Community Transportation News

June 2025

If you have comments or questions about community transportation in Massachusetts, please reach out to us anytime at massmobility@dot.state.ma.us. Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce.

Welcome to the June issue of Community Transportation News!

For the past two months, I’ve been meeting with many of the Regional Transit Authorities and getting to know the important work they are doing supporting the transit needs of older adults and people with disabilities across the state. I’ve also met with many health, disability and aging services organizations to understand how their clients access transportation services (public, municipal, nonprofit, and private).

These meetings have illuminated the great work going on in Massachusetts to address transportation information gaps and service coordination. For example, the Health Equity Partnership of North Central Massachusetts is re-convening the regional coordinating council to help address barriers to transportation access. I also heard about the grant from the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center to the Franklin Regional Council of Governments to provide outreach and engagement to communities not yet served by the Franklin Regional Transit Authority Access Program with the goal of expanding the program.

In addition, we have been hard at work building the Access and Mobility Working Group. This interagency group will engage with some unanswered questions from the Regional Mobility Manager Study over the next 6-9 months and help us draft a more robust implementation plan.

Please reach out with any questions or to connect!

-- Maria Foster, Statewide Mobility Lead

In this issue

• ReiMAgine Aging 2030: The Massachusetts Plan
• Upcoming MassDOT Funding Opportunities and Trainings
• Webinars and Trainings for Community Transportation Providers
• NADTC Blog Post
• N-CATT Small Transit Provider Survey

ReiMAgine Aging 2030: The Massachusetts Plan

The Executive Office of Aging and Independence has recently released ReiMAgine Aging 2030: The Massachusetts Plan, the updated Massachusetts’ age- and dementia-friendly action plan that articulates the state’s vision and aspirations for growing older in the Commonwealth. This community-driven roadmap aims to make Massachusetts a better place to grow up and grow older. This updated plan outlines key goals to ensure all older adults can thrive through enhanced health, economic security, community engagement, and livable environments.

Some transportation strategies included in the plan are:

• Access to affordable transportation for older adults particularly for medical appointments and essential errands, but also social, civic, and wellness programs.
• Supportive services like access to two-person assist transportation services to help fulfill a rider's "total trip."
• Encouraging active transportation and walking as a safe option for older adults through increasing sidewalk infrastructure and curb ramps in every community.

In addition, the plan discusses “amplify[ing] current mobility resources for older adults and where feasible, encourage and support regional approaches to scale efforts, such as in rural communities.” This includes promotion of regional mobility management as a tool to help address information gaps and promote awareness of Ride Match (a project of GATRA) as a centralized database of transportation information. You can review the Plan here.

MassDOT Funding Opportunities and Training

Helping Hand Mini Grant Applications are open!
Helping Hand Mini Grant Applications awards small grants (of up to $1000) to fund transportation-related capital costs. Though all participants can apply to the Helping Hand program, rural/small urban providers are prioritized. Applications are due on July 11, 2025.

Upcoming MArtap and MAurbanTAP Driver Trainings
The Massachusetts Transit Assistance Programs provide free driver training to transportation providers in Massachusetts. Transit authorities, Councils on Aging, non-profit providers serving rural areas, and transportation providers who are recipients of vehicles or grants through MassDOT's Community Transit Grant Program are eligible. Register for classes, including Passenger Assistance, Disability Awareness, and Defensive Driving.

Upcoming Virtual Training and Webinars

AARP & WalkMassachusetts present Walk Audits: Making Communities More Walkable
June 12, 11:30-12:00pm EST
Join this webinar to explore key tools and strategies communities can use to improve walkability. Register here.

Training by EasterSeals Project Action
EasterSeals Project Action is offering a number of upcoming trainings for community transportation providers and others working with individuals with disabilities.

National Rural Transit Assistance presents: Opportunities for Rural Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
June 18, 1:00-2:30pm EST
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) melds various transportation options into a single, user-friendly platform, allowing customers to plan, book, and pay for their journeys in one place. The webinar will include a demonstration on how scheduling and dispatch software can interface with existing MaaS platforms to seamlessly connect customers to fixed-route and demand-responsive transit, along with carshare, vanpool, taxi, and ridehail services. Register here.

AARP: Addressing Transportation Challenges
AARP Livable Communities will present a webinar on addressing transportation challenges for older adults on July 8th 3:00-4:00pm. Register here.

The Road to Multimodal Connectivity: Shaping the New Future of Public Transportation
July 10, 2:00-3:00pm EST
Public transportation is evolving beyond buses and trains. In this session, Paul Comfort, host of Transit Unplugged, explores how agencies and communities can connect transit, intercity rail, shared mobility, microtransit, active transportation, and more into one seamless rider experience. The webinar also from National Rural Transit Assistance Program will dive into how inter-agency cooperation, integrated fare systems, and emerging technologies are driving a new era of mobility. Register here.

Blog Post: National Aging and Disability Transportation Center

National Aging and Disability Transportation Center has published a new blog post: Playing the Long Game: How to Grasp All the Pieces and ‘Win’ the Mobility Management Game by Kristin Lam Peraza, the Director of Regional Mobility Programming and Partnerships for the Rappahannock Rapidan Regional Commission, a One-call, One-Click Mobility Center in rural Virginia. This piece describes the power in using a mobility management strategic perspective to enhance coordination across programs.

National Center for Applied Transit Technology: Small Agency Survey

N-CATT is conducting a survey to help create resources and workshops to make data as useful a tool as possible for small transit agencies who may not have dedicated staff for data collection. The survey will close on June 14th. Take the survey here.

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You can read past issues of the MassMobility newsletter in our archive