For more information, contact Lindsay Bell at (928) 776-9332 or Liz Toone at (928) 772-1266

A team has been formed and efforts are under way to improve access to public transportation for people with disabilities in central Yavapai County.

The team, whose members link the interests of transit and disability, consists of Lindsay Bell, a former Prescott City Council member who recently retired after 33 years experience in the non profit sector, disability community leader Ken Edwards, City of Prescott Councilman and vice chair of the Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization Bob Luzius, CEO of the Prescott Transit Authority, Citibus, and Prescott Dial-A-Ride Steve Silvernale, and Executive Director of New Horizons Independent Living Center, Liz Toone.

They were among 22 teams from throughout the U.S. who participated in the sixth annual Mobility Planning Services Institute of Easter Seals Project ACTION in Washington, D.C. The Institute was April 21-24 at the Renaissance Hotel Washington. The local team, whose expenses were supported by ESPA, was accepted through a competitive application process completed by the Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization, in which a commitment to improving accessibility had to be expressed.

“The event was designed to bring communities together who want to learn ways to strengthen the availability and accessibility of transportation services locally,” Team Coordinator Lindsay Bell said. “An important way to do that is through a cross-agency approach and we intend to continue our cooperative efforts as the central Yavapai region moves toward implementation of a regional public transit system.”

An MPS faculty of national experts taught sessions on funding and legislation, coalition building, coordination of public and private networks, creating additional transportation options in rural communities, increasing ridership, travel training, identifying community resources, removing barriers to access in the built environment, and understanding paratransit eligibility determination processes.

The teams also worked on their own to develop a plan.

“The goal of our plan is to establish an accessible affordable mobility management system which maximizes transportation resources and facilitates access to transportation for the general public as well as special needs customers.  To accomplish this goal, we will continue collaboration with existing transportation providers, research operational and administrative structures and conduct community outreach efforts to determine the best strategies to include in a final comprehensive mobility management plan for the region,” says Lindsay Bell. 

Participating in the MPS Institute were teams of between three and five people from Berkshire County, Mass.; Black Hills of south Dakota; Brookings County, S.D.; Brownsville, Texas; Central Florida; Central Iowa; Ariz.; District of Columbia; Fort Wayne/Allen County, Ind.; Haywood County, N.C.; Lafayette, La.; Lane County, Oregan; Low Country, S.C.; Manitowoc County, Wisc.; Middlesex County, N.J.; Nashville, Tenn.; Northwest Ohio; Rides for all Georgians; Rochester, N.Y.; Taxi NYC; Vicksburg, Miss.; Western Wisconsin; and the local team representing the Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Sponsor of the Institute and funding the teams’ participation was Easter Seals Project ACTION – the acronym stands for Accessible Community Transportation In Our Nation – which is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration.  Established in 1988, Project ACTION is administered by Easter Seals Inc. to promote cooperation between the transportation industry and the disability community to increase mobility for all people under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Team members were selected by the Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization based on their expertise and interest in the development of a unified vision to drive mobility coordination in order to meet the transportation needs of people with disabilities in the local area.