The City of Prince George and Quesnel partners with UWNBC to administer this program for two reasons:

• UWNBC is more connected with local social service agencies.
• To alleviate administration burdens in running the program.*

*UWNBC receives no financial support from the Cities to administer the TAP.

Providing Vouchers

The transit vouchers serve individuals within the community that need access to transportation to services and programs such as emergency needs, employment, education, medical, dental, social recreation, food, and shelter. The transit vouchers are mailed out to participating agencies by the end of the last week of the quarter for the next quarter’s voucher allotment.

Data Tracking

UWNBC tracks the data from the quarterly transit reports that agencies complete and send in regarding voucher usage. This process helps UWNBC ensure that the transit vouchers are being utilized properly (accountability) and so that the details about who is being supported and why can be provided to the applicable City organization (transparency). This information also helps with future decision-making when changes to the program occur and advocacy for the needs of the community.

Reporting

At the end of each quarter, UWNBC submits a summary report to each partner City. This quarterly report provides information on how the transit assistance program has served agencies and the vulnerable people accessing this support. This can also help inform each City on what allocation of vouchers would best serve their community for future development of the program. Without this information, the applicable City cannot properly assess effectiveness of this programming.

Reporting

Upon acceptance to the program, participating agencies receive a Transit Voucher Use Quarterly Report template that is to be completed and emailed to UWNBC within 5 business days of the end of the month after each quarter’s end (March 31, June 30, September 30, December 31) to report on voucher usage. This allows UWNBC to collate the reporting from each agency to develop important usage data on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. The collective data is used to create the report UWNBC provides to the partner Cities.

The report includes specific information about each voucher given out. Agencies must track the dates the vouchers are issued to individuals as well as indicate the reason it’s being issued (area of need) and the age group of the receiver (demographic).

This is a requirement of participation in the TAP. If an agency fails to report, they may be removed from the TAP and will be ineligible to receive tickets for the remainder of the current year. They may apply for subsequent years’ TAP, but their reporting record will be considered.

Missing or Late Reports

Agencies may be removed from the TAP if they fail to report to UWNBC per the agreed upon requirements.
UWNBC will endeavour to send reminders to participating agencies 1-week before the reporting deadline and on the day of the reporting deadline.
UWNBC will send notifications to the participating agencies who have not reported by the deadline to signal if they do not report immediately, they may be removed from the program.

Unused/Missing Vouchers

At the end of each quarter, agencies must return any unused vouchers to UWNBC via mail. If an agency does not provide the unused vouchers, subsequent allotments may be withheld until they do so.

The City of PG informs UWNBC how many tickets will be allocated each quarter of the year. The UWNBC team works together to distribute the transit vouchers fairly amongst all participating agencies and will consider historical program participation if applicable.

The application period is open until the end of November to allow for adequate time for review and approval of the next year’s TAP participants.

Applying agencies must:

• Be a non-profit organization.
• Run programs or services focused on socio-economic needs in the community.
  Serving one or more vulnerable populations.

Applying agencies must not be:

• A for-profit organization.
• Run programs or services solely for political or religious purposes.

Applying agencies must indicate the program that clientele need transit assistance for, and the amount of transit vouchers required per quarter based on the need of their organization and clientele.
The registration form is to be filled out properly to ensure UWNBC has the correct information about the agency, as well as to help us through the approval process.

Agencies are required to provide their agency name, program name, mailing address, main point of contact’s phone number and email, and a secondary contact person and information. Applicants will also need to describe their organization’s need for the transit vouchers (bus tickets) and if they are receiving transit vouchers from another source. This includes if the agency is buying the vouchers themselves.

All the information that is required helps UWNBC execute the approval process in a fair and timely manner, ensuring that the program best fits the needs of the applicable community. It also informs the respective Cities of the need in their home community and allows UWNBC to advocate for more support should it be needed.

The UWNBC staff that participate in this process are from the Community Development and Administrative departments.

Priority order for allocation of voucher amounts to programs that support:

1. basic needs (food, shelter, clothing) and those in or at risk of poverty.
2. health and wellness of individuals.
3. education and employment needs.
4. social/recreational opportunities.

Once the UWNBC team decides on program participants, a letter of agreement is sent that includes the responsibilities of both UWNBC and the participating agency. It will indicate the agency, program, and amount of transit vouchers that have been approved to be received per quarter. Agencies are required to sign and date the letter of agreement and send it back to UWNBC before program participation is confirmed. If an agency does not return this form by the stated deadline, their transit voucher amount will be re-allocated to other participating agencies or another agency will be confirmed for the program, depending on the amount.

UWNBC will make every reasonable effort to get a hold of the agency prior to removing them from the program.

The TAP approval process considers how many tickets/vouchers are allocated to UWNBC every quarter, this may have increased or decreased over the years depending on the need, and availability of vouchers from the applicable City.

A: Each community has their own stock of transit vouchers provided from their transit office. The Transit Assistance Program is facilitated by UWNBC, but it does not belong to UWNBC.

A: The total number of vouchers available is dependent on what the City has to offer and the number of transit vouchers available. All applicants will be considered, and the total amount of vouchers will be reasonably distributed to anyone eligible so

A: UWNBC uses these vouchers to fulfill requests coming in for additional vouchers throughout the year. The agencies that receive the extra tickets are still required to report in the same manner as with regular TAP voucher allotments or as TAP participants do (if the request comes from an agency outside of the program). UWNBC reports this ticket usage diversion to the respective City through quarterly reporting.

A: Typically no. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough vouchers available to fulfill the total requests of all agencies who apply to the program as it is, so it’s often that program participants will be the first accommodated if more vouchers are available instead of adding a new program or agency to the participant list.

That being said, UWNBC reviews agency participants every 3 months to make sure they are reporting properly, using vouchers, and if more or less vouchers are needed. This process helps UWNBC accept or deny applications that are presented throughout the year and provide UWNBC with accurate data. It also allows for proper reporting and communication to the Cities that have the Transit Assistance Programs to know if and how they are meeting the need of the community they serve.