The Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged; purpose and responsibilities.

The purpose of the commission is to accomplish the coordination of transportation services provided to the transportation disadvantaged. The goal of this coordination is to assure the cost-effective provision of transportation by qualified community transportation coordinators or transportation operators for the transportation disadvantaged without any bias or presumption in favor of multioperator systems or not-for-profit transportation operators over single operator systems or for-profit transportation operators. In carrying out this purpose, the commission shall:

(1) Compile all available information on the transportation operations for and needs of the transportation disadvantaged in the state.

(2) Establish statewide objectives for providing transportation services for the transportation disadvantaged.

(3) Develop policies and procedures for the coordination of local government, federal, and state funding for the transportation disadvantaged.

(4) Identify barriers prohibiting the coordination and accessibility of transportation services to the transportation disadvantaged and aggressively pursue the elimination of these barriers.

(5) Serve as a clearinghouse for information about transportation disadvantaged services, training, funding sources, innovations, and coordination efforts.

(6) Assist communities in developing transportation systems designed to serve the transportation disadvantaged.

(7) Unless otherwise provided by state or federal law, ensure that all procedures, guidelines, and directives issued by purchasing agencies are conducive to the coordination of transportation services.

(8)(a) Ensure that purchasing agencies purchase all trips within the coordinated system, unless they have fulfilled the requirements of s. 427.0135(3) and use a more cost-effective alternative provider that meets comparable quality and standards.

(b) Unless the purchasing agency has negotiated with the commission pursuant to the requirements of s. 427.0135(3), provide, by rule, criteria and procedures for purchasing agencies to use if they wish to use an alternative provider. Agencies must demonstrate that the proposed alternative provider can provide a trip of comparable quality and standards for the clients at a lower cost than that provided within the coordinated system, or that the coordinated system cannot accommodate the agency’s clients.

(9) Unless the purchasing agency has negotiated with the commission pursuant to the requirements of s. 427.0135(3), develop by rule standards for community transportation coordinators and any transportation operator or coordination contractor from whom service is purchased or arranged by the community transportation coordinator covering coordination, operation, safety, insurance, eligibility for service, costs, and utilization of transportation disadvantaged services. These standards and rules must include, but are not limited to:

(a) Minimum performance standards for the delivery of services. These standards must be included in coordinator contracts and transportation operator contracts with clear penalties for repeated or continuing violations.

(b) Minimum liability insurance requirements for all transportation services purchased, provided, or coordinated for the transportation disadvantaged through the community transportation coordinator.

(10) Adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of ss. 427.011-427.017.

(11) Approve the appointment of all community transportation coordinators.

(12) Have the authority to apply for and accept funds, grants, gifts, and services from the Federal Government, state government, local governments, or private funding sources. Applications by the commission for local government funds shall be coordinated through the appropriate coordinating board. Funds acquired or accepted under this subsection shall be administered by the commission and shall be used to carry out the commission’s responsibilities.

(13) Make an annual report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1 of each year.

(14) Consolidate, for each state agency, the amounts of each agency’s actual expenditures, together with the actual expenditures of each local government and directly federally funded agency and the amounts collected by each official planning agency.

(15) Prepare a statewide 5-year transportation disadvantaged plan which addresses the transportation problems and needs of the transportation disadvantaged, which is fully coordinated with local transit plans, compatible with local government comprehensive plans, and which ensures that the most cost-effective and efficient method of providing transportation to the disadvantaged is programmed for development.

(16) Review and approve memorandums of agreement for the provision of coordinated transportation services.

(17) Review, monitor, and coordinate all transportation disadvantaged local government, state, and federal fund requests and plans for conformance with commission policy, without delaying the application process. Such funds shall be available only to those entities participating in an approved coordinated transportation system or entities which have received a commission-approved waiver to obtain all or part of their transportation through another means. This process shall identify procedures for coordinating with the state’s intergovernmental coordination and review procedures and s. 216.212(1) and any other appropriate grant review process.

(18) Develop an interagency uniform contracting and billing and accounting system that shall be used by all community transportation coordinators and their transportation operators.

(19) Develop and maintain a transportation disadvantaged manual.

(20) Design and develop transportation disadvantaged training programs.

(21) Coordinate all transportation disadvantaged programs with appropriate state, local, and federal agencies and public transit agencies to ensure compatibility with existing transportation systems.

(22) Designate the official planning agency in areas outside of the purview of a metropolitan planning organization.

(23) Develop need-based criteria that must be used by all community transportation coordinators to prioritize the delivery of nonsponsored transportation disadvantaged services that are purchased with Transportation Disadvantaged Trust Fund moneys.

(24) Establish a review procedure to compare the rates proposed by alternate transportation operators with the rates charged by a community transportation coordinator to determine which rate is more cost-effective.

(25) Conduct a cost-comparison study of single-coordinator, multicoordinator, and brokered community transportation coordinator networks to ensure that the most cost-effective and efficient method of providing transportation to the transportation disadvantaged is programmed for development.

(26) Develop a quality assurance and management review program to monitor, based upon approved commission standards, services contracted for by an agency, and those provided by a community transportation operator pursuant to s. 427.0155.

(27) Ensure that local community transportation coordinators work cooperatively with local workforce development boards established in chapter 445 to provide assistance in the development of innovative transportation services for participants in the welfare transition program.

(28) In consultation with the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Transportation, develop an allocation methodology that equitably distributes all transportation funds under the control of the commission to compensate counties, community transportation coordinators, and other entities providing transportation disadvantaged services. The methodology shall separately account for Medicaid beneficiaries. The methodology shall consider such factors as the actual costs of each transportation disadvantaged trip based on prior-year information, efficiencies that a provider might adopt to reduce costs, results of the rate and cost comparisons conducted under subsections (24) and (25), as well as cost efficiencies of trips when compared to the local cost of transporting the general public. This subsection does not supersede the authority of the Agency for Health Care Administration to distribute Medicaid funds.

(29) Incur expenses for the purchase of advertisements, marketing services, and promotional items.