Transportation council creation

People with disabilities living in the Twin Cities metropolitan area who cannot transport themselves can use programs like Metro Mobility to get around. In Greater Minnesota, vanpools or small buses on non-fixed routes perform those duties.

However, there is some overlap in service areas, which can mean greater user costs.

Rep. Paul Gardner (DFL-Shoreview) would like to see better coordination through the creation of a 17-member Minnesota Council on Transportation Access.

“We’re expending a lot of public dollars in a way that is not as efficient as it could be,” he said, adding that costs are often four or five times greater to the user compared with mass transit. Current agency costs for transportation could not be provided, but Gardner expects the council recommendations to save money. The bill includes $300,000 for council expenses.

Approved on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, by the House Transportation Finance and Policy Division, HF1373 awaits action by the House Finance Committee. A companion, SF1226, sponsored by Sen. D. Scott Dibble (DFL-Mpls) is scheduled to be heard March 27 by the Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee.

“There is an inter-agency group that is working under an executive order to try and help agencies coordinate their efforts to help provide more efficiency,” Gardner said. “This bill would pretty much raise that to a higher level so that council, which is made up of some of the folks who help direct some of these programs, can all be on the same page.”

Gardner noted that executive orders can “fade out” with administration changes, and that a legislative direction would be permanent.

He said an efficiency coordination example could be the creation of one phone line a consumer can call to reach a universal dispatcher who would have access to all providers. That person could find the right ride at the right time, instead of having the consumer call multiple providers to schedule an appointment that meets their needs.