73-b. Legislative findings and purposes. The legislature hereby finds, determines, and declares that:
1. the inability of persons in rural areas to access public or private transportation services often is detrimental to the public health, safety and general welfare because such persons are thereby unable to receive regular medical care and public services, do shopping, participate in specialized recreation and education programs, and obtain employment;
2. the number and proportion of persons without access to essential transportation services in rural environs is alarmingly high and could increase in the future, thereby further increasing the demand for specialized transportation services in said areas;
3. added social burdens frequently fall upon state and local governments because of involuntary isolation of individuals and families in rural areas who are unable to obtain employment, public services, health care, educational or other essential human services;
4. lack of a comprehensive state policy to promote the development of coordinated public transportation services in the state's rural regions has inhibited the formation of such services, thereby contributing to a great disparity in the nature and levels of transportation services available in said rural areas and the inefficient use of many existing transportation resources;
5. such unique rural conditions as low population density, limitations of size and resources and the general absence of private common carriers call for more innovation and flexibility in the development of coordinated public transportation services in rural environs, which would include more intensive use of existing transportation services that may now service a single clientele and are frequently underutilized;
6. existing federal, state and local public transportation assistance programs are of vital importance in providing mobility to persons in rural areas of New York state, and increased coordination and more intensive use of such programs would or could increase the cost-effectiveness of these programs and enhance the availability of transportation services to those individuals and families in need; and
7. the establishment of a rural public transportation coordination assistance program would or could increase the mobility of individuals and families in the state's rural regions and make available to those in need more of the limited transportation resources that now exist.
8. the establishment of a rural transportation coordination assistance program is intended to be in addition to existing programs and services required of the department of transportation and this act shall in no manner or means detract from the other services, resources and programs now provided by such department.
Last modified: February 3, 2019