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The French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will be holding three transportation needs identification workshops, one in Hendersonville on Friday, March 28, one in Asheville on Tuesday, April 1, and one in Waynesville Thursday, April 3. The purpose of the workshops is to identify transportation needs, gaps and barriers, especially among people who are disabled, aging, or have low incomes in the MPO’s three counties, as well as to identify strategies to address those needs. The information gathered at the public workshops will go into the Coordinated Public Transportation and Human Services Transportation Plan for the MPO, which will be used in applying for and competitively distributing Federal Transit Administration funds under the Job Access and Reverse Commute program, also called JARC, and the New Freedom program. There will be $364,493 in funding available for JARC and $228,799 for New Freedom. The information gathered at the workshops will also be made available to each of the 18 MPO member governments for their planning purposes. The plan developed with information from these meetings will be used to apply for and distribute Federal Transit Administration Job Access and Reverse Commute, also called JARC, and New Freedom grant funding. All projects that are funded by the JARC or New Freedom program must respond to needs identified in the plan. JARC targets access to employment and employment-related activities for people with incomes below 150% of the poverty line, and also supports reverse commute, which is commuting that has been brought on by job locations moving to suburban locations. Private non-profit organizations, public entities, and operators of public transportation services are eligible to compete for project funding under JARC. The New Freedom program enhances transportation for people with disabilities beyond what is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, also know as the ADA. It supports new public transportation or new alternatives to public transportation, which exceed the requirements of the ADA or are not required under the ADA. Private non-profit organizations, public entities, and operations of public transportation services are eligible to receive New Freedom grant funds. A “new” service under this grant program is described by the Federal Transit Administration as one that was not operational or did not have an identified funding source on August 10, 2005. The Hendersonville workshop will be on Friday, March 28, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., in the Henderson County Meeting Room, 100 King Street, Hendersonville. The Asheville workshop will be on Tuesday, April 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Asheville Public Works Conference Room, 191 South Charlotte Street, Asheville. The Waynesville workshop will be on Thursday, April 3, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Lower Level Meeting Room of the Haywood County Public Library, 678 South Haywood Street, Waynesville. Library officials ask that if you drive to the meeting in Waynesville, please park in the lot behind the LandMark apartments. These will be facilitated workshops with a beginning and an ending, rather than drop-in format meetings. Each meeting will have the same purpose and use the same process. Interested people may attend whichever meeting is more convenient. The French Broad River MPO is committed to enabling participation in the public process. Accommodations will be made for people with disabilities, for people who need a translator to participate, or for people who are dependent on public transportation that does not serve any of the meeting sites or times. Request assistance as early as possible, but at least 48 hours in advance, by contacting the French Broad River MPO at (828) 232-4540, by email at mpo@ashevillenc.gov, or regular mail at P.O. Box 7148, Asheville, NC 28802. The Coordinated Public Transportation and Human Services Transportation Plan developed with information from the workshops will be adopted by the French Broad River MPO’s governing body, the Transportation Advisory Committee, which is made up of elected representatives from each of the eighteen local governments which make up the MPO. They include Buncombe, Haywood, and Henderson County, and each of the incorporated municipalities in the three counties. (Image provided by French Broad River Metropolitan.)
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