(Source:  PBS Blueprint for America)

The U.S. Department of Transportation today awarded the United We Ride/Mobility for All Americans joint demonstration grants to the following recipients:

1.  Lower Savannah Council of Governments – $680,000 grant to provide enhanced, cost-effective transportation choices for older adults, people with disabilities and low-income populations in Aiken, SC.   The Lower Savannah Council of Governments is using the funding for planning and designing an expanded human service transportation network to include more human service transportation providers and vehicle tracking abilities such as global positioning systems (GPS) and to enable customers to receive information and manage their own trips through a toll-free number and web-based applications.

2.  Camden County Workforce Investment Board – $700,000 grant to provide enhanced, cost-effective transportation choices for older adults, people with disabilities and low-income populations in Camden County, NJ.   The Camden County Workforce Investment Board is using the funding for planning and designing a transportation brokerage system supported by a comprehensive set of transportation modes, and for promoting fixed-route public transportation usage for human service clients through accessibility improvement.

3.  Paducah Area Transit System – $1.4 million grant to provide enhanced, cost-effective transportation choices for older adults, people with disabilities and low-income populations in Paducah, KY.   The Paducah Area Transit System is using the funding for the expansion of an existing call center to cover a larger geographic area and provide around-the-clock access to traveler support.  The strengthened call center will add customer-oriented features, such as automated telephone and Internet-based trip reservations and management.

The United We Ride/Mobility for All Americans joint demonstration adopts a two-phased approach.  Eight sites were selected to in 2007 participate in Phase 1, which is system planning and design.  These three Phase 1 sites are selected to move forward to system deployment, the second phase of the program. 

Funding for the demonstration is provided by the Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration in Partnership with the Federal Transit Administration

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) today announced the first of two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program solicitations for 2009.  Through this competitive program, the Department encourages the nation’s small, high-tech, innovative businesses to be a significant part of the federal government’s research and development efforts. Small businesses are invited to submit innovative research proposals that address high priority national transportation goals during the solicitation period, which runs from Feb. 13 through April 15.  The SBIR program is administered by RITA’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center on behalf of the U.S. DOT’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.  The solicitation is available at http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir.  Contact: Kim Riddle (202) 366-5128.