Resources for Communities to Serve Veterans Transportation Needs

Easter Seals Project ACTION 
The Online Dialogue on Veterans Transportation hosted by ESPA Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) in partnership with the Federal Transit Administration is now complete. ESPA will be releasing a report next month. Visit the website now to peruse the suggestions and conversations about improving transportation for vulnerable veterans and their families.

Community Transportation Association of America 
The Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative (VTCLI) is underway. As part of the commencement of this FTA initiative, the National Resource Center (NRC) released a report, Transportation for America's Veterans and Their Families. The report showcases the NRC's - particularly, its ambassadors' - successes in assisting veterans by improving transportation through effective partnerships and coordination. Some of these stories involve transporting veterans to VA medical centers and others involve travel to the same places we all need to go to. The report demonstrates what coordination and committed partnerships can achieve to improve transit and transportation services.

 [Union Station, Kansas City]

The VTCLI website showcases resources for communities as well as for project grantees. Information about outreach to veteran and military organizations, one-call/one-click services and costs, relevant statistics, and transportation technical assistance, among more resources, are available on the community resource page.

For more resources relating to veterans and serving their transportation needs, please visit the NRC Veterans Transportation Bookshelf. Like all of the NRC bookshelves, there is comprehensive information about the topic.

Transit Users - What Influences Use; Events and Local Stories

Events

Easter Seals Project ACTION
Forming Partnerships with Transit - Online course - Feb. 13-Mar. 26. Designed for transit advocates interested in increasing their role in the design and implementation of community transportation services, the course includes four learning modules: Transportation planning, funding, becoming a transit supporter, and strategies.

Partnership for Mobility Management
2012 Mobility Management Conference - May 9-10, 2012, Long Beach, CA. To be held in conjunction with the Bus and Paratransit Conference (details below), this conference features sessions on performance measurement, forming partnerships with different organizations, non-emergency medical transportation and brokerages, customer focus, information technology, and integration of facilities. The Partnership is a collaborative effort of seven national organizations and approximately 300 individual mobility managers and mobility management professionals from around the country.

Community Transportation Association of America
EXPO conference - May 20-25, 2012, Baltimore, Md. This year's EXPO will feature tracks on mobility management, connectivity and livability, transportation operations, and management, as well as separate tracks on transportation for dialysis, veterans and employment. There will also be a two-day Job Access Conference that will focus on transportation partners, namely economic development, workforce development, employers and chambers of commerce; and highlight the many transportation options for students, job seekers, employees and businesses.

American Public Transportation Association
2012 Legislative Conference - March 11-13, 2012, Washington, DC.
Bus & Paratransit Conference - May 6-9, 2012, Long Beach, CA.
Rail Conference - June 3-6, 2012,Dallas, TX
Public Transportation & Universities Conference - June 16-19, 2012, Fargo, ND. This conference explores the unique needs of university communities and the population they serve, including the issues of universal access and land use development.

American Public Works Association
Sustainability in Public Works Conference - June 25-27, 2012, Pittsburgh, PA.

Local Stories

Children’s Health Fund
Instead of traveling to the doctor, a CHF mobile medical clinic goes to children and families. This entertaining video shows what the mobile clinics do and what that means for families.

At the other end of the age spectrum, a travel training program for older people fosters independence. This article, Program takes aim at seniors' bus fears, about a Wisconsin mobility manager who does travel training, and the older people he is training, personalizes the significance of the training and the confidence, and the mobility that using public transportation provides for those with transportation and mobility challenges. The article appeared in the GazetteXtra.com.

Transit Riders by Mode

Minetta Transportation Institute
Understanding Transit Ridership Demand for a Multi-Destination, Multimodal Transit Network in an American Metropolitan Area - Lessons for Increasing Choice Ridership While Maintaining Transit Dependent Ridership explores ridership patterns in the Atlanta area, specifically what bus and rail commuters have in common and what transit variables separate them. Though the report looks at the Atlanta area, the findings seem useful for thinking about transit possibilities and realities in other areas of the country. Here are a few excerpts. Many more details can be found in the report.

Bus riders were overwhelmingly transit-dependent riders, and rail riders included a disproportionate number of choice riders. By and large, rail riders tend to come from zones with high levels of vehicle access and bus riders from zones with low levels of vehicle access. The model results highlight important similarities as well as differences between the two rider groups. In terms of similarities, both bus and rail trips are produced in larger numbers in zones with higher populations and higher population densities, and attracted to destinations with larger numbers of jobs, but generally not areas with the highest densities of employment. Both bus and rail riders are also generally quite sensitive to in-vehicle travel time and transfer time.

In terms of differences between bus and rail riders, bus riders tend to come from zones with lower income, lower vehicle access (as noted above), and higher minority populations. While rail riders also disproportionately come from minority zones, they come from zones with high levels of vehicle access and the income variable is not significant, except in the cases of rail riders destined to more dispersed destinations, who tend to come from zones with lower incomes, but also relatively high levels of vehicle access. Bus riders do not place the same importance on out-of-vehicle travel time to transit as do rail riders ... Rail riders, on the other hand, do place a premium on out-of-vehicle travel time ... This is not surprising given the small number of rail stations and their spatial distribution relative to the patterns of population and employment in Atlanta.

TOD at Destination

The results for the land-use variables also reveal important differences between bus and rail riders as well as insights into the importance of transit-oriented development (TOD). Bus riders in Atlanta are not influenced by the presence of a transit-oriented development at either the origin or destination. The CBD does not emerge as a statistically significant destination for bus riders; indeed, lower density employment clusters emerge as important destinations for these riders. For rail riders, on the other hand, the CBD does emerge as an important travel destination, and two of Atlanta’s TODs (Midtown and North Avenue) emerge as important contributors to rail patronage, in excess of what would otherwise be predicted by the employment levels or densities of these zones.

...

Length of Wait Time Matters

The variable that had the greatest effect in determining transit ridership was the transit travel time between the origin zone and the destination zone. [T]ransit-dependent ridership, rather than being a fixed amount regardless of service quality, increases tremendously if the transit travel time between origin and destination is reduced.

...

What we see by looking at the parameters is a model that depicts more affluent, auto- owning riders using transit than does the bus model. The rail riders are willing to use rail transit to get to jobs throughout the region (not just jobs in the CBD), so long as they can walk to jobs once they get off the trains or can easily transfer to frequent buses that do not take long to reach jobs in the vicinity. CBD and TOD at the rail destination (though not at the rail origin) are highly important to potential rail riders.

...

In-vehicle travel time is relatively less important than out-of-vehicle travel time because trains are relatively fast, and their travel time is not an issue to passengers, in contrast to the depressing effect of slow buses, as shown earlier in the bus models. What really matters, however, are lengthy waits when transferring between trains and buses ... This conclusion is reinforced when we look at the tremendous impact that destination TODs have on multiplying rail ridership in comparison to the insignificant impact that origin TODs have on ridership. Where destination TODs exist, walking to the final destination is relatively short and attractive, and rail ridership to the TOD increases by 500% over what the model otherwise would predict for that zone.

Not Just Vehicles: Access to Long-Term Care, Food Assistance & Mobility

American Public Human Services Association
APHSA's concerns about Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) closure of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) offices include transportation barriers. It sees technology as a solution. "[I]implementation of office closures that are accompanied by the appropriate alternative methods and technology could not only avoid negative effects but can very likely on balance improve access and integrity." APSHA is also objecting to an FNS requirement for the SNAP that allows deduction from income of transportation costs for dependent care, which requires documentation of actual transportation expenses. "[T]he great variety of possible arrangements opens the door to errors, and requires an unwarranted amount of effort by the worker." APSHA would prefer either a federal standard or a state-by-state standard amount. Both of these documents are available on APSHA's homepage.

Long-Term Care Report Card

AARP
AARP issues its State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers. The report asserts that quality of life, including engagement in the community, requires a long-term care support system where:

there is effective coordination or integration between health-related services (such as clinician services, medications, home health, and physical therapy) and supportive services (such as personal care, adult day, homemaker, transportation, and other services).

One concrete result of high quality home and community support is the cost-saving reduction of hospital readmissions. The report emphasizes that limited data to measure services such as transportation and assistance in the home means that currently the performance of programs cannot be effectively measured. A state-by-state scorecard website looks at several measures, but does not examine anything directly related to transportation.

Events

Easter Seals Project ACTION
Public Involvement in the Transportation Planning Process - webinar - October 12, 2011. This webinar will provide a guide to taking and utilizing a seat at the table for transportation planning and implementation. This event will prepare transportation advocates to offer effective input that will be heard, understood and incorporated into the over-all plan.

Transcripts from ESPA's summer webinars can now be found at its website.

Praise for Transit and Improving the Experience for People with Disabilities

Always a good day when you read about people and organizations you personally know. Today it is the American Public Transportation Association. I read many of Secretary LaHood's blog posts on the Fastlane. (Yes, I skip stuff related to airlines and anything on the water except for taxis and ferries.) Today, I find the Secretary praising APTA for its mission to "strengthen and improve public transportation,":

a goal this Department deeply believes in. This Administration has made transportation a priority--and affirmed that commitment, not just with words, but also with actions. President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal invests $129 billion in transportation. We’re talking about a 127% increase in support aimed at improving safety, service, and reliability.

After reviewing the proposed budget's transit priorities, Secretary LaHood spoke generally about the contributions of public transit, saying that "[p]ublic transportation connects Americans," takes them to airports, downtowns, jobs, essential services, education and shopping, while relieving congestion.

Every day in our cities and towns, transit workers are planning, building, maintaining, repairing and operating these vital systems. Here at DOT, we think that’s incredibly important.

The Secretary quoted from his speech at the APTA Legislative Conference.

People with Disabilities Invited to Rate Service

Speaking of public transit service, a former colleague, Judy Shanley, pointed me to a survey on the website of the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access that requests people with disabilities to share their public transit experiences. Of course, I can never stop with the one recommended feature and explored the website further. There is information about and links to resources involving rural aging in place, naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCS), and universal design for housing.

Easter Seals Project ACTION points out that IDEA also has published a wheelchair users mobility report that includes new data on wheeled mobility devices people with disabilities use, including data about ease of use and navigating spaces. The report recommends that standards be revised to reflect body size and functional abilities of current wheelchair users.

Great Minds Think Alike

Two national parters, Easter Seals Project ACTION and the Taxi, Limousine and Paratransit Association pointed me to the big news that the Department of Energy (DOE) is loaning $50 million to develop a "six-passenger MV-1, a purpose-built wheelchair accessible vehicle that will run on compressed natural gas." According to DOE,

[The] MV-1 is the only factory-built light-duty vehicle to date that meets or exceeds the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The vehicle features a deployable access ramp with a 1,200-pound weight capacity, a 36-inch entryway and an interior that accommodates up to six occupants with the optional jump seat, including one or two wheelchair passengers and the driver.

Getting to and Navigating Transit

Easter Seals Proejct ACTION
Webinar series - The Cutting Edge of Wayfinding Technology - Apr. 4 and 11 at 2 ET. The webinars will cover wayfinding technologies that help customers with disabilities navigate transit systems. The two sessions will discuss new technologies that are either available to the public or currently being researched. Visit ESPA's homepage for information about the organization's many events about accessibility, transportation, and improving transportation options for people with disabilities.

March: Stay at the Office for these Events

American Public Works Association (APWA)
APWA will host a webinar on March 10 about using social media to deliver your message. The webinar is geared towards public works departments.

Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA)
On March 9, ESPA will host a livable communities teleconference. Planning for the Accessibility of Livable and Sustainable Communities will feature staff from the Department of Transportation, including the Federal Transit Administration, to promote the creation of community linkages among housing, employment and economic development through accessible transportation. For questions, contact Rik Opstelten at 800-659-6428 or espadistancelearning@easterseals.com.info.

For a list of events related to transit and transportation services, visit the calendar of the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA).

Legislative News

CTAA has just posted materials about the Administration's proposed budget, cuts contained in the pending continuing resolution, new House members and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee listening tour. Visit CTAA's homepage for updates.

Okay, I thought I would take a glance at Secretary LaHood's blog today and good thing I did as the Secretary put the spotlight on a school bus driver at our old elementary school. According to the Secretary, children are safer taking the school bus than traveling any other way to their daily destination. As the blog and the video declare, school buses are a common, recognizable form of transportation that operate from coast to coast.

[Via a U.K. Daily Mail article about a woman so upset about the vandalizing of her local bus stop that she redecorated it.]

Local News

Phoenix Strategic Plan to include transit, livability and sustainability projects.

Hattiesburg, MS seeks to become pedestrian and transit friendly.

The Round Rock and Pflugerville area of Texas cites transportation as the number one issue that "affects every demographic in need." Other concerns for social service organizations included child care, housing and dental health.

The Georgia legislature is likely to abolish local planning mandates. The bill, according to its proponents, is not intended to do away with coordinated planning.

Making the Most of Transit

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has added a mobility management page to its website. In addition to explaining what mobility management means for APTA's membership of transit agencies across the country, the site has articles that explain the business case for this approach and why partnerships, a customer focus and a reduced emphasis on "rolling stock" are in the interests of communities and transit.

The National Endowment for the Arts published a report on Creative Placemaking, that includes use of art in transit infrastructure. Though the report is not primarily transit oriented, it makes the case to communities, planners, and transit staff that public art enhances the value of all types of public works projects.

Who is the guy standing outside the subway station at Metro Center? It's Abe Lincoln letting people know about Nationals games, where he races a few fellow past presidents.

Resources for Transportation-Challenged Populations

Children’s Health Fund (CHF)
CHF has presentations and publications that discuss transportation as a critical link to health care for people with low incomes. Information about CHF's positions regarding health care legislative issues are also available.

Easter Seals Project ACTION is currently accepting applications for the 2011 Accessible Transportation Coalitions Initiative.

This initiative helps communities ready to tackle accessible transportation challenges and engage local leaders in the process. Ten communities across the United States will be selected to participate in the Accessible Transportation Coalitions Initiative (ATCI), a one-year systems change process designed to improve accessible transportation options for people with disabilities. In order to be considered, the completed application must be submitted on or before January 31, 2011.

ESPA is also conducting an online survey about the connection between hospital discharge planning and access to appropriate transportation options.

Resources: Accessibility and Health Reform

The Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL) has posted an outpatient accessibility form and guidebook, the Outpatient Health Care Usability Profile V4, for health care facilities. The form is a self-assessment that quickly generates a picture of accessibility for any type of building and could be used beyond the health care field. It covers accessibility to bathrooms, elevators, hallways, ramps to the building entrance, among others. However, the guidebook only discusses federal requirements; state and local regulations may be more stringent. Transportation to the facility - an assessment of whether transit, taxi service or other services are available - is not mentioned, but could be added.

For information about ADA paratransit eligibility, the National Transit Institute has a course on this topic and Easter Seals Project ACTION has an upcoming series of distance learning classes about ADA paratransit.

Health Care Reform

The Children’s Health Fund has posted a link to the video of the Kaiser Family Foundation's event last week, What Does the Election Mean for Health Reform and Other Health Issues?

For information on what states must accomplish and are doing to fulfill the mandates of the new health care law, the National Governors' Association (NGA) has created a website, the Health Reform Implementation Resource Center, a product of the State Consortium on Health Care Reform Implementation (State Consortium), which provides information and technical assistance to states about requirements, offers options and best practices and synthesizes feedback to federal agencies on issues that affect state implementation. The website has resources on aspects of the health reform law that are likely to have the biggest effect on states – the Medicaid expansion, the establishment of health insurance exchanges, insurance regulations, and delivery system initiatives, along with important governance, coordination and timing issues for states are available from NGA and on each of the Consortium members' websites.

The four consortium organizations are: National Governors Association (NGA), including the NGA Center for Best Practices, National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), National Association of State Medicaid Directors (NASMD), and National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP).

Health care guidance for individuals is available from AARP. It's health reform fact sheets offer information about a wide range of changes and implications for consumers, particularly older adults.

Resource Update: Planning, Livability, Economic Downturn

The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A) are hosting a webinar, Aging & Livable Communities, on November 15. The webinar will explore how the aging population is incorporated into comprehensive regional planning and implementation. This discussion will highlight lessons learned and offer recommendations for how regional planning organizations and Area Agencies on Aging can work together to achieve tangible results. For information, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/434008555.

Easter Seals Project ACTION offers the ADA Essentials for Transit Board Members: Fundamentals of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Transit Public Policy, produced with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), a primer on transit's responsibility in realizing the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the legal obligations that the ADA established. The publication addresses traditional fixed-route service and transit facilities, but does not discuss deviated route or other types of service to which the ADA does not apply and impose standards. It also provides information about federal transportation initiatives related to the ADA, such as United We Ride.

NARC has also posted a presentation about significant changes in Congress, specifically shifts in leadership and priorities in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

What Is an MPO?

The Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) has posted a report from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The report was produced with assistance from staff at AMPO, NARC, the National Association of Development Organizations and other national planning associations. It is a terrific nuts and bolts detailed description of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), their staffs, projects, funding, partnerships and formal arrangements with state and local governments.

Demographics and Population Needs

Though we hear news that the recession is over, it takes a long while sometimes after a downturn before people's financial circumstances bounce back. The following two reports discuss how people at both ends of the age spectrum are still suffering. The third examines demographic data about other indicators.

Young Child Poverty in 2009: Rural Poverty Rate Jumps to Nearly 29 Percent in Second Year of Recession goes region by region and then state by state to give the numbers on child poverty. The publication also separates out the differences in each state for urban, rural and suburban areas. The numbers for child poverty provide a snapshot of where family poverty is concentrated and where poverty is increasing.

Older Americans 2010: Key Indicators of Well-Being offers data about income, physical and cognitive abilities, medical care, housing and more among the 45+ population. This is broken down so that information is easily available about those over 65, 75 and 85. The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A) produced the report.

American Community Survey briefs, products of the Census Bureau, report on public transportation usage, education, income and public assistance. This is valuable data in an easy format to keep track of demographic trends.

Accomplishments of the Sustainability Partnership

A Year of Progress for American Communities summarizes the achievements and philosophy of the Administration's Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The report briefly explains the links among housing, the environment, economic development and transit-oriented communities for people of all ages and income levels. Concise case studies are included.

Livability in Transportation Guidebook: Planning Approaches that Promote Livability is a good companion to the previously mentioned partnership publication. This report offers in-depth case studies that highlight policy and programmatic shifts to promote and design livable communities.

Rebuilding America: APA National Infrastructure Investment Task Force Report presents the environmental and economic cases for the livability agenda of transit-oriented communities with bike and pedestrian-friendly streets as well as mobility choices. The report also examines the role of regional planning entities.

Easter Seals Project ACTION has a new Livable Communities page on its website. Featured are ESPA's publications about accessible streets, transit, and universal design as well as links to government and other resources.

Facts & Assistance for Helping People with Disabilities

Today's American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) newsletter, Working for Tomorrow, reports "[p]eople with disabilities are much more likely than people without disabilities to consider inadequate transportation to be a problem (34 percent vs. 16 percent, respectively)— a gap of 18 percentage points." The newsletter also gives details of upcoming changes to Medicaid.

Contact Nanette Relave (202-682-0100 x241; nrelave@aphsa.org) for subscription information.

Making Service Truly Accessible

The American Bus Association and Easter Seals Project ACTION are jointly featuring the Motorcoach Operator’s ADA Pocket Guide in a two-part webinar, Using the Motorcoach Operator’s ADA Pocket Guide, starting Sept. 22. Staff from Jefferson Bus Lines will explain how their company has made its service accessible for people with disabilities.

Upcoming Events

National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD), formerly the National Association of State Units on Aging - Home and Community Based Services Conference in Atlanta, Ga. on Sept. 26-29. Transportation will be addressed in a session on whole health, recovery and transportation as well as a session about the vital link to services that transportation provides.

Easter Seals Project ACTION - Mobility Management: The Paducah Approach, an audio conference, on Sept. 21. Part of Project ACTION’s Promising Practices and Solutions in Accessible Transportation series, this conference will discuss this mobility management model and the provision of coordinated mobility solutions in the Paducah area.

Spontaneity = Accessibility 2.0

Spontaneity is becoming the new buzzword for people with disabilities, a kind of Accessibility 2.0. I have heard Mary Leary, Senior Director of Easter Seals Project ACTION, use the term before and she employs it now as the guest writer on the Disability Blog. She writes about the next 20 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). What Ms. Leary is seeking for people with disabilities is "a world of spontaneous living" and she is working with the inter-agency Partnership for Sustainable Communities and its livability program to help her vision become a reality.

This interagency effort joins programs and policy areas in transportation, housing and the environment to create a synergistic approach to increase access and mobility. Accessible transportation is more than just getting to doctor’s appointments, the grocery store, to work or to school. It is also about seeing friends and family, going to a park, going out to dinner, enjoying the fireworks on the 4th of July or traveling across the country.

Making Lemonade in Hard Times

If these were normal times, I would agree not only with Ms. Leary's vision, but also with the prospect of it becoming a reality. These are hard times, so my skepticism is tempted to take over. Metro Magazine's article about paratransit providers discusses strategies for dealing with lean budgets and the growing demand for paratransit service. Unfortunately, one of the strategies for already lean operations is cutting service.

People are working hard locally to make sure that others do not lose the transit service they already have. Two examples struck me today as demonstrating the challenges of financial hardships for transit systems and what individuals can do to retain the spontaneity that existing service provides them.

Local Stories

A rural New Hampshire woman who uses a walker convinced bus buddies to help her persuade local authorities to retain her bus service. However, an article in the Union Leader explains the dilemmas that transit systems are confronting, especially on routes with low ridership and very little help from the fare box.

I cannot resist a good Brooklyn story, especially one about a neighborhood I have lived in. The B71 (B for Brooklyn) transported people through Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Carroll Gardens before it was discontinued and budget cuts prompted driver layoffs. Now, according to a Wall Street Journal piece (likely written by a Slope resident, perhaps a Paul Auster neighbor), a new service is starting that will feature laid off drivers, TLC (New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission)-approved van service on discontinued routes ($1 fare, initially) and driver pay equal to their old jobs. In true Brooklyn fashion, the union that represents the new service's drivers is also involved in litigation to shut it down.

ADA Guidance for Getting Around

The Department of Justice has issued a fact sheet that highlights the Department of Justice's ADA design standards. Specific to transportation, there is guidance about service animals - specifically, dogs trained to perform certain tasks. Those animals that provide solely emotional support, do not, for ADA purposes, constitute service animals. There are nuances to the rule, so careful reading is recommended.

Another area where transportation is affected is use of wheelchairs and mobility devices. Wheelchairs are permitted wherever pedestrians are allowed. However, Segways, "which are often used by individuals with disabilities as their mobility device of choice," are Justice's prime focus in this guidance. To ban "power-driven mobility devices," the rule requires a "covered entity [to] demonstrate that such use would fundamentally alter its programs, services, or activities, create a direct threat, or create a safety hazard."

Burden of Proof

Note that the fact sheet clearly places the burden of proof on the covered entity to prove that the "power-driven mobility device" falls within the threat, safety or other allowances for banning the devices from certain places. The user of the device is not required to show anything to trigger the right to use a particular device.

Topic Guides

Easter Seals Project ACTION is featuring the ADA Topic Guides in its newsletter. The topic guides are very detailed instructions about what the ADA requires in terms of paratransit eligibility, equipment maintenance, no shows and other operational issues. The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and TranSystem Corporation prepared the topic guides with funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

Though not transportation-related, the Department of Justice released a guide to providing accessible medical care for people with disabilities. Access To Medical Care For Individuals With Mobility Disabilities provides straight-forward and simple advice about what accessibility means and details related to medical offices, such as transfer techniques and accessible exam tables.

Livability for Everyone: Celebrating the ADA Anniversary

Happy 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act!

The top ten cities for wheelchair users were named today by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The cities were rated on the basis of climate, employment of people with disabilities, Medicaid spending and eligibility, and age of the cities (with the assumption that older cities are less accessible). Due to the difficulty of judging actual accessibility of transit systems and streets, the Foundation mentioned these factors in its announcement of the top 10, but did not assess transit and street design in making its selections.

Rated number one is Seattle, with Denver, New Orleans, Lubbock, Fort Worth, and and small Arlington, Va. also in the top 10. If these are considered the most livable cities for people with physical disabilities, specifically for wheelchair users, then I assume, rightly or wrongly, that the other measures used for rating the cities are in some ways proxies for transit and mobility options other than cars. For example, the employment rate for people with disabilities assumes that most of those employees are getting to a workplace outside the home. As much as an accessible home is a necessity, so is the freedom to navigate streets and travel to places outside our own four walls.

Progress on Next 20 Years of Paratransit

For those interested in improving transit, streets and other mobility options for people with disabilities, Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) is hosting a National Paratransit Online Dialogue to address calls for programs to decrease service or provide innovative options in a time of tight budgets. This dialogue will provide an opportunity for providers and stakeholders to share experiences, paratransit practices, challenges, and recommendations. ESPA is defining paratransit for the purpose of this dialogue to include ADA complementary service and a range of traditional and beyond-ADA demand response services for people with disabilities, older adults, customers of community programs, and/or the general public. Paratransit services are typically door-to-door or curb-to-curb reservation-based services.

Upcoming Events with Transportation Elements

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO)
NADO is hosting its annual training conference in San Diego on Aug. 28-31, 2010. There are several transportation and economic development sessions. There will also be sessions on emergency services and local food production.

Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA)
ESPA will be holding a two week online dialogue this summer from July 26 - Aug. 6, 2010. During the Paratransit Online Dialogue, participants may submit, comment on, and rate ideas related to paratransit service provision. Topics will include ADA paratransit service, human services transportation, accessible fixed route transit, accessible pathways, taxis, volunteer programs, and aging services transportation. The dialogue is being held in support of the Federal Transit Administration to gather information, best practices, trends, and ideas relating to paratransit service. The information provided will be used to make recommendations and develop best practices on ways to meet the needs for efficient, effective, and person-directed paratransit services while addressing the challenges of reduced funding and other possible resource constraints that are facing many communities. The forum is free and open to anyone with knowledge or perspective to share on the topic.

For a regularly updated listing of events, please visit the NRC calendar, which has information and links to conferences and meetings related to human services and public transportation.

Put Transportation Options in the American Dream

The National Disability Institute is asking for short videos from people with disabilities that define their concept of the New American Dream. Examples are starting a business, saving money, and buying a home. Getting around towns, cities and regions is an integral tool for realizing those dreams. So, if your organization is promoting participation in the New American Dream project, mention transportation options, such as public transit, pedestrian-friendly streets, vanpools, and more, for the means to achieve the dreams of people with disabilities.

How to Give People with Disabilities More Transportation Options

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has written a good article that explains the benefits of travel training. Transit Agency Travel Trainers Help People Overcome Fears of Riding Regular Buses concentrates on the assistance that people who are disabled can receive to transition from paratransit to conventional transit.

Easter Seals Project ACTION has an Introduction to Travel Training three-day course that provides travel trainers with knowledge in the classroom that is directly applied and practiced on the street, supplying constructive feedback from trainers and colleagues.

In 1999, the Transit Cooperative Research Program, in TCRP Report 49: Using Public Transportation to Reduce the Economic, Social, and Human Costs of Personal Immobility, explained the economic and social benefits of travel training.

Resources and Events to Make Livability and Accessibility Happen

I admit to being early on the smart growth bandwagon and happy to see the concept morph into the more-inclusive livability/sustainability collaboration that is the inter-agency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, among the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). From what I hear, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) are also coordinating with the partnership at various levels.

The current manual of funding sources among the partnership agencies is Leveraging the Partnership: DOT, HUD, and EPA Programs for Sustainable Communities. Many of the sources can be used for transit and other mobility options, including designing a street scape that improves access to buses, vanpool meeting areas, trains and biking facilities.

Since our transportation technical assistance (TA) centers have been involved with livability since before the term was invented, many of us are educating our constituencies about livability resources that will bring and enhance transit service and transportation options to communities across the country.

Upcoming Livability-Related Events among the TA Centers

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL): Livability 101 Pre-conference on July 25, 2010, right before the Legislative Summit in Louisville, Ky. The Transportation Committee will be concentrating as well on high-speed rail, the link between transportation and health, biking and rural road safety.

Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA): Forming Partnerships with Transit for human service providers, disability community advocates and private transportation providers – online from Aug. 2 to Sept. 10, 2010.

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA): State Public Transit Partnerships Conference on Aug. 3-6, 2010 in Seattle will have a livability session.

Access and Universal Design

Livability encompasses availability of transportation options beyond the automobile. To include everyone in the benefits of livable community initiatives raises issues of universal design, rural access and specialized transportation. The following resources and events address those issues and their links to economic development, equitable access for transportation-challenged populations, and costs.

Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) continues to assist the transit community to make people with disabilities welcome. A handy Transit Operator’s Pocket Guide informs drivers of their ADA responsibilities and etiquette for interacting with people with disabilities.

ESPA: Excellence in Service for Paratransit Managers - online from July 19 to Sept. 24, 2010.

Taxi, Limousine, and Paratransit Association (TLPA) releases Assessing the Full Cost of Implementing An Accessible Taxicab Program. The report discusses how the taxi industry works in terms of the practical obstacles and costs of providing accessibility where the additional costs fall on mostly small businesses and independent contractors.

Rural Accessibility

For rural transportation and economic development resources, the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) has a Rural Transportation Clearinghouse. Among the resources available are descriptions of how rural planning organizations operate in different states.

National Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Conference on October 24-27, 2010, in Burlington, Vt. Conference sessions will include accessibility, rural transit policy and planning, alternative fuels, regional systems, networks and coalitions, and tribal transportation.

ADA Takes the Ferry

Finally, with a picture of the Staten Island Ferry, the Secretary of Transportation blogged on June 17 about extending ADA protection to maritime vessels, including public ferry service. Secretary LaHood "encourage[s] everyone to visit www.regulations.gov and get their two cents in on the important questions" outstanding about this ADA extension.