National RTAP Launches Toolkit to Establish and Manage Volunteer Driver Programs

National RTAP has published an online Volunteer Driver Program Toolkit after contracting KFH Group, Inc. in 2024 to update the 2013 version of an earlier guide and broaden its scope to the national level. The web page greets users with, “Welcome to the National RTAP Volunteer Driver Program Toolkit!” and presents a “Download Full-Text Toolkit” option for immediate access.

The Toolkit traces its lineage to an original Volunteer Drivers Guide developed with “broad input from model programs currently operating in Washington State and in other parts of the United States.” Between 2011 and 2013 the Community Transportation Association of the Northwest was contracted by the Washington State Department of Transportation to review and update that Guide, producing the 2013 version that National RTAP later commissioned KFH Group to modernize.

National RTAP describes the resource’s purpose explicitly: “The Toolkit was developed to assist organizations that provide passenger transportation services to persons with transportation needs and help them with developing and maintaining volunteer driver programs.” The capture of the Toolkit page lists the contents in practical terms: “recommendations, examples, and sample forms as well as informational online links, attachments, and resources.” It also notes the Toolkit includes “information and resources to help organizations navigate through complex requirements imposed by federal and state laws and various funding organizations.”

Project governance for the 2024 update included a multi-party advisory body. “A Stakeholder Workgroup made up of representatives from National RTAP, WSDOT, and the Colorado Association of Transit Agencies (CASTA) served as an advisory group to the project, providing input and feedback through the guidebook update and toolkit,” the site capture states, signaling cross-jurisdictional review during the transition from a state-focused guide to a national online Toolkit.

The Toolkit’s page shows practical user-facing features that matter for operational teams: visible header labels such as “RESOURCES > TOOLKITS” and “Volunteer Driver Program Toolkit,” a chat widget noted as “Chat on bottom right,” and posted hours of operation listed as “Mon. - Fri.: 9:00AM - 5:00PM ET.” The page also preserves National RTAP branding described as a “National RTAP logo, green text and graphic. Blue and green leaf-like shapes.”

The captured materials include truncations and ellipses that leave some specifics incomplete. The Original Report excerpt ends mid-word with “addresses rec,” and the Toolkit’s captured Table of Contents shows fragments such as “, Policies, and Procedures” and “Glossary.” Those gaps mean titles of particular sample forms, the full list of section headings, and any usage metrics are not available in the captured text.

National RTAP frames the Toolkit’s aim plainly: “The goal is to strengthen existing programs and to serve as a guide for the development of new programs.” For A Simple Gesture programs and managers handling volunteer drivers, the Toolkit represents an updated national reference of templates, operational guidance, and legal navigation tools made available through a downloadable full-text resource and supported by a stakeholder-driven 2024 revision.