Overview

The Orange County Enhanced Mobility for Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (EMSD) Program was developed to support local agencies in the delivery of FTA 5310 eligible activities, retaining all beneficial elements of the federal program using local funding. The EMSD program offers grant funding for capital (vehicles and equipment) and operating mobility management and operating assistance) type projects.

Consistent with the FTA 5310 program, the OC EMSD Program is intended to meet the transportation needs of older adults and people with disabilities when transportation services provided are unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate to meet these needs. The goals of the OC EMSD are to:

• Improve the mobility for seniors and individuals with disabilities in Orange County.
• Support local agencies and non-profits providing service within their communities.
• Augment the OCTA Senior Mobility Program, OC ACCESS, and OC Bus fixed-route service.
• Provide seamless service through improved first- and last-mile connections.
• Incorporate and encourage technology-based solutions to improve mobility options.
• Promote non-profit and public agency outreach to senior and disabled patrons with an emphasis in reaching disadvantaged, underrepresented, and/or diverse communities to ensure services will meet their needs.
• Prioritize funding for agencies that:
  • Collaborate through partnerships to create efficiencies and lower operating costs for service, and/or
  • Increase vehicle revenue hours beyond the minimum ten hours per week.

Announcements

On May 28, 2024, the OCTA Board of Directors (Board) approved the use of up to $8.5 million for the 2024 EMSD Call for Projects using local funding support based on Federal Transit Administration Section 5310 (FTA 5310) amounts allocated to Orange County. The staff report can be viewed here. See approved guidelines and official application templates under Application Materials.

On November 25, 2024 , the OCTA Board approved the award of $8,623,864 million in local funding to 22 applications submitted for consideration of funding through the EMSD Program. For this call for projects, 33 grant applications were received for capital and operating assistance. Additionally, the Board authorized staff to utilize a contingency list for capital applications in the event an awarded capital project is cancelled and to direct any unused program funding to support OC ACCESS service The staff report can be viewed here.

Please refer to the Programming Recommendations list for the most up-to-date status of EMSD project applications.

• 2024 EMSD Programming Recommendations List

Program Workshops, Office Hours, and Workshop Materials

OCTA staff hosted a program information session on April 17, 2024, at 1:30 PM via Teams.

• Click here for Program Guidelines Workshop Presentation.
• View Program Workshop Presentation Recording

OCTA will also be offering one-to-one style applicant discussions upon request from June 3 – June 7. Reach out to Staff or the general inquiry email below to discuss your options about setting up a meeting or if you have questions about filling out applications.

Schedule (Subject to Change)

Application Materials

• 2024 EMSD Guidelines – Approved as of 5.28.24
• Operating Application Template – Updated* and final as of 5.28.24
• Capital Application Template – Updated* and final as of 5.28.24
• 
  *See yellow highlight for updated sections of application templates in these versions:
  - Operating Application with yellow highlight updates
  - Capital Application with yellow highlight updates
  

Submittal Instructions

The application templates provided above will be the only acceptable forms of applications, applications not following these templates will not be considered.

No hard copy applications will be accepted. Electronic application submittals must be made by uploading project applications to the OC EMSD Program SharePoint site. Please contact Denise Sifford at dsifford1@octa.net (714) 560-5489 or Vic Mireles at vmireles@octa.net (714) 560-5025 to or the general inquiry email at OCTAEMSD@octa.net to set-up agency/organizational access when the submittal date approaches. OCTA recommends inquiring about access one to two weeks before the submittal date of June 27, 2024.

Additional Resources

• Program Materials
  • EMSD Fact Sheet
  • EMSD FAQ
• Documents
  • 2020 OCTA Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan
    • 2024 OCTA Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan Outreach Page – Plan under development
  • Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) Website
    • PASS Basic Online Course
  • Federal Transit Administration Mobility Management Brochure
  • Federal Transit Administration Operating Assistance Projects Appendix
  • Section 5310 – Federal Transit Administration – for reference
  • Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) Website
    • TSI's Course Catalog
  • US DOT Drug and Alcohol Testing Management Information System (MIS) Data Collection Form
  • US DOT FTA Circular 9070.1G
  • USC Title 49 Subtitle III Chapter 53 § 5310

Contact Information