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The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are jointly developing a coordination resource, the Transportation Coordination Toolkit, to assist states and communities in their efforts to improve access to transportation services for persons with special mobility needs. Many of these persons need specialized transportation to access the human service programs funded by HHS. To address the overlapping responsibilities, the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility was created, and is jointly staffed by DOT and HHS.

The initial piece in the Transportation Coordination Toolkit is a guide to coordinating transportation planning for programs in DOT and HHS. This guide addresses the specific information necessary to coordinate the transportation resources of various programs of DOT and HHS. The potential benefits from coordinating transportation services include increased service levels, increased mobility for all consumers, better quality of service for riders, cost savings, upgraded maintenance programs, better reporting and record keeping, more equitable cost sharing between participating agencies and individuals, more professional delivery of transportation services, and safer transportation services.

This guide provides details on 12 HHS programs and 11 DOT programs. Together, these 23 programs provide almost $10 billion annually to assist transportation systems to provide trips for persons with special transportation needs. However, there are over 70 federal programs in which some aspect of transportation services is an allowable use of funds, and the need for information on these programs will be addressed in a future tool, a compilation of these Federal-funding sources called "Building Mobility Partnerships."