The Massachusetts Department of Transportation Community Transit Grant Program is an annual, competitive grant program to expand mobility for older adults and people with disabilities.
Donor Name: Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
State: Massachusetts
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/23/2023
Details:
The Community Transit Grant Program (CTGP) awards funds to help meet the transportation and mobility needs of seniors and people with disabilities.
Transit authorities, municipalities, Councils on Aging, non-profit organizations, and private operators of public transit (shared-ride) services can apply for funding to operate transportation services, support mobility management initiatives, or receive wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
Eligible Projects
All projects must center the needs of older adults and people with disabilities, and all projects must respond to a need identified in your region’s Coordinated Human Service Transportation Plan. Two types of projects are eligible:
- Operating Projects: You can apply to the Community Transit Grant Program for funding to operate a transportation service that expands mobility for older adults and people with disabilities:
- The grant can pay up to 50% of the cost of operating your service, so you need a local match to cover the other 50%.
- Fares or donations that you collect from riders cannot count towards your local match. Federal rules require fares to be deducted from the project budget.
- Each grant covers one year of operations. You can apply for continued funding after a year, but it is not guaranteed.
- Types of operating projects could include:
- Demand-response above and beyond what transit authorities are required to provide through the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Regionalized service among multiple Councils on Aging
- A community shuttle
- On-demand transportation
- Volunteer driver programs
- Mobility Management Projects: Mobility management projects are other ways of expanding mobility for older adults and people with disabilities, other than operating a transportation service directly. Examples include:
- Paying the salary of a staff person who helps older adults and people with disabilities learn about and learn to use local community transportation services
- Paying the salary of a travel trainer, who helps older adults and people with disabilities learn to ride fixed-route public transit
- Capital expenses that expand mobility, such as software to allow a service to provide on-demand rides so riders can take trips without planning ahead
- Convening agencies to collaborate on community transportation issues, to create an environment that fosters coordination of services.
Eligibility Criteria
Transit authorities, Councils on Aging, municipalities, non-profit organizations, and private operators of public transit (shared-ride) services can apply.
For more information, visit MassDOT.
