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Unmet Transit Needs

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Disclaimer

 Unmet Transit Needs

As the administrator of Transportation Development Act (TDA) funds for Inyo County, the Inyo County Local Transportation Commission (LTC) is charged with performing the annual Unmet Transit Needs process. The purpose of this process is to ensure that all unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet are met before funds are expended for non-transit uses, such as streets and roads. The Social Services Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC) usually kicks off the annual Unmet Transit Needs process at a special meeting usually held in February (February 25, 2010). The SSTAC meeting is the first step in deciding disbursement of the Transportation Development Act funds. This year, the Bishop Unmet Transit Needs Workshop will be held on February 17th in conjunction with an Eastern Sierra Transit Authority transit service planning workshop. Results and ideas from the SSTAC meeting will presented to the Inyo County LTC at the Unmet Transit Needs workshops in April. The location for the April workshop in the southern part of the Owens Valley has yet to be determined.

Since none of the Inyo LTC Transit Development Act funds are going to local streets and roads, the LTC only holds workshops instead of formal hearing starting in 2009. Holding unmet transit needs hearings implies to the public that funding is available to serve newly identified unmet transit needs. Though the LTC has not allocated funds for local streets and roads for the past several years, the Eastern Sierra Transit Authority has been able to fine tune their system to address some of the identified transit needs. Thus the LTC is still holding unmet transit needs workshops to gauge the health of the transit system and to further refine the use of transit funds. Public input from transit users and the transit-dependent is an effective way to identify when transit needs change.

In 2010, key dates in the Unmet Transit Needs process are summarized in the following table. You can click on the highlighted links to view the documents as they become available. The north county workshop is being held in conjunction with an Eastern Sierra Transit Authority transit service planning workshop.

It is still helpful to review the definitions of “Unmet Transit Need” and “Reasonable to Meet”. These definitions serve as important barometers of the need for new or changed transit services.

An Unmet Transit Need exists if an individual or individuals of any age or physical condition are unable to transport themselves from one location to another. An Unmet Transit Need is, at a minimum, those public transportation or specialized transportation services that are identified in the Regional Transportation Plan and that have not been implemented or funded.

A documented Unmet Transit Need is reasonable to meet if:

A service can be provided which meets a minimum farebox ratio of 10% of operating costs; and      

a)      It is transit service for essential intra-county purposes which are defined as medical or dental services, shopping, employment, personal business, or social service appointments; or,

b)      It is a transit service for essential inter-county purposes which are defined as medical or dental services or social service appointments not available in this county or the out-of-county destination is the closest location where the services are available to the origin of the trip; and, The origin and/or designation of the trip is within two miles of the established area of operation of cohesive community.