Measure X Senior & Disabled Transportation Program:

1. ADOPT the Measure X Senior & Disabled Transportation Program Guidelines for Fiscal Years 2020/21 through 2022/23; and
2. RELEASE the call for projects. 

On January 24, 2018, the TAMC Board of Directors approved $1.5 million of Measure X funds for the program's first 3-year grant cycle covering fiscal years 2017/18, 2018/19, and 2019/20. An overview of the projects and their score average by the grant review committee is attached to this report. 

The Measure X Senior & Disabled Transportation Program Guidelines were updated based on input from the Measure X Citizens Oversight Committee at the following meetings:

July 16, 2019: TAMC staff provided an update on the annual reports for the five non-profit organizations awarded funding in the first cycle of the program and requested input from Committee members on potential changes to the program guidelines for the second grant cycle. Staff also presented on a needs assessment prepared in-house to address questions about services provided to South County communities by the organizations awarded funding. 

The Oversight Committee voted to create an ad-hoc committee to meet with staff and provide feedback on the program guidelines including the following items:

• Evaluating the proposals is difficult, since each organization provides very different services. Should the program define metrics to evaluate effectiveness, such as the number of trips provided, clients served, areas served, or cost per client?
• Reviewing the eligible activities and expenses based on how each meets the program's goals may be beneficial. For instance, should purchase of MST services (bus passes, senior taxi vouchers, etc.) be an eligible expense? What type of activities best meet the Measure X mission?
• Requiring a site visit during the application process may be a way to understand the proposed grant-funded activities. Should that be a part of the process?

September 4, 2019: TAMC staff met with the Citizens Oversight ad-hoc committee. The following program guideline updates were discussed:

• Clarify the Measure X program purpose and goals as spelled out in the Policies and Project Descriptions for the Transportation Safety & Investment Plan.
• Avoid duplication of other senior and disabled transportation services, specifically services provided by Monterey-Salinas Transit.
• Clarify eligible activities and reimbursement requirements.
• Include an on-site field visit after proposals are scored as an opportunity for the grant review committee to review proposal with the applicant and clarify any items and/or request additional information before submitting funding recommendations.
• Clarify how the effectiveness of the proposed projects will be measured (i.e. number of trips and average cost per trip, number of non-trip mobility services provided and average cost per non-trip mobility service provided). 
• Clarify the scoring criteria and avoid repetitive application questions.

October 15, 2019: TAMC staff presented the revised program guidelines incorporating the ad-hoc committee comments to the full Measure X Citizens Oversight Committee. 

• Include a question on the organization's history providing services to seniors and/or people with disabilities in Monterey County. 
• Include a question on how volunteers, part-time and/or full-time employees will be used to implement the proposed project. 
• Revisit the point distribution for the scoring criteria.
• Invite Monterey-Salinas Transit staff to participate on the grant review committee.  
• Consider expanding the 150 word limitation on answers. 

If the TAMC Board of Directors recommends approval of the program guidelines at this meeting, the program implementation timeline would be as noted below:

• December 4, 2019..........................Call for project opens.
• January 16, 2020............................Cycle 2 applications due. 
• January 17 - 24, 2020.....................TAMC staff screens proposals. 
• January 27 - February 7, 2020........Grant review committee meets to score proposals.
• February 10 - 21, 2020...................Grant review committee and TAMC staff conduct on-site field visits.
• March 3, 2020................................Grant review committee submits funding recommendations to Oversight Committee.
• March 25, 2020..............................TAMC Board of Directors adopt Program of Projects for fiscal years 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2022/23.