The Maryland Transit Administration's (MTA) ongoing effort to provide safe reliable transportation to individuals who receive public assistance, and other low income individuals and families, recently awarded $3.7 million dollars to several local organizations.

The MTA's Office of Local Transit Support announced the names of recipients for its Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) and New Freedom Program (NF) Program grants.

The JARC program provides funding for transportation services that connect welfare recipients and other low income individuals to employment and employment-related activities, and for transporting residents of urbanized and non-urbanized areas to suburban employment opportunities. The New

Freedom Program (NF) provides funding for expanding the transportation mobility options available to persons with disabilities beyond the requirements of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Projects funded through these programs must be derived from the Coordinated Transit-Human Services Transportation Plans for the respective regions applying for the grants. Organizations work with the Maryland Coordinating Committee for Human Services Transportation, and funding is made available through funding through the Section 5316 (Job Access and Reverse Commute - JARC) and Section 5317 (New Freedom) Programs.