#2019-002 - Coordinated Human Services Plan Development Assistance

A long standing vision of the RTA has been the development of a regional coordinated human services plan that pulls under one overarching umbrella the existing coordinated human services plan of our region’s existing transit providers. This year the RTA has secured funding and will be working closely with the SMART, DDOT, The People Mover, AAATA and the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (WATS) to complete a review of existing regional policies and procedures governing the RTA’s and other transit agencies’ administration of funding received through the Federal Transit Administration Section 5310 Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities program.

Outcomes of this study will include the assessment of regional transportation needs of seniors and the disabled, ultimately developing a regional coordination plan for related transportation services in Southeast Michigan. This plan will reflect both regional and locally-specific needs, including the option for communities and agencies to maintain their own local planning documents fitting within an agreed-upon regional planning and policy framework. The plan is needed to provide uniformity in the analysis of system gaps, users, providers, and origins and destinations, identify local priorities in the City of Detroit, SMART service area, and Washtenaw County, and to identify opportunities to coordinate regional implementation of overlapping local goals.

The CHSTP will also help to clarify how the various flexible investment programs in the proposed Connect Southeast Michigan Transit Plan (available at The Proposed Plan – Connect Southeast Michigan) can enhance and augment the existing services for seniors, people with disabilities, and people with lower incomes in the region.