WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded two grants totaling $3,561,800 for transportation improvements and access to transportation employment in Iowa. Harkin is a senior member of the Senate panel that funds transportation initiatives.
“Providing funding for transportation improvements can take on many forms in our state: from ensuring access to jobs in this field, providing easy access to information about point to point public transit or coordinating rideshare and other opportunities,” said Harkin. “I am particularly pleased that with the funding announced today, veterans, military families, individuals with disabilities and others, will be able to connect to jobs and services in their communities.”
Details of the grants are as follows:
Iowa Department of Transportation – $ 1,511,800 to help create a one-call/one-click resource to allow veterans, persons with disabilities, seniors, and the general public to access information about transportation and other human service resources across the state. Also included with this project is the purchase of rideshare matching software to connect people who are willing to drive with people who need a ride to a common location.
Transit Authority of the City of Omaha – a combined $2.05 million to upgrade fare equipment technology for paratransit services and other transit providers in the Omaha region. The grant will also help to better coordinate reservations, fare payment, identification of customers and other information that will be incorporated into the Midlands One-Call Transportation Center that is being developed by the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area Planning Agency.
