Move Together NY Project Summary - 2019

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Move Together NY’s (MTNY) primary goal is to improve transportation access to health care and employment, particularly in rural areas, where cross county travel is required.  We do this largely by gathering information and input from a wide range of stakeholders, identifying gaps, common problems, and strategizing to create collaborative, regionally focused transportation solutions. Project objectives are largely demand driven, based on what partners have identified as needed and useful.

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We have built relationships with mobility managers, transportation, human services and health care professionals with the goal of collaborating to create a more connected inter-county transportation system.   Move Together NY has developed a set of online resources to serve as the foundation for future planning and decision making, that includes an interactive mapping tool, a “crowd sourced” online directory of transportation services, a set of county fact sheets, and new in 2019, educational resources for new mobility management professionals.

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Geographic Scope: 

Core Counties were originally based on 2013 Regional Transportation Study (RTS) and included Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca, Tompkins, and Tioga.  

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Based on the location of regional medical centers and expressed interest in participating in the project, we have expanded to include Livingston, Ontario, Steuben, Monroe, Onondaga, Broome,  Chenango, Delaware and Otsego counties.

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Main Project Objectives:

1. Provide support and resources to transportation providers and decision-makers that lead to improvements in cross-county transportation services.

2. Engage and organize outreach opportunities with stakeholders interested in improving rural, cross-county mobility.  These include mobility service providers, mobility managers, employers, human service agencies, health care professionals, business and community organizations, educational institutions, community members, and local governments.

3. Explore and promote new and innovative strategies and technologies that are appropriate for our region, and can support more efficient and cost-effective use of transportation options.

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Based on public outreach and feedback received – Major projects have included:

• County Fact Sheets - provide a summary of key demographics, transportation services, health and medical facilities and commute flows for the core counties in the region.

• Interactive Online Map - similar to information in fact sheets above, but allows users filter items displayed, zoom in and out, click on locations/transit routes to receive more detailed information, measure distances between points. Includes all transit routes with frequency, large employers and medical centers, as well as demographic information and census data.

• Directory of Services Website Page – in develeopment

• Schuyler-Tompkins Bus Route – Recommended bus Route and schedule connecting Watkins Glen/Schuyler Hospital with Cayuga Medical Center/ Ithaca, and developed promotional materials/schedule for the route

• Supports for Health – Facilitated a multi-county funding application for a transportation voucher program to support Medicaid enrollees in accessing health related needs outside of trips to the doctor.

• News on the Move - Quarterly Newsletter gathers key information on events and mobility management initiatives throughout the region, as well as other interesting projects throughout the state

• Annual Partner Provider Meetings - These are held throughout the region, with the intent of bringing together multiple sectors and mobility providers to facilitate collaborative mobility solutions and improvements.

  • 2017 Partner Provider Meeting – Focused on benefits, barriers and solutions to increasing regional collaboration and coordination

    • 2017 Results:  MTNY researched

      • How technical transportation information presented by NYSDOT (specifically Operating Authority Regulations) could be simplified to ease the burden on small programs with limited staff time

      • How the 5311 Application and guidelines could encourage regional project applications

    • And made policy recommendations at the state level on the following:

      • State Operating Assistance (STOA): making 6 passenger mini vans eligible for STOA funding

  • 2018 Partner Provider Meeting - Focused on volunteer driver programs throughout the region, and possibilities for coordination.  

    • 2018 Results: Volunteer driver programs were added to the interactive map and some best practices were added as a resource for programs to reference and use to start or expand their programs. 

    • There will be additional discussions and explorations of the interest in, and possibilities for, coordination of programs regionally.

• Upstate NY Mobility Manager Meeting-

  • ​ June 2018, this meeting gathered mobility managers from across NYS to discuss relevant topics, as identified by the participants.

  • August 2019 New York Mobility Managers Workshop to discuss forming a formal NY Mobility Managers association.