CCRTA Response to a Weather Emergency
Despite the current heat of July, most of us still remember the severity of this past winter -- and that is especially true for those who live on Cape Cod. On February 22nd, a blizzard swept into Massachusetts – with damaging winds and double-digit snow accumulation - resulting in widespread power outages, a temporary travel ban, and a disaster declaration by the Governor. The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority answered that regions call for help during this challenging time by providing rides, delivering meals, and supporting the needs of residents.
I recently spoke with CCRTA about the coordinated response from a wide variety of partners during this challenging time. According to CCRTA’s Administrator, John Kennedy, “CCRTA is not in the bus business, we are in the people and service business and requirements for service sometimes change and change dramatically in a short period of time.”
CCRTA worked with the Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee (BCREPC), a group of over 150 organizations that meet regularly to coordinate response efforts. Because of regular communication with this group both prior to, during, and just after the snow and wind event, CCRTA was able to help fill in gaps in the response efforts.
The community identified two major needs that CCRTA had the expertise and staffing to help with. Once warming stations and temporary shelters were identified, the Regional Transit Authority gave rides to thousands of people (and their pets!) to and from those shelters. They also delivered needed medications and other emergency supplies. In addition, CCRTA helped to deliver meals for the Family Table Collaborative (FTC), a local nonprofit that addresses food insecurity. FTC generally relies on volunteers to help deliver meals, but because of the severity of the storm volunteers were not comfortable driving. CCRTA stepped in to deliver over 17,000 nutritious meals to Cape Cod residents temporarily stuck in their homes or without power. They hope to continue that relationship into the future.
CCRTA emphasized the critical role played by their drivers, maintenance staff, fuelers, and dispatchers who worked throughout the storm to provide for the needs within the region. These crews kept the fleet running and even shoveled out residents who needed it when they were getting picked up or returned home.
Supportive transportation services like CCRTA provide an everyday lifeline, helping residents to live, work, and play across Massachusetts. For this emergency event, transportation became essential for many vulnerable residents and CCRTA answered that need.
Funding Resources
The 2026 MassDOT Helping Hand Mini Grant Program is now open. The program awards eligible recipients with grants of up to $1,000 (a 10% local match is required) to fund transportation related capital costs. Though all participants can apply to the Helping Hand program, rural/small urban providers are prioritized.The application deadline is 5PM on Friday, July 24th.
In addition, MassDOT’s Shared Streets and Spaces grant program is open. Every municipality and regional transit authority in Massachusetts is eligible to apply. The grant program focuses on quick build projects to improve plazas, sidewalks, curbs, streets, bus stops, parking areas, and other public spaces in support of public health, safe mobility, and strengthened commerce.The deadline to apply is August 7th.
The Complete Streets Grant Program for municipalities is also currently open with a focus on addressing gaps in local transportation networks by supporting streets that provide safe and accessible options for all travel modes.The deadline to apply is August 7th.
MassDOT Innovations Webinar
Many social services agencies, municipalities, and transportation providers in Massachusetts conduct periodic needs assessments to identify transportation barriers. In partnership with MassDOT, researchers from the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging in the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston reviewed 216 of these needs assessments to identify what patterns emerged. The findings indicate that transportation challenges are best understood not as isolated modal deficiencies, but as interconnected mobility limitations shaped by the interaction between individual capacity, community environments, and transportation system design. Read the full report and join a webinar on July 23rd at 2PM to hear what they learned.
Other Upcoming Webinars
WalkMassachusetts will host a Coffee and Crosswalks Neighborhood Safety Chat via Zoom on July 15th at 1PM. This roundtable conversation will discuss pedestrian safety issues and provide an opportunity for users to share stories from their own personal experiences.
Finally, National Rural Transit Assistance Program is hosting a Rural Transit Day Zoom Chat on July 16th at 2PM.
Two new resources from National RTAP
National RTAP has published a new Rural and Tribal Areas Technical Brief on Mobility Management that serves as an resource for community transportation providers and other stakeholders to build more coordinated and inter connected transportation systems.
In addition, RTAP has published a resource on creating Seamless Rides for users and how agencies can think about creating coordinated demand response systems across organizations -- particularly through the use of technology and a shared data standard that allows software systems to communicate.
Paul W. Spooner Generational Leadership Summit
The Paul W. Spooner Generational Leadership Summit seeks applications for the annual Summit, November 16th-18th, 2026. The Summit empowers emerging activists and community leaders from across the Commonwealth to champion access, inclusion, and independence for all. Approximately 20 new and emerging leaders are brought together with experienced leaders to discuss the future of disability advocacy and what can be learned learn from the past. To be eligible, you must be 18 years of age or older and experience a disability. The deadline for the application is July 27th.
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