Rural Transportation Assistance Program

One of the strategies identified in the 2007 Panhandle Regional Transportation Plan to greatly improve access to public transportation in the Texas Panhandle is the establishment of a Voucher Program that would enable the elderly and disabled to ride with any transportation provider for any purpose at little or no cost. The Senior Ambassador’s Coalition (SAC) began a pilot Voucher Program in 2008 with $2,000 that has proven successful on a very small scale. PRPC assisted the Panhandle Regional Transportation Advisory Group (RTAG) in securing funding through TXDOT’s Rural Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP) to further develop the SAC Voucher Program into a large scale regional program.

PRPC is administering the RTAP program and working with RTAG members and SAC to make the Voucher Program a success. The Voucher Program will allow elderly and disabled citizens who cannot secure ride assistance through other programs such as Medicaid to ride with any public transportation provider in the region to any destination including medical appointments, grocery shopping, and faith based gatherings. The RTAP has grown within the Regional Transportation program into a subdivision of itself and will hopefully make public transportation more easily accessed by a large segment of the Panhandle’s population.

• Regional Transportation Planning

  ---

• Rural Transportation Assistance Program

  ---

• Rural Planning Organizations

  ---

• Contact