MassDevelopment, a state economic development and finance authority, awarded The Transportation Alliance (TTA) a $1 million grant to implement professional programs that will benefit Taxi and Livery service providers across the Commonwealth. This grant comes at an economically fraught time in the industry, which has been hit especially hard by the pandemic.
“This is a chance for Massachusetts operators to see how professional skills-building in terms of safety, business diversification, and efficiency can drive companies forward, and keeps them competitive,” TTA President Nick Cambas of United Taxi & Yellow Cab of Clearwater Florida said.
Former TTA President Tom Arrighi, head of A&A Transportation and Bill’s Taxi Service in Bridgewater, Mass., who helped spearhead the grant application, expressed his enthusiasm not only for what this grant will do for TTA but what it can provide for fellow Bay State transportation operators.
“I’m really excited about the opportunities we’re going to have with the grant. It’s such a win for the Massachusetts operators, and I’m hoping we can show other companies what TTA members have known for more than a century: That the best resources are found within professional trade groups and by sharing information and best practices with your peers in the industry,” Arrighi said.
The grant, paid for by the state’s Transportation Infrastructure Enhancement Trust Fund created in 2016, is funded in part by a 20-cent surcharge imposed on Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), with 5 cents of each surcharge helping to fund MassDevelopment’s support of the for-hire transportation industry.
TTA plans to use the funds to enact programs assisting Massachusetts operators in discovering, creating, and developing innovations, technology and solutions that enhance mobility, improve service delivery, create competitive advantage and are financially viable and sustainable. This includes monthly conference calls and follow-up calls with operator grant recipients; webinars on important topics; professional tips and handbooks on passenger and driver safety, driver recruitment and retention, as well as public relations, crisis management and social media.
The project will also fund business-related education for drivers, such as certification courses in non-emergency medical transportation and will include educational scholarships for fleet management enhancement.
Source: The Transportation Alliance
