The Employment Access and Coordinated Human-services Transportation (EACH) Plan
Everyone benefits when transportation planning is done in a coordinated way. Without coordinated planning, some areas or groups may get plenty of transportation services while other needs remain unmet. The goal of the Employment Access and Coordinated Human-services transportation (EACH) plan is for local organizations to determine which are the most important human services transportation projects for Whatcom County and put them in priority order. The EACH planning process resulted in a locally-ranked project list and high priority projects from the list became eligible for funding from state and federal public transportation grant programs.
In 2006, WSDOT directed all Regional Transportation Planning Organizations to convene a representative stakeholder group to prepare and adopt a local EACH plan. WCOG worked with a wide range of human services providers to develop the EACH plan during 2006 and 2007. The WCOG RTPO Board adopted the EACH plan in February, 2007 and approved an updated project list on December 10, 2008.
Several projects identified in the 2007 EACH plan were awarded grant funds from the Washington State Public Transportation grant program:
Lummi Nation Transit Service Fixed-route transit operated by the Lummi Nation began in 2007 and has assisted hundreds of special needs travelers to access medical care, social services, jobs, and education.
Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) 
Specialized transit services were awarded funds for equipment and operations to maintain and increase services for special needs transportation in Whatcom County.
Travel Training WCOG expanded its contacts with the special needs community to find out what types of transportation information were needed and to provide that information in accessible formats. WCOG published the North Sound Connections Guide brochure and established the North Sound Connections trip planner website to assist seniors, veterans, and others to travel to Seattle area hospitals for medical appointments and other special needs.
Mobility Management WCOG received funding to increase awareness of transportation options for daily trips for special needs travelers and their families through the Whatcom Smart Trips program. 
Other potential future priority projects identified but not funded include:
Mt. Baker Shuttle Transportation assistance is needed for low income residents and people with disabilities traveling to the National Forest for work or for recreation. A shuttle service would improve safety for travelers during winter conditions and act as an economic development aid for rural businesses year-around.
Homeless Student Transportation The cost of transporting students to their “home” school can be a strain on school district budgets and a proposed community-based transportation assistance program may offer a method to augment school-based transport.
The EACH Plan 2010 Update
Changes in economic conditions since 2007 have changed the needs of and demands on human services providers in our community. The EACH plan 2010 update will reflect these changes so that projects listed in the plan accurately reflect current local priorities.
The update process includes the following steps:
January 2010: WCOG re-convenes an EACH stakeholder group to work on the update of the plan. A broad range of human services providers and transportation service agencies and companies are invited to participate.
April – September 2010: The Stakeholder group meets roughly quarterly to review the current plan, refine the plan elements, identify new projects, and rank the project list.
September – December 2010: The draft plan is submitted to the WSDOT by September and the final plan is submitted to the RTPO for approval by December. Projects listed in the plan are eligible for the WSDOT Consolidated Human Services grant program.
Organizations and agencies interested in participating in the EACH stakeholder group may contact WCOG by e-mail or by calling 676-6974.
Selected EACH Stakeholder Links