Municipal Transit Assistance for People with Disabilities Program

2008 - 2009 BUDGET:     Operating     $2,375,000
                                             Capital          $   275,000

Background

• The provincial government’s role is primarily to provide financial assistance to participating cities and towns in support of special needs transportation services for persons with disabilities.  Provincial support is provided because special needs transportation (paratransit) provides a critical link to social services and health clients and public housing residents for various purposes, as well as being essential to meet the needs of persons with disabilities.
• The participating municipalities are responsible for determining operating arrangements as they are considered to be in the best position to determine the needs of their community.  They make decisions with respect to hours of operation, eligibility criteria, fee structure and service providers.
• Today in the province, there are 76 communities with Municipal Transit Assistance for People with Disabilities services. Currently, the program is not available to municipalities for new service due to budget constraints.
• In consultation with the cities and SUMA the ministry redesigned the Municipal Transit Assistance for People with Disabilities (TFD) Program to a performance-based program, rather than funding the operating deficits incurred by each participating municipality.  The new performance-based operating grant funding formula uses the number of public service trips each municipality provides in the previous year and community population to calculate the operating grants.
• Riders constitute a mixture of persons across the province; young and old, persons with physical or mental disabilities, wheelchair passengers and ambulatory passengers.
• For the 2008-2009 Operating Grant, each participating municipality will receive a per trip amount, depending on the number of trips provided by the municipality for the 2007 calendar year. Communities have been grouped in four (population) categories for the per trip amounts – under 2,500; 2,501 to 20,000; 20,001 to 100,000 and 100,001 or more.  The population figures are obtained through Statistics Canada census (2006).
• The municipality must submit a “Form D – Application for Operating Assistance” either annually or quarterly (cities).  The form is available on line, please see below. 
• In the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the Municipal Transit Assistance for People with Disabilities Program – Capital Funding will provide funding for the replacement of 5 vehicles.  Since 1998-1999 the TFD - Capital Funding and the Centenary Fund have provided funding for over 100 replacement vehicles to the 76 participating municipalities.  The municipality must submit a “Form A – Application for Grant Approval” by November 1 of each year for funding consideration in the subsequent provincial fiscal year.  The form is available on line, please see below.

For further information contact:

Ministry of Municipal Affairs
Grants Administration and Financial Management
410 – 1855 Victoria Avenue
REGINA  SK  S4P 3T2
Contact:  Lynn Hendry, Program Advisor

Phone:  (306) 787-3088
Fax:  (306) 787-3641
E-mail:  lynn.hendry@gov.sk.ca

On line Application Forms

See the "Related Documents" section below for the following forms can be completed on your computer and then printed out and mailed to the department.  

• Form A – Application for Grant Approval
• Form D – Application for Operating Assistance
• Operating Arrangements report
• Vehicle Status Report