Mobility management: the people and programs that connect riders to transportation
Mobility management is coordination work that helps people find and use the transportation around them. Federal transit law defines it as short-range planning and management that improves coordination among public transportation and other transportation providers, and it excludes running the rides. FTA grants such as Section 5310 can pay for it, and its core task is pointing each rider to a service that fits.
On this page
What the term means
Mobility management is a job and a funding category at the same time. Federal transit law, 49 U.S.C. 5302, lists it among capital projects and defines it as short-range planning and management activities that improve coordination among public transportation and other transportation providers. The same definition leaves out operating public transportation services.
The technical assistance center run for FTA and the federal Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility describes it in plainer terms. It calls mobility management a customer-centered approach in which transportation providers, planners, and community groups plan services together. A core part of the work is information and referral, so people can learn about and use the rides available in their community and region.
Who mobility managers are
Federal law has the work carried out by a transit grant recipient or subrecipient under an agreement. State programs show who that is in practice. Arizona gives a concrete picture. Its transportation department funds regional mobility management through councils of governments and metropolitan planning organizations, each covering a whole planning region. The funded agency keeps a regional plan that lists the eligible Section 5310 agencies and projects, ranks them, and makes sure services do not duplicate each other.
Texas encourages its transit districts to join mobility management consortiums and regional planning groups for human service transportation.
Where NEMT fits
A mobility manager works across funding sources, and Medicaid is only one of them.
| Role | What it does | Who pays for the ride |
|---|---|---|
| Mobility manager | Plans, coordinates, and refers riders to services | Does not pay for or operate rides |
| NEMT broker | Arranges Medicaid rides for eligible members under a state or plan contract | Medicaid, through the broker |
| NEMT provider | Drives the trip | Paid by the broker, plan, agency, facility, or rider |
CMS calls Medicaid the payer of last resort. It pays for a ride only when the member has no other way to reach a covered service. So a rider a mobility manager helps may belong with the state’s NEMT broker, or with transit, paratransit, a volunteer program, or a paid ride. CMS also takes part in the federal coordinating council and works with FTA on linking Medicaid and transit.
Working with mobility managers
- Join the coordinated plan. Every Section 5310 project has to appear in the region’s coordinated plan for transit and human services rides, a plan written locally. Federal law requires the process behind that plan to include representatives of private transportation providers, so ask for a seat at the meetings.
- Tell them what you run. Service levels, counties, hours, and private-pay rates help them refer the right riders to you.
- Sell rides to grant holders. Section 5310 treats the acquisition of public transportation services as an eligible capital expense, so a grant holder can buy service instead of running it. The Section 5310 grants guide explains when a private company qualifies.
- Be easy to book. A referral is only useful if the rider can get a quote and a pickup time quickly.
Taking referrals
When a mobility manager sends you a rider, you can add the ride in HealthRide in seconds, priced from your own rates, and assign it with one motion on the dispatch board. The rider then gets a text with a link that shows when the driver will arrive.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a mobility manager the same as a NEMT broker?
- No. A NEMT broker arranges and pays for Medicaid rides under a contract with the state or a health plan. A mobility manager coordinates services and points riders to them, across many funding sources. Federal law keeps operating public transportation outside the definition of mobility management, so the mobility manager is a connector, not a carrier or a payer.
- How is mobility management paid for?
- Federal transit law counts mobility management as a capital project, so FTA grant programs such as Section 5310 can fund it. Arizona's transportation department, for example, can cover up to 80 percent of regional mobility management costs with federal money, and the applicant supplies the other 20 percent from local funds.
- Can a private NEMT company receive mobility management grants?
- Usually not directly. In Arizona, only councils of governments, metropolitan planning organizations, or an entity covering an entire planning region can apply for regional mobility management funds. Private companies can still take part through the coordinated planning process, and by selling rides to agencies that hold the grants where the state program allows it.
- How do I find the mobility manager for my area?
- Start with your state transportation department's Section 5310 program page and your region's coordinated public transit and human services transportation plan. In Arizona, councils of governments and metropolitan planning organizations manage the regional plans and hold the regional mobility management grants.
