No EEC agency provides transportation directly. But transportation funding exists within the subsidy system, and if your program offers transportation services, you take on specific responsibilities. This page covers both.

Transportation Funding — How It Works

Transportation funding is available to eligible subsidized families to pay for travel between home (or school) and childcare. Subject to funding availability, programs are reimbursed at an EEC-approved rate for one-way or round-trip transportation.

Eligibility is determined by the CCR&R (Subsidy Administrator), not the family or the provider. The CCR&R considers:

• Availability of public transportation
• Whether the parent has a car
• Any physical disability of the parent that prevents transporting the child
• Whether the parent's work schedule prevents transportation

The half-mile rule: Families who live within half a mile of your program generally are not eligible for transportation funding. Exceptions exist (disability, no car and no public transit, work schedule conflicts) but require CCR&R approval.

Public transit threshold: If public transit is available and the total travel time is 45 minutes or less (home to childcare), it is considered "available" and the family is typically not eligible for transportation funding.

Transportation funding is not a direct payment to the provider separate from your reimbursement — it flows through the subsidy system as part of the program's reimbursement for providing transportation services.

If Your Program Offers Transportation

Offering transportation is optional. If you choose to offer it, you take on mandatory compliance responsibilities.

Required Written Policies

You must develop written transportation policies that cover at minimum:

• Procedures when children or parents are not ready for pick-up or drop-off
• How long drivers will wait for unprepared families
• How long staff will attempt to locate a missing parent at drop-off before contacting emergency services or filing a 51A with DCF
• How to handle misbehavior of children during transport
• Procedures for documenting and reporting accidents
• Consequences for family misuse of transportation

These policies must be discussed with parents at enrollment, and you must inform parents of the identity of your designated transportation coordinator.

Designated Transportation Coordinator

You must designate a specific staff person responsible for coordinating transportation services and handling consumer concerns, complaints, and suggestions.

Regulatory Compliance

All transportation your program provides — including through subcontractors — must comply with:

• Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) standards
• All EEC requirements under your contract or voucher provider agreement
• EEC's policy on drop-off and pick-up procedures (606 CMR 7.13)

Service Need Clarification

When your program transports a child between home and care, the child's time in transit does not count toward the parent's service need calculation. However, a parent's own travel time between their work/school and your program (up to 5 hours per week) may be counted as part of their service need.

From the Family's Perspective

See Transportation (1.22) for what families are told about transportation eligibility and how to ask their provider about available services.

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Next Steps

• Reimbursement questions about transportation: Contact your CCR&R
• Transportation eligibility for a specific family: Contact your CCR&R's CCFA Administrator
• Regulatory requirements for transportation: Refer to 606 CMR 7.13 on EEC's website