Tribal Participation in State
Public Transportation Programs:
The Washington State Story
Cathy Silins
Acting Director, Public Transportation Division
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Community Outreach
The Agency Council on Coordinated
Transportation (ACCT) encourages local
coalitions that include representatives of
social service, educational and transportation
organizations that either provide
transportation or need to arrange
transportation.
Coalitions are to include tribal representatives
Public Transit/Human Services
Plans
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Regional Transportation Planning
Organizations are required to develop
these plans every four years
All projects funded with competitive
grants for public transportation projects
through WSDOT must be included in
these plans
Tom will expand
Development of Grant
Selection Criteria
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At the current time, the Washington State
Legislature has allowed WSDOT to develop
criteria for project selection for the Rural
Mobility and Paratransit/Special Needs state
funded competitive grants
WSDOT established the Grants Program
Advisory Committee (G-PAC) in 2006
The G-PAC included a Tribal representative
Grant Writing and Technical
Assistance for Grant Preparation
WSDOT provides at least three training
sessions prior to the application
deadline
Invitations are distributed to Tribal
governments, local transit systems and
nonprofit organizations
WSDOT staff provide one on one
assistance
Grant Review Teams
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WSDOT uses a forced-pairs process for
reviewing the competitive grant
applications
Every two years WSDOT receives
almost 100 applications
In 2007, there were 12 reviewers – two
representatives from Tribal
governments in Washington State
Grants Administration Training
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All agencies that receive a federal or
state grant from WSDOT are required to
attend a training session within 30 days
of receipt of their contract
Organizations can also request followup assistance
Training Coalition
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The Washington State Transportation
Training Coalition establishes an annual
training calendar
The Coalition includes a representative
from an urban and rural public transit,
nonprofit transportation agency and
Tribal transportation.
WSDOT provides scholarships for
training
Other Training Opportunities
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Special training is available, i.e. Asset
Management, Safety and Security, the annual
Washington State Public Transportation
Conference
All grant recipients are encouraged to take
advantage of the associations that provide
networking – Community Transportation
Association of the Northwest
Peer to peer programs
Site Visits
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WSDOT staff visit all grant recipients
Checklist
Provide updated information
Tribes do not have access to
all grant programs
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Regional Mobility Grants provided to
local governments to address
congestion ($20 million a year)
Attorney General’s Office has
determined that Tribal governments are
NOT local governments
(cont.)
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Tribal Transit programs are currently not
provided formula funds that are
available to public transit agencies
In 2007-2009, WSDOT will distribute
$19.5 million is Paratransit/Special
Needs Grants to transit, $8.5 million for
Revenue Equity grants to transit, and
$8.4 million for vanpool to transit
2007-2009
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Cowlitz Tribe
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Operating assistance
to sustain on-call
and route deviated
service for elders
and persons with
disabilities
$139,000
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Lummi Tribe
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Operating assistance
to sustain fixed route
service on the
reservation with
connections to WTA
$277,000
2007-2009
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Makah Tribe
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Operating assistance
to sustain fixed route
service to the
general public and
door to door service
to elders and
persons with
disabilities on the
reservation
$201,227
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Squaxin Island Tribe
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Operating assistance
to sustain and
expand service
$157,808
Capital assistance to
purchase one
replacement minibus
$65,000
2007-2009
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Yakama Nation
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Hire a mobility
coordinator to
educate the public
on public, private
and rural
transportation
services and
resources
$126,387
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TOGETHER!
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Provide
transportation
services to Chehalis
and Nisqually Tribes
through a contract
Concluding Remarks
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Many decisions are made on data
Communication is important
Continue to look for opportunities