January 25

On January 25, 2012 I met with the region (all cities and agencies that make up the Phoenix-Mesa Urbanized Area) and Maricopa Associations of Governments (MAG) to discuss the 2012 Discretionary Grant Process. The Notice of Funding Availability has not been issued for any of these grant programs, but due to the historically short timeframes for these grants, the region is coordination our effort before hand. The main change to the application process structure this year will be, all project information will be submitted to MAG by the established due date. MAG in turn will route the information to the designated grant application preparer.

On January 24, 2012 I met with other public transit staff to discuss department project that will be eligible for the 2012 Federal Transit Administration discretionary grant programs, as well as JARC and New Freedom. All projects will require approval of division head (person responsible for the action of that section of the department), proposed budget, proof of match (the grants only fund a portion of the project, the remaining balance will need to be funded by the department directly), and any environmental work began (when working on or construction any structure environmental impact analysis must be performed) before the project can be considered for application.

January 23

Homeless Provider Program
Today I chaired a meeting for the Confidentiality Task Force for the Homeless Provider Program.  The purpose of this task force it to create a recommendation that will be sent to city council to address the needs of homeless service providers to keep client information confidential.  Federal regulations do not allow organization the provide domestic violence or medical services.  The HPP allows organization that provide services to 'homeless' clients to purchase fare media at a 50 percent reduced rate.  This fare media can only be utilized for life events; doctor appointments, job interviews, daycare, grocery store, ect. This program purchases approximately $4 million dollars of fare media annually.  When performing audits of the participants, the agency must generate a fare media distribution log.  This log is used to verify that clients have received the fare media and that the uses of the benefit meet the requirements of the program.   

January 11th

This week has been very busy.  Everyday it seems like a new item is being thrown at me.  One thing that I can say is that it keeps the time flying by.  What I plan to do on my blog is to talk about the notable items that take place at my job on a weekly bases.  Please feel free to ask me for more information or to explain things with more detail if it gets to hard to follow.  Some times I can get going pretty good without knowing if anyone is catching it.  I hope that we can all share in my experience and learn.

Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA’s) - Purchased Transit Service Contracts

On January 10 and 11 I met with the City of Avondale and the Regional Public Transit Authority for the quarterly contacts meeting. The City of Phoenix sells transit service to some neighboring jurisdictions. A contract/intergovernmental agreement are entered into by the both agencies and allows for the sell/purchase of these services. As an effort to improve customer service levels, both parties meet quarterly to discuss the contract. The topics of these meetings were monthly invoicing (method of billing for service provided), cost per mile (dollar amount for each revenue mile operated in the jurisdiction), upcoming transit service changes (modification, addition, or elimination of any transit routes), and discussion of route turnarounds (The end of a route where the bus has to change directions to travel in the opposite direction).

Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) and New Freedom grant programs

I completed the 2012 JARC/New Freedom application on January 10^th. The application will be post on the City of Phoenix website for applicant to download and complete for submittal. These programs allow agencies that provide transit service options to low income persons and/or persons with disabilities to compete for funding for new or existing programs. The City Of Phoenix is responsible for administration of the both of these grant programs for the Phoenix-Mesa Urbanized Area. Arizona Department of Transportation administers the grant programs for the remainder to the state.