PRINTER'S NO. 4135
No. 2717 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY MELIO, GEORGE, WOJNAROSKI, CALTAGIRONE, BEBKO-
JONES, BELARDI, BELFANTI, BLACKWELL, BUNT, COHEN, CORRIGAN,
CRAHALLA, DeWEESE, FLEAGLE, FREEMAN, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, JAMES,
KOTIK, LaGROTTA, LEACH, MAHER, MARKOSEK, O'NEILL, PARKER,
PETRARCA, PISTELLA, REICHLEY, ROONEY, SANTONI, SEMMEL,
SIPTROTH, B. SMITH, SOLOBAY, STABACK, SURRA, TANGRETTI,
J. TAYLOR, THOMAS, TIGUE, WALKO, YOUNGBLOOD AND SCHRODER,
JUNE 6, 2006
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, JUNE 6, 2006
AN ACT
1 Providing for a shared-ride program for persons with
2 disabilities; ensuring Statewide coverage; and making an
3 appropriation.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Persons with
8 Disabilities Shared-Ride Program Act.
9 Section 2. Legislative intent.
10 It is the intent of the General Assembly, and it is the
11 purpose of this act to increase public transportation
12 opportunities for Pennsylvania citizens who are under 65 years
13 of age and who have certain disabilities. Grants made by this
14 program are intended to supplement and shall not supplant
15 existing transportation funds or existing transportation
1 services for 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 "Average fare." Total passenger revenue divided by the total
7 number of fare-paying passengers, excluding trips by senior
8 citizens participating in the shared-ride program for senior
9 citizens.
10 "County transportation system." The term shall mean and
11 include buses, vans or other transit vehicles purchased,
12 maintained and operated by any county or its agents and used to
13 provide free or reduced rate transportation within the county to
14 eligible persons with disabilities.
15 "Department." The Department of Transportation of the
16 Commonwealth.
17 "Eligible applicant." Any provider of shared-ride programs
18 for the elderly, any county, any county transportation system,
19 any transportation authority, any local transportation
20 organization, any municipality, any transportation company or
21 any urban common carrier mass transportation provider.
22 "Fixed-route public transportation services." Regularly
23 scheduled transportation that is available to the general public
24 and is provided according to published schedules along
25 designated published routes with specified stopping points for
26 the taking on and discharging of passengers. Eligible services
27 include public bus and commuter rail systems. Excluded from this
28 definition are exclusive ride taxi service, charter or
29 sightseeing services, nonpublic transportation, school bus or
30 limousine services.
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1 "Fund." The General Fund of the Commonwealth.
2 "Local transportation organization." Any municipality or any
3 mass transportation, port, redevelopment or airport authority
4 now or hereafter organized under the laws of Pennsylvania or
5 pursuant to an interstate compact or otherwise empowered to
6 render, contract for the rendering or assist in the rendering of
7 transportation service in a limited area in this Commonwealth,
8 even though it may also render or assist in rendering
9 transportation service in adjacent states.
10 "Person with disabilities." With respect to an individual,
11 an individual with a physical, sensory or mental impairment that
12 substantially limits one or more major life activities which may
13 prevent the person from transporting himself or engaging in
14 regularly provided public transportation systems.
15 "Program." Shared-ride public transportation services for
16 persons with disabilities.
17 "Provider." Any eligible applicant that applies for and is
18 approved for grant funds under this act.
19 "Secretary." The Secretary of Transportation of the
20 Commonwealth.
21 "Shared-ride public transportation services." The term shall
22 include demand-responsive transportation that is available to
23 the general public, operates on a nonfixed-route basis and
24 charges a fare to all riders. For transportation to be included
25 in this definition, the first fare-paying passengers to enter
26 the public transportation vehicle must not refuse to share the
27 vehicle with other passengers during a given trip. Services
28 excluded under this definition are exclusive ride taxi service,
29 charter and sightseeing services, nonpublic transportation,
30 school bus or limousine services.
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1 "Transit vehicle." A self-propelled or electrically
2 propelled vehicle designed for carrying four or more passengers,
3 exclusive of the driver, other than a taxicab, designed and used
4 for the transportation of persons for compensation.
5 "Transportation company." The term shall mean and include
6 any person, firm or corporation rendering public passenger
7 service, with or without the rendering of another service, in
8 this Commonwealth pursuant to common carrier authorization from
9 the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission or the Interstate
10 Commerce Commission.
11 "Urban common carrier mass transportation." Transportation
12 within an area that includes a municipality or other built-up
13 place which is appropriate, in the judgment of the Department of
14 Transportation, for a common carrier transportation system to
15 serve commuters or others in the locality, taking into
16 consideration the local patterns and trends of urban growth, by
17 bus or rail or other conveyance, either publicly or privately
18 owned, serving the general public, but not including school
19 buses or charter or sightseeing services.
20 Section 4. Persons with disabilities shared-ride program.
21 (a) Power and duty of department.--The department shall have
22 the power and duty to administer a program authorizing grants to
23 eligible applicants that agree to provide shared-ride public
24 transportation services to eligible persons with disabilities.
25 As part of the program, the department shall:
26 (1) Establish a process through which potential
27 providers receive notice of the program, are given the
28 opportunity to submit grant proposals and are evaluated based
29 on eligibility criteria established by this act.
30 (2) Award grants to providers that meet the eligibility
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1 criteria established by this act.
2 (3) Enter into contracts with providers that meet the
3 eligibility criteria established by this act.
4 (b) Request for proposal process.--The department shall
5 establish a request for proposal process wherein notice of the
6 program is published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, eligible
7 applicants are given an opportunity to submit proposals and the
8 proposals are evaluated. A minimum of two persons with
9 disabilities shall be included in the evaluation. For any
10 eligible applicant to receive grant funds under the program, the
11 applicant's proposal must demonstrate each of the following:
12 (1) The applicant has the ability to provide shared-
13 ride, point-to-point accessible services for eligible persons
14 with disabilities.
15 (2) The applicant has the ability to limit access to the
16 program to those eligible persons with disabilities.
17 (3) The applicant has the ability to administer the
18 program such that eligible persons with disabilities pay no
19 more than 15% of the full-fare cost of the transportation.
20 (4) The applicant has the ability to implement an
21 eligibility verification process to ensure that access to the
22 program is limited to eligible persons with disabilities.
23 (5) The applicant has the ability to compile such
24 information as the department may require.
25 (6) The applicant has the ability to solicit and receive
26 public participation from persons with disabilities who
27 reside in the communities in which the applicant is proposing
28 to serve in the development of the application and documented
29 ongoing commitment to assist with the planning,
30 implementation and administration of the program.
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1 (7) The applicant has the ability to serve either
2 portions of a county that are rural in nature or portions of
3 a county not currently served by fixed-route transportation.
4 (8) The applicant has had documented substantial input
5 from people with disabilities in the communities in which
6 they are proposing to serve.
7 (c) Grant awards.--The department may award grants to any
8 provider that meets the eligibility criteria in subsection (b),
9 provided that, in determining grant awards, the department
10 shall:
11 (1) Ensure that applicants from rural, suburban and
12 urban areas of this Commonwealth are considered for grant
13 funds.
14 (2) Give priority to applicants whose service areas are
15 rural in nature or whose service areas are not currently
16 served by fixed-route transportation services.
17 (3) Give priority to applicants that have the ability to
18 provide or coordinate services across county lines.
19 (d) Limitation on grant amounts.--Grants authorized to any
20 provider under this act shall be limited to an amount equal to
21 85% of the total cost of rides of each provider's program.
22 Individuals utilizing the program shall contribute the remaining
23 15% through fares.
24 (e) Agreement.--The department may enter into an agreement
25 with any provider that meets the criteria under subsections (b)
26 and (c) to award grant funds under this act. The agreement shall
27 include terms requiring that grant funds be used in accordance
28 with the proposal submitted to the department by the provider.
29 The time, payment, amount and any other conditions on the
30 receipt of the grant funds shall be set forth in the agreement.
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1 Section 5. Program review.
2 (a) Legislative Budget and Finance Committee.--The
3 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee shall conduct a
4 performance audit to assess whether the program is enhancing the
5 mobility of persons with disabilities. The findings of the
6 performance audit shall be presented to the General Assembly no
7 later than two years after the effective date of this act.
8 (b) Department report.--The department shall submit an
9 annual report to the Transportation Committee of the Senate, the
10 Transportation Committee of the House of Representatives, the
11 Appropriations Committee of the Senate and the Appropriations
12 Committee of the House of Representatives, which at a minimum
13 shall include total number of riders, total number of rides
14 provided per month, number of providers, percentage of
15 population served, geographical coverage of shared-ride usage,
16 customer satisfaction, total monthly expenditures, total cost
17 per ride, required subsidy per passenger and per mile and
18 breakdown of what type of shared-ride services are being
19 provided.
20 Section 6. Entitlement not created.
21 Nothing in this act creates or provides any individual with
22 an entitlement to services. It is the intent of the General
23 Assembly that services under this act shall be made available
24 only to the extent of availability and level of appropriations
25 made by the General Assembly.
26 Section 7. Appropriation.
27 The General Assembly hereby appropriates the sum of
28 $8,700,000 to carry out the provisions of this act.
29 Section 8. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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