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Administrative Order No. 254

I, Sean Parnell, Governor of the State of Alaska, under the authority of Art. III, Secs. 1 and 24 of the Alaska Constitution, re-establish the Governor’s Coordinated Transportation Task Force (task force).

Purpose

The provision and integration of cost-effective, community-based transportation services to persons with special needs or special circumstances, such as homeless youth, is an important government function. The purpose of this Order re-establishing the task force is to complete the assessment of this function and determine measures to provide these services in a cost-efficient and effective manner.

Background

Coordination among agencies providing community-based transportation services to persons with special needs or special circumstances, and the sharing of resources to accomplish a cost-effective system of providing those services, already have a proven track record in this state. This coordination has increased the availability and quality of services, while helping to eliminate duplication of services and inefficient spending. With the cooperation of other State agencies, the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities currently prepares the Alaska public transportation management system inventory of publicly funded transportation vehicles and equipment in this state, in order to facilitate the delivery of those services. The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ efforts to coordinate those services have already led to significant partnerships with human services agencies and the private sector. These partnerships have led to coordinated community-based transportation systems throughout the state.

This coordination and sharing of transportation resources may be furthered through improved interagency planning at the State, federal, and local levels. Therefore, the role of the task force is to facilitate and enhance the coordination and integration of community-based public transportation services for the benefit of persons with special needs or special circumstances. The task force would maximize the availability of community-based transportation services, the sharing of transportation resources among government and private entities providing those services, and the coordination among providers of those services.

On February 11, 2010, the Governor’s Coordinated Transportation Task Force created under Administrative Order No. 243 delivered a report of recommendations to the Governor. The first recommendation proposed reconstitution of the task force for another limited period, to complete the work started with the initial effort and to perform additional tasks.

Duties

The Governor’s Coordinated Transportation Task Force shall serve as the advisory committee to the Governor to develop policy and procedural recommendations for existing programs of State, federal, and local agencies that provide or coordinate community-based transportation services in communities in this state for persons with special needs or special circumstances. These programs are administered primarily through the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Education and Early Development, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, the Alaska Commission on Aging, the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education, the Alaska Mental Health Board, the Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, and other agencies.

The task force shall perform the following duties:

  1. Gather detailed information on:
    1. customer bases served;
    2. the manner and type of service provided;
    3. the costs for each program; and
    4. the range of financing available to State, federal, and local government agencies and private entities that administer or support community-based transportation services for persons with special needs or special circumstances;
  2. Analyze and make recommendations to determine improved ways agencies and private entities can coordinate and combine services to achieve cost savings in the state’s largest city, Anchorage, and in other communities as the task force’s resources permit;
  3. Perform a needs assessment to quantify transportation demands for persons with special needs or special circumstances, and recommend the removal of barriers that prevent coordination of these services to meet those demands;
  4. Generate a draft coordinated transportation action plan that articulates a shared statewide vision for human service public transportation and formulates the recommendations of the first report into outcome-based strategies;
  5. Review existing federal-aid programs related to urban, rural, and tribal transit services in the state and propose recommended strategies for the Administration to pursue as part of the re-authorization of the new federal surface transportation program;
  6. Recommend specific strategies to implement the urban, rural, and tribal elements of the new federal surface transportation program;
  7. Propose draft legislation or other strategies that support the coordinated infrastructure use of State, federal, and local resources;
  8. Propose changes in federal statutes and regulations that would allow for federal transportation activities and funding to be coordinated with the efforts of State, local, and private organizations;
  9. Prepare and issue a final report, including recommendations, concerning the duties set out in this Order.

Membership

The task force consists of 12 voting members, as follows:

  1. The commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, or the commissioner’s designee;
  2. The commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services, or the commissioner’s designee;
  3. The commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, or the commissioner’s designee;
  4. The commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, or the commissioner’s designee;
  5. The commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, or the commissioner’s designee;
  6. The commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, or the commissioner’s designee;
  7. The chair of the board of trustees of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, or the chair’s designee;
  8. Five members, as follows:
    1. Three of whom have expertise in the transportation needs of the following populations:
      1. senior citizens;
      2. persons with disabilities or special circumstances;
      3. low-income individuals;
      4. transit-dependent individuals;
    2. two of whom represent the following:
      1. municipalities;
      2. transportation providers that receive federal funding available to Indian tribes, including financing provided under 23 U.S.C. 204(j) and 49 U.S.C. 5311(c).

The Governor shall designate the chair of the task force from among the voting members.

Members on the task force appointed under Paragraph 7 of this Order are appointed by the Governor and serve at the pleasure of the Governor.

Additionally, the commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall invite the following agencies to name an advisor to the task force as a non-voting member:

  1. The United States Department of Health and Human Services;
  2. The Federal Transit Administration of the United States Department of Transportation;
  3. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs;
  4. A representative of the Anchorage School District or a school district within the state.

Other Provisions

The task force may set operating procedures as bylaws and establish standing and work-group committees, as it considers appropriate. Work-group committees may include individuals who are not members of the task force.

Task force members do not receive compensation as a member of the task force. Members of the task force who are not State, federal, or local government employees are entitled to per diem and travel expenses in the same manner permitted for members of State boards and commissions. Per diem and travel expenses for a member of the task force who is a representative of a government agency are the responsibility of that agency.

The task force may use teleconferencing or other electronic means, to the extent practicable, in order to gain the widest public participation at minimum cost.

Meetings of the task force shall be conducted, and notice of regular meetings provided, in accordance with AS 44.62.310 and 44.62.312 (open meetings of governmental bodies). A majority of appointed voting members of the task force constitutes a quorum for conducting business.

Records of the task force are subject to inspection and copying as public records under AS 40.25.110 – 40.25.220.

Support Services

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall provide administrative support for the task force.

Duration

The task force shall forward its final report to the Governor on or before January 15, 2012, or 18 months after the effective date of this Order, whichever is later. The task force ceases to exist on the date that the report is forwarded to the Governor.

Transition

A member of the task force established under Administrative Order 243, along with other persons, may apply to the Governor’s office for consideration of an appointment to the task force established under this Order.

Definitions

In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires:

  1. “Alaska public transportation management system” means the principal capital planning document prepared by the State for public transportation;
  2. “Community-based transportation services” does not include the following:
    1. marine highway transportation or air transportation;
    2. transportation services for diffuse population areas within the state that are too remote for cost-effective centralized community-based transportation;
  3. “Persons with disabilities” includes persons in this state with one or more of the following:
    1. physical disabilities;
    2. developmental disabilities;
    3. mental illness;
    4. traumatic brain injury;
    5. dementia;
    6. substance abuse disorders;
  4. “Persons with special needs” means the following persons in this state who require community-based transportation services:
    1. senior services;
    2. persons with disabilities;
    3. low-income individuals, including those receiving public assistance or Medicaid;
  5. “Services” means community-based transportation services delivered in this state;
  6. “Task force” means the Governor’s Coordinated Transportation Task Force.

This Order takes effect immediately.

DATED at Anchorage, Alaska this 9th day of July, 2010.

/s/Sean Parnell
Governor

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