WATSON, C. WILLIAMS,
J. WILLIAMS, WOJNAROSKI, M. WRIGHT AND YOUNGBLOOD,
OCTOBER 29, 2001
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, OCTOBER 29, 2001
AN ACT
1 Providing for a shared-ride program for persons with
2 disabilities; and making a repeal.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Persons with
7 Disabilities Shared-Ride Program Act.
8 Section 2. Legislative intent.
9 It is the intent of the General Assembly and the purpose of
10 this act is to increase public transportation opportunities for
11 citizens of this Commonwealth who are under 65 years of age and
12 who have certain disabilities. Grants made by this program are
13 intended to supplement and shall not supplant existing
14 transportation funds or existing transportation services for
1 persons with disabilities.
2 Section 3. Definitions.
3 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
4 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
5 context clearly indicates otherwise:
6 "Department." The Department of Transportation of the
7 Commonwealth.
8 "Eligible applicant." A provider of shared-ride programs for
9 the elderly, county, county transportation system,
10 transportation authority, local transportation organization,
11 municipality, transportation company or urban common carrier
12 mass transportation provider.
13 "Fund." The General Fund of the Commonwealth.
14 "Local transportation organization." Any municipality or
15 mass transportation, port, redevelopment or airport authority
16 organized under the laws of this Commonwealth or pursuant to an
17 interstate compact or otherwise empowered to render, contract
18 for the rendering or assist in the rendering of transportation
19 service in a limited area in this Commonwealth, even though it
20 may also render or assist in rendering transportation service in
21 adjacent states.
22 "Person with disabilities." An individual who:
23 (1) has a physical or mental impairment which
24 substantially limits one or more of the major life activities
25 of the individual;
26 (2) has a record of an impairment under paragraph (1);
27 or
28 (3) is regarded as having an impairment under paragraph
29 (1).
30 "Program." Shared-ride public transportation services for
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1 persons with disabilities.
2 "Provider." An eligible applicant that applies for and is
3 approved for grant funds under this act.
4 "Secretary." The Secretary of Transportation of the
5 Commonwealth.
6 "Shared-ride public transportation services." Includes
7 demand-responsive transportation which is available to the
8 general public, operates on a nonfixed-route basis and charges a
9 fare to all riders. For transportation to be included in this
10 definition, the first fare-paying passengers to enter the public
11 transportation vehicle must not refuse to share the vehicle with
12 other passengers during a given trip. Services excluded under
13 this definition are exclusive ride taxi services, charter and
14 sightseeing services, nonpublic transportation, school bus
15 services and limousine services.
16 "Transit vehicle." A self-propelled or electrically
17 propelled vehicle designed for carrying more than three
18 passengers, exclusive of the driver, including a taxicab,
19 designed and used for the transportation of persons for
20 compensation.
21 "Transportation company." The term shall mean and include
22 any person, firm or corporation rendering public passenger
23 service, with or without the rendering of another service, in
24 this Commonwealth pursuant to common carrier authorization from
25 the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
26 "Urban common carrier mass transportation." Transportation
27 within an area that includes a municipality or other built-up
28 place which is appropriate, in the judgment of the department,
29 for a common carrier transportation system to serve commuters or
30 others in the locality, taking into consideration the local
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1 patterns and trends of urban growth, by bus or rail or other
2 conveyance, either publicly or privately owned, serving the
3 general public. The term does not include school buses or
4 charter or sightseeing services.
5 Section 4. Persons with disabilities shared-ride program.
6 (a) Power and duty of department.--The department has the
7 power and duty to administer a program authorizing grants to
8 eligible applicants that agree to provide shared-ride public
9 transportation services to eligible persons with disabilities.
10 As part of the program, the department shall do all of the
11 following:
12 (1) Establish a process through which potential
13 providers:
14 (i) receive notice of the program;
15 (ii) are given the opportunity to submit grant
16 proposals; and
17 (iii) are evaluated based on eligibility criteria
18 established by this act.
19 (2) Award grants to providers that meet the eligibility
20 criteria established by this act.
21 (3) Enter into contracts with providers that meet the
22 eligibility criteria established by this act.
23 (b) Request for proposal process.--
24 (1) The department shall establish a request for
25 proposal process under which:
26 (i) notice of the program is published in the
27 Pennsylvania Bulletin;
28 (ii) eligible applicants are given an opportunity to
29 submit proposals; and
30 (iii) the proposals are evaluated.
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1 (2) For any eligible applicant to receive grant funds
2 under the program, the applicant's proposal must demonstrate
3 each of the following:
4 (i) The applicant has the ability to provide shared-
5 ride, point-to-point accessible services for eligible
6 persons with disabilities.
7 (ii) The applicant has the ability to limit access
8 to the program to those eligible persons with
9 disabilities.
10 (iii) The applicant has the ability to administer
11 the program such that eligible persons with disabilities
12 pay no more than 15% of the full-fare cost of the
13 transportation.
14 (iv) The applicant has the ability to implement an
15 eligibility verification process to ensure that access to
16 the program is limited to eligible persons with
17 disabilities.
18 (v) The applicant has the ability to compile such
19 information as the department may require.
20 (vi) The applicant has the ability to solicit and
21 receive public participation from persons with
22 disabilities in the development of the application and
23 the planning, implementation and administration of the
24 program.
25 (vii) The applicant has the ability to serve either
26 portions of a county which are rural in nature or
27 portions of a county not currently served by fixed-route
28 transportation services.
29 (c) Grant awards.--The department may award grants to any
30 provider that meets the eligibility criteria in subsection (b).
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1 In determining grant awards, the department shall:
2 (1) Ensure that applicants from rural, suburban and
3 urban areas of this Commonwealth are considered for grant
4 funds.
5 (2) Give priority to applicants whose service areas are
6 rural in nature or whose service areas are not currently
7 served by fixed-route transportation services.
8 (3) Give priority to applicants that have the ability to
9 provide or coordinate services across county lines.
10 (d) Limitation on grant amounts.--Grants authorized to any
11 provider under this act shall be limited to an amount equal to
12 85% of the total cost of each provider's program. Individuals
13 utilizing the program shall contribute the remaining 15% through
14 fares.
15 (e) Agreement.--The department may enter into an agreement
16 with a provider that meets the criteria under subsections (b)
17 and (c) to award grant funds under this act. The agreement shall
18 include terms requiring that grant funds be used in accordance
19 with the proposal submitted to the department by the provider.
20 The time, payment, amount and any other conditions on the
21 receipt of the grant funds shall be set forth in the agreement.
22 Section 5. Program review.
23 (a) Legislative Budget and Finance Committee.--The
24 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee shall conduct a
25 performance audit to assess whether the program is enhancing the
26 mobility of persons with disabilities. The findings of the
27 performance audit shall be presented to the General Assembly no
28 later than two years after the effective date of this act.
29 (b) Department report.--The department shall submit an
30 annual report to the Transportation Committee of the Senate, the
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1 Transportation Committee of the House of Representatives, the
2 Appropriations Committee of the Senate and the Appropriations
3 Committee of the House of Representatives. At a minimum the
4 report shall include:
5 (1) Number of riders.
6 (2) Number of rides provided per month.
7 (3) Number of providers.
8 (4) Percentage of population served.
9 (5) Geographical coverage of shared-ride usage.
10 (6) Customer satisfaction.
11 (7) Monthly expenditures.
12 (8) Cost per ride.
13 (9) Required subsidy per passenger and per mile.
14 (10) Breakdown of what type of shared-ride services are
15 being provided.
16 Section 6. Entitlement not created.
17 Nothing in this act creates or provides any individual with
18 an entitlement to services. It is the intent of the General
19 Assembly that services under this act shall be made available
20 only to the extent of availability and level of appropriations
21 made by the General Assembly.
22 Section 19. Repeal.
23 Chapter 80 of Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
24 Statutes is repealed.
25 Section 20. Effective date.
26 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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