The Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) is an interagency partnership established in 2004 by Executive Order 13330 to coordinate the efforts of the federal agencies that fund transportation services for targeted populations. You can find more about its history and objectives on the U.S. DOT CCAM webpage.
This webpage showcases transit’s role in coordination efforts and relevant resources. You can find additional resources at the Transportation Technical Assistance Coordination Library.
Update on CCAM Activites
Archived Webinar – 11/10/2020
Staff from the Federal Transit Administration joined the National Center for Mobility Management in discussing a range of recent activities by the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility. The annotated slides from that webinar, complete with all speakers’ remarks, are available here. All resources mentioned in the webinar are listed at the bottom of this page.
What is “Incidental Use”?
Incidental use is when a transit system allows the use of federally funded assets by another entity for non-transit purposes. Incidental use of federally funded assets is permitted for recipients of funding under all FTA grant programs.
The incidental use cannot interfere with the purpose of the original grant (2 C.F.R. 200.313). That is, the non-transit activity may not reduce or limit transit service provided with those same assets. For example, if the original grantee regularly uses a vehicle for public transportation trips during the day, and begins to use its vehicle to deliver meals to older adults, thereby limiting the availability of the vehicle to provide transit service, the meal delivery is no longer incidental use. If, on the other hand, the vehicles are used for public transportation only during peak commute times, then the incidental use for meal delivery in the middle of the day or over the weekend is allowable.
Incidental Uses of Transit Vehicles with CCAM Partners During the Covid-19 Pandemic
The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) are partnering to share information on value-added services and partnerships that are developing across the country to ensure that targeted populations have access to transportation, education support services including Wi-Fi, food, and medical care by leveraging transit assets as communities recover from the COVID-19 public health emergency.
NCMM’s Regional Liaisons are available to help educate transit agencies who want to coordinate with local partners to provide essential services, and track examples of incidental use/partnering in their region. They are also available to help connect local grantees – such as public housing authorities – to their local public transit provider(s). Fact sheets with more information on the TA-PIH partnership and allowable activities can be viewed here.
In the table below, FTA and NCMM have compiled the following examples of how transit agencies are partnering to respond to identified community needs during the pandemic. Have an example of an incidental use you think should be included? Please send it to info@nc4mm.org.
Listed below are a selection of resources to help coordinate transportation services with partner agencies to help best meet the needs of communities. You can see all of our resources on coordination on the Coordination Page of our Knowledge Center.
The Transportation Technical Assistance Coordination Library (TACL) provides a sustainable methodology and platform for access and findability of coordination resources across a diverse range of transportation technical assistance centers and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
NCMM staff have produced a series of informational briefs to guide mobility management activities in conjunction with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Envision Center programs. The briefs guide state administrators and grantees affiliated with these CCAM agencies to identify opportunities to access CCAM resources and enhance coordination activities with DOT programs
Contact your NCMM Regional Liaison to use these tools to support your work to engage CCAM partners in mobility management and coordination activities.
CCAM Summary of Recent Activities. This is a summary of activities of the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) through the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020.
CCAM Report to the President (September 2020). This report, required by FAST Act Section 3006(c), identifies challenges and barriers to improving access to transportation for targeted populations and outlines activities undertaken by the CCAM to improve coordination across federally funded transportation services.
Federal Fund Braiding Guide (June 2020). Defines federal fund braiding for local match and program eligibility to enable federal agencies and federal grant recipients to more effectively manage federal funds and coordinate human service transportation.
CCAM Cost-Sharing Policy Statement (August 2020). Interagency policy statement recommends transportation cost-sharing to encourage greater state and local funding coordination. Fully coordinating transportation through vehicle and ride sharing for Medicaid, aging, and other human service transportation trips can result in a 10-percent increase in passengers per hour, which can create significant cost savings for federal, state, and local agencies.
Cost Allocation Technology for Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Final Report (June 2020). This is the Cost Allocation Technology for Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) phase 1 final report. With the passage of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, Congress challenged the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to lead the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) to develop a cost allocation technology to account for divergent federal reporting requirements and maintain separation of funding sources by trip for NEMT. In February 2019, DOT, on behalf of the CCAM, issued a solicitation for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) phase 1 project to develop a cost allocation proof of concept model for an open source software application. Phase 2 – the development of this allocated cost model for NEMT – will begin in early 2021.
CCAM Strategic Plan 2019–2022 (October 2019). The CCAM strategic plan, approved in October 2019, aims to improve access to jobs, health care, education and community services through better access to transportation and coordinating 130 government-wide programs.
CCAM Program Inventory (October 2019). The CCAM Program Inventory identifies 130 Federal programs that are able to provide funding for human services transportation for people with disabilities, older adults, and/or individuals of low income. In 2018 and 2019, CCAM agency representatives determined which programs to include via internal agency program validation efforts and the CCAM Program Analysis Working Sessions. The CCAM Program Inventory includes detailed program information, such as CFDA numbers and statutory references, information on recipients and beneficiaries, and eligible transportation activities. The CCAM Program Inventory Summary document contains limited program details and is formatted for easy printing. View the webinar recordings here.
Summary Information on the October 29, 2019 CCAM Meeting (October 2019).
2018 Focus Group Report (September 2018). In response to FAST Act requirements, the Department of Transportation (DOT) sponsored federal interagency work groups in 2017 to identify coordination barriers and develop preliminary recommendations for addressing those barriers through statutory and regulatory changes. To further inform and refine the Council’s response to these requirements, DOT conducted a series of focus groups with state and local stakeholders in 2018. Through a combination of virtual focus groups, in-person focus groups and interviews, and industry listening sessions, DOT engaged over 200 stakeholders representing 22 states.
Needham Community Council – Needham, MA
In 2017, the Needham Community Council began supplementing its volunteer driver medical transportation program with trips provided through the ridehailing company, Lyft. Lyft rides were funded through the Needham Community Council operating budget and a donation from Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Needham.
OCCK Public Transportation – Salina, KS
On the Go: Enticing Seniors to Try Salina’s Public Transportation program began in 2022 as a partnership between the Salina Senior Center, OCCK Transportation and the Mobility Manager for North Central Kansas. The goal of the program is to increase the number of senior citizens using Salina’s public transportation system.
City of Pittsfield RSVP Program – Pittsfield, MA
Wheels for Wellness exemplifies two promising practices: cross-sector collaboration and building on existing assets. When deciding what type of transportation program to pilot, the partners selected a volunteer driver program because it built on what they identified to be the county’s assets: an older population, a high rate of car ownership, and a strong regional culture around looking out for each other. They then looked to existing volunteer driver programs in the region to see how they might scale these local and regional initiatives. A regional volunteer driver program run by an all-volunteer healthcare facility in Southern Berkshire County inspired them to serve the entire county. They then identified the Pittsfield RSVP program as having potential to scale up its operations.
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