Allocation and use of Section 5310 funds in urban and rural America

Public transportation is a critical part of a community’s infrastructure for people with disabilities. Section 5310 of the Transportation Equity Act is a Federal program of capital assistance to address the mobility needs of the elderly and persons with disabilities. We identified 4,835 Section 5310 recipients in 49 states and the District of Columbia, and randomly selected 750 for a mail survey. The majority were organizations serving senior citizens or individuals with developmental disabilities. Only one was a tribal entity. Overall, Sec. 5310 vehicles made up 32 percent of the respondents’ fleets and 75 percent were lift equipped. More Sec. 5310 resources went to those organizations serving a mix of urbanized and rural areas than went to organizations serving rural-only areas. Ten percent of the respondents reported being faith-based organizations; more of these were in urban than rural areas. Almost half of the respondents participated in some form of cooperative system but less than 5 percent participated in a consolidated system. This study provides a baseline against which to measure changes following the implementation of the Transportation Act of 2005