The JARC grant recipients are:
Cobb County Department of Transportation:
o JARC route number 30 - $600,000.
MARTA:
o JARC route numbers 19, 84, 89, 111, 117, 124, 143 and 189 - $1,190,075.
The New Freedom grant recipients are:
Cobb County:
o Cobb County Disabled Persons Voucher Program - $527,850.
DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department
o DeKalb Transportation Augmentation Provided for Elderly and Disabled (TAPED); Mobility Manager; Travel Training - $218,557
Fayette Senior Services:
o Transportation Voucher Program for Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities - $113,842.
Gwinnett County Senior Services:
o Project Get in GEER (Gwinnett Enabled Elderly Ridership) Mobility Management; Vouchers and Transportation Program for Older Adults with Disabilities or Low Income - $182,916.
Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta
o Transportation for the Georgia NORC Initiative; Transportation and Voucher Program for Disabled Older Adults – $85,21
Marcus Jewish Community Center:
o Expanded Transportation Options and Voucher Program for Persons with Disabilities, Older Adults and Adult Daycare Participants - $146,249.
Senior Services North Fulton
o Transportation Voucher Program for Older Adults with Disabilities
Rockdale County Recreation and Senior Services
o Expanded Transportation Options and Transportation Voucher Program for Persons with Disabilities, Older Adults and Adult Daycare Participants
*The amounts above reflect only the federal amount awarded and do not include the required local match or the overall project costs. Total amounts will be shown in the Atlanta region’s FY 2012-2017 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
Rockdale senior citizens without transportation will have a few more vouchers to help them get to important appointments with a recently awarded federal grant of about $20,000 to Rockdale County Senior Services.
Recreation and Senior Services Director Jackie Lunsford said other transportation funding was used to match the federal funds for a total of about $40,000 that will be made available to senior citizens and residents with disablities who have no transportation. The vouchers will be available for important appointments, such as doctor's visits.
The new funds came at an ideal time, said Lunsford, because the Social Services Block Grant, about $10,000, that had been used for senior transportation vouchers was going to end in July. The new grant, which will become available in July, will also allow Rockdale's Senior Services to offer the vouchers to more people. For more information on qualifications for the vouchers, contact the Olivia Haydel Senior Center, 770-278-7230, 1240 Dogwood Drive, Conyers.
The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) awarded more than $3.3 million in federal funding to 11 recipients that operate transportation programs or transit routes that serve individuals who do not drive because of age, disability or because they cannot afford a car.
The funding is part of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Section 5316 Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) and Section 5317 New Freedom grant programs and is distributed annually. Government agencies, transportation providers and nonprofit organizations use the grants to fund capital expenses and operating costs that involve reverse commuting, travel vouchers and other programs that benefit low-income earners, disabled persons and/or older adults who use transit or other transportation alternatives for trips related to employment, healthcare, basic necessities and quality of life.
“Our regional transportation programs and transit routes provide a vital service to our residents, especially those who have no alternative means of travel,” said Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta and Chairman of ARC’s Regional Transit Committee. “This latest round of federal funding enables these recipients to provide vouchers, commuter opportunities and other programs so everyday tasks can become less expensive and less complicated. I applaud ARC and the FTA for providing this critical funding and addressing the needs of so many people in the region.”
ARC and MARTA are the federally designated recipients of JARC and New Freedom funding in the Atlanta area. Because MARTA also applies for the competitive grants, ARC manages the selection of local recipients and the amounts received. Agencies in metro Atlanta received $1,790,075* in JARC funding and $1,525,832.50* in New Freedom funding.
