New Jersey-2024-A2290-Introduced

An Act concerning the paratransit best practices pilot program and amending P.L.2020, c.114.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 3 of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-37) is amended to read as follows:

3. For the purposes of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-35 et seq.):

"Community organization" means an organization that provides programs and services to persons with disabilities.

"Corporation" means the New Jersey Transit Corporation.

"Corporation paratransit service" means the paratransit service that is managed, administered, or provided directly through the New Jersey Transit Corporation's operating budget, as a part of the Access Link program or any successor program to meet the requirements of the "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990" (42 U.S.C. s.12101 et seq.), and does not include services directly provided by county transit agencies.

"County transit agency" means a transportation service organized under or in conjunction with a county government to provide trips to senior citizens and residents with disabilities under the "Senior Citizen and Disabled Resident Transportation Assistance Act," P.L.1983, c.578 (C.27:25-25 et seq.).

"Department" means, unless another meaning clearly applies, the Department of Human Services.

"Division" means the Division of Developmental Disabilities in the Department of Human Services.

"Northern region of the State" means the counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren.

"Paratransit provider" means any organization or entity that provides paratransit services, including State and local transit agencies, directly or through contract service, and community organizations that provide transportation trips, either directly or through a third party, funded by the Department of Human Services or the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

"Paratransit service" means and includes any transportation service other than fixed route transportation service, except that "paratransit service" does not include private or charter services provided by taxicabs, limousines, or transportation network companies.

"Southern region of the State" means the counties of Atlantic,

Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer,

Monmouth, Ocean, and Salem.

(cf: P.L.2020, c.114, s.3)

2. Section 5 of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-39) is amended to read as follows:

5. a. (1) The [New Jersey Transit Corporation] Division of Developmental Disabilities within the Department of Human Services, in consultation with the [Department of Human Services] New Jersey Transit Corporation, shall develop and implement a paratransit best practices pilot program.

(2) The [corporation] division, in consultation with the [department] corporation, shall select a qualified community organization to assist it in developing and implementing the pilot program. The qualified community organization shall meet the following criteria:

(a) the organization shall operate a facility that provides services to persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities;

(b) the organization shall directly provide paratransit services to persons with disabilities with those services paid, in whole or in part, by funds received from the Department of Human Services and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development;

(c) within the previous five years, the organization has received a Federal Transit Administration grant awarded by and administered through the New Jersey Transit Corporation for improvement to paratransit services;

(d) during the previous five-year period, the organization has demonstrated improvement in key performance metrics, including average trip time, vehicle accidents, and cost per passenger mile for paratransit services; and

(e) the organization provides transportation trips on a sufficient scale, including at least 250 daily trips under normal operating conditions.

b. Phase one of the pilot program shall include the following:

[A training module for paratransit best practices shall be developed jointly by the qualified community organization and the New Jersey Transit Corporation in consultation with the department] The division shall allow each qualified community organization that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section to submit a proposal to the division for the development of a training module for paratransit best practices. The training module shall include: (1) an integrated paratransit software package that includes trip generation and scheduling, GPS directions for drivers, a mobile application for users that allows for trip requests, confirmation of trip requests, and trip status updates, and a trip accounting system; (2) a driver safety system that includes dashboard cameras, incident monitoring, and driver training; (3) assistance in hiring staff if necessary to fully implement the transportation system and train existing staff in the use of new technologies and business processes; (4) a curriculum that educates agencies about fleet management and specialized driver training for the needs of paratransit users; (5) personalized agency culture training; and (6) agency training on how to develop synergies between optimal transportation practices and the other programmatic needs of paratransit providers who provide transportation trips funded by the Department of Human Services. Within 90 days from the date of enactment of P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the division shall select from the proposals submitted for the development of a training module the qualified community organization that is best suited to develop the training module, as determined by the division in consultation with the corporation. The selected qualified community organization shall establish a completed training module on or before the 180th day after the division selects the community organization pursuant to this section, which shall complete phase one of the pilot program. Following the completion of phase one of the pilot program and prior to the commencement of phase two, the corporation shall assume primary responsibility for the administration of the pilot program.

c. Phase two of the pilot program shall include the following:

The corporation, in consultation with the department, shall establish an application process where up to [five] six paratransit providers that provide transportation trips directly funded by the Department of Human Services or the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development are selected by the [corporation, in consultation with the] qualified community organization, in consultation with the corporation, to receive training in paratransit best practices from the qualified community organization. Three of the paratransit providers selected shall be from the southern region of the State and three of the paratransit providers selected shall be from the northern region of the State, provided that the paratransit providers selected from the southern region of the State and the northern region of the State, respectively, shall have overlapping service areas. When selecting service providers to receive training, the [corporation] qualified community organizationshall consider the cost for the paratransit provider to adopt these best practices, which may include but is not necessarily limited to the acquisition of new software, hiring of staff, and any necessary changes in vehicle fleet composition as well as potential savings that the paratransit provider will be likely to realize from reducing average trip time, vehicle accidents, and cost per passenger mile by adopting these best practices and the likelihood that those savings could self-fund the adoption of the best practices. Anyparatransit providers selected to participate in the pilot program shall receive training from the qualified community organization. The qualified community organization shall begin accepting applications from paratransit service providers no more than 30 days after the completion of phase one of the pilot program, and the qualified community organization shall select paratransit service providers to receive training pursuant to this subsection no more than 90 days after the date that the application period ends.

d. Phase three of the pilot program shall include the following:

(1) If the efficiencies realized by the paratransit providers that received training in phase two are sufficient to justify widespread adoption, then the corporation, in consultation with the department and the qualified community organization, shall expand the training program by further developing the module into a best practices training package designed in a manner that allows a paratransit provider to independently adopt the best practices and software on its own, or in conjunction with assistance provided generally through the paratransit coordinating councils established in accordance with section 6 of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-40). It is intended that this phase three training module shall allow for the eventual integration of paratransit services throughout the State. Integration of paratransit services shall mean the widespread adoption of the software package developed pursuant to phase one of the pilot program, or similarly compatible software package, so that requested trips by customers may be fulfilled, if possible, by any applicable paratransit provider, and that paratransit providers shall meet the minimum operating standards established by the New Jersey Transit Corporation so that those paratransit providers may compete for regular and routine Access Link trips under the revised Access Link program as described in section 4 of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-38).

If the efficiencies realized in phase two do not justify expansion of the training program further, then the corporation, in consultation with the department and the qualified community organization, shall determine an alternate method of integrating paratransit services throughout the State in a manner that allows paratransit providers that meet minimum operating standards to compete for regular and routine Access Link trips under the revised Access Link program as described in section 4 of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-38).

(2) The regional paratransit coordinating councils shall be established in accordance with section 6 of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-40).

e. The New Jersey Transit Corporation shall utilize the complete paratransit best practices training module, including the associated software package, when making changes to corporation paratransit service to comply with the requirements of section 4 of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-38).

f. (1) The New Jersey Transit Corporation shall enter into a contract with the qualified community organization that compensates the qualified community organization for its costs in developing the paratransit best practices training module as required for phase one of the pilot program as established in subsection b. of this section, and providing the training module as a publicly available resource that can be utilized by other paratransit providers in the State and used by the corporation for its own paratransit services. If phases one and two of the pilot program are determined to be successful, the corporation shall also enter into a contract with the qualified community organization to further develop the training module into a self-administered best practices training package as required for phase three of the pilot program in subsection d. of this section. The self-administered best practices training package shall also be a publicly available resource that can be utilized by other paratransit providers in the State and by the corporation for its own paratransit services.

(2) The corporation shall enter into a contract with the qualified community organization for the actual training of agencies under the pilot program, which shall include performance standards as the corporation shall deem appropriate to ensure that the agencies being trained are adequately prepared to implement safer, more efficient, user friendly, and customer focused transportation services.

(3) To the extent possible, the corporation shall require paratransit providers being trained under the program to first utilize operating savings resulting from adoption of the paratransit best practices training pilot program to fund the costs of software, staff, and equipment that may be required under the program, and limiting the overall costs of the program.

(cf: P.L.2020, c.114, s.5)

3. Of the monies appropriated to the New Jersey Transit Corporation pursuant to the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, P.L.2022, c.49, $6,000,000 shall be transferred to the Department of Human Services for the Division of Developmental Disabilities to develop and implement the paratransit best practices pilot program pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2020, c.114 (C.27:25-39).

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

The bill revises certain provisions of the paratransit best practices pilot program. The pilot program was established with the goal of better integrating the paratransit services within the State. Under the first phase of the pilot program, a paratransit best practices training module is to be developed. Under the second phase of the pilot program, certain paratransit providers are to receive training in paratransit best practices. Depending upon the success of phase two of the pilot program, phase three will involve either developing the training module into a best practices training package that other paratransit providers can adopt or a determination of some other method of integrating paratransit service so that paratransit providers meeting certain standards can compete for regular and routine paratransit trips.

The bill changes the entity bearing responsibility for developing and implementing phase one of the pilot program from the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJT) to the Division of Developmental Disabilities within the Department of Human Services (division). The bill authorizes qualified community organizations (organizations) to submit proposals for the development of the best practices training module to the division. The bill further requires the division, in consultation with the NJT, to select the organization best suited to develop the training module within 90 days from the date of the bill's enactment. Thereafter, the organization would be required to establish the completed training module on or before the 180th day after being selected by the division, thereby completing phase one of the pilot program.

Following completion of phase one, NJT would be required to assume primary responsibility for the administration of the pilot program. Under phase two, six paratransit providers would be selected by the organization, in consultation with NJT, with three chosen from the southern region of the State and three from the northern region of the State. The organization is required to begin accepting applications no more than 30 days after the completion of phase one and is required to select the paratransit providers that are to receive training no more than 90 days after the end of the application period.

Finally, the bill transfers $6 million, from the amounts appropriated to NJT under the FY2023 appropriations act, to the division for the purposes of developing and implementing the pilot program.