| In This Issue
Driver Training Simulator CTE Purchases advanced simulator from Doron Precision Inc.
Section 5310 Vehicle Workshop CTE hosts GBNRTC Workshop for Section 5310 Vehicle Grant Program to Serve the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities |
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 Job Access Reverse Commute Grant
CTE to begin vehicle inventory survey and Home care worker study
The Center for Transportation Excellence (CTE) will begin working on our much anticipated Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) Grant early this spring. This grant allows us to undertake several initiatives that
will improve mobility and coordination for Erie and Niagara Counties
including a health & human service vehicle inventory, a study of
transportation barriers facing home health care workers and the
purchase of a new interactive voice recognition phone system that will
lay the foundation for a regional single point of contact for
populations needing transportation.
Conducting
a vehicle survey was identified as a priority at the both the Erie and
Niagara County United We Ride workshops. The vehicle inventory will
allow the community to identify and map resources in the health and
human service transportation system and enable the community to get a
detailed picture of our collective capacity, strengths and weaknesses
in an effort to lead to a more efficient use of underutilized vehicles. CTE
will be working closely with our advisory board and other community
partners to develop and distribute a vehicle inventory survey to
transportation providers health & human service agencies and faith
based organizations in the two counties.
As
part of the study on home care workers, CTE will work with several home
care agencies to help them measure costs associated with worker
turnover related to an inadequate transportation system. Information
on worker location will also be compared with the vehicle inventory to
identify possible opportunities to provide transportation for these
workers For more information on these JARC initiatives, please contact Carl Sadowski, Research Coordinator at 716-898-7904.
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Collaboration Corner
New Taskforce forms to address transportation issues in Niagara County
The
Center for Transportation Excellence's Niagara Transportation Committee
has been meeting regularly to build off of the momentum from the United
We Ride workshop the committee hosted in September with the goal of
developing a plan for health and human service transportation in
Niagara County. Members of the committee
are in the process of forming a new taskforce that will work with
guidance from the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation
Council (GBNRTC), the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Erie and Niagara Counties, to identify solutions
and projects that will improve transportation for older adults, persons
with disabilities, low-income workers and other persons in need of
transportation. Taskforce members worked collectively to develop the following mission statement:
The
Niagara County Community Transportation Task Force envisions the
development of a county-wide transportation plan that works for all
residents, allowing them to live as independently as possible in the
community and to age in place. The system needs to support a
fully inclusive community, be cost-effective to implement and
affordable for users.
Such a system will support workforce development and subsequent
economic development, as workers move easily and inexpensively
throughout the county.
The
taskforce is working to formalize its relationship with the GBNRTC and
will also be working with the MPO as they update their Health &
Human Service Transportation Plan later this year. The next scheduled meeting is March 10th at 9:30 am at Ridge Road Express in Lockport.
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Driver Training Simulator
CTE Purchases advanced simulator from Doron Precision Inc.
The Center for Transportation Excellence has finalized the purchase of a Driving Simulator from Doron Precision, Inc. This
fully interactive simulator will have the ability to replicate
different vehicle types, driving maneuvers and road & weather
conditions in a virtual world that will be useful for any organization
interested in supplemental training for Commercial Drivers Licenses,
remedial training and defensive driving training. CTE visited Doron's Simulator facility in Binghamton, NY last year to view and test two simulator models. By leveraging resources from a grant provided by the John R. Oishei Foundation, the CTE was able to secure the more advanced
550 Series model which can better meet the needs of a greater number of
organizations in the community including paratransit and law
enforcement agencies. The simulator is expected to be installed and ready for use in late spring.
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Section 5310 Vehicle Workshop
CTE hosts GBNRTC Workshop for Section 5310 Vehicle Grant Program to Serve the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities
 On January 27th, the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council (GBNRTC) conducted a workshop for organizations interested in the Section 5310 Vehicle Grant Program at the Center for Transportation Excellence. The
workshop was attended by individuals representing eighteen
not-for-profits serving older adults and persons with disabilities. Section
5310 is a capital grant through the Federal Transit Administration that
can be used for the purchase of new buses or vans to provide
transportation for seniors or persons with disabilities. Potential
applicants were given an overview of the Human Service Transportation
Plan from which all applications for Section 5310 must be derived. In addition, CTE discussed how multiple organizations can partner to obtain 5310 vehicles. Organizations interested in the Section 5310 program may contact the GBNRTC for more information by visiting the MPO website at www.gbnrtc.org.
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