Living with a Transportation Challenge

AARP
AARP reiterates its concern that most older adults are lacking transportation options, particularly transit and a pedestrian-friendly street network. The result for many people is isolation as they are hesitant to ask friends and family members for assistance with non-essential trips.

Public transportation is very limited or nonexistent in America's suburbs and rural areas, where most older people live, and there is no indication that the situation will improve soon. In fact, a recent study by Transportation for America finds that by 2015, more than 15.5 million Americans 65 and older will live in communities where public transportation service is poor or nonexistent. Further, 60 percent of people age 50 and over said in an AARP survey that they did not have public transportation within a 10-minute walk from their homes. And 53 percent said they did not have a sidewalk outside their home.

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
N4A's Maturing of America Survey asked governments, particularly local governments, about their services for older adults. The survey notes generally the increasing population of older adults, increasing need and, with the recession, decreasing revenues to support programs.

In terms of transportation and other services, the survey finds that older adults living in urban areas are in a better situation than those who reside in rural areas. Higher population areas are more likely to provide discounted fares on public transportation, taxi discounts or vouchers, and door-to-door and door-through-door demand-response service. They are also more likely to have pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and intersections, paratransit and public transportation. The survey emphasized that the West Coast "excels in almost all transportation categories."

Multiple Disabilities

American Council for the Blind
ACB's newsletter, the Braille Forum, recently noted the ways in which we can all be sensitive to people with mobility challenges when planning events or when using public transit and accommodations. The article discusses people with visual impairments who have multiple disabilities.

American Public Health Association
A new resource for me is the APHA Transportation and Public Health E-Newsletter (link is to subscription page). Public health benefits of transit, community transportation, walking and biking, interrelated as they are, supply wonderful partners for coordination efforts and mobility initiatives. In the current newsletter issue are the following resources:

* The Road to Health Care Parity: Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care, a policy brief about the public health ramifications of our transportation system on living a healthy lifestyle and actually being able to travel to healthcare appointments.
* National Prevention Strategy, which recommends greater reliance on transit and the active transportation modes of biking and walking. One suggestion is to "[c]onvene partners (e.g., urban planners, architects, engineers, developers, transportation, law enforcement, public health) to consider health impacts when making transportation or land use decisions."
* Safe Routes to Transit and Safe Routes for Seniors programs, which are now limited to the San Francisco area and New York, respectively.
* Aging in Place, Stuck without Options: Fixing the Mobility Crisis Threatening the Baby Boom Generation, a Transportation for America report that documents the need for viable transit options so that baby boomers will be able to comfortably age in place. The report takes a hard look at rural and suburban areas, which together account for 75 percent of today's seniors.

Medicaid Tracker

National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities
NASUAD is updating monthly its Medicaid tracker, available via its homepage. The tracker reviews the Medicaid systems in each state and summarizes any changes in eligibility and service.

Legislative Recommendations

National Council on Independent Living
NCIL has posted its summer legislative priorities, which can be opened from the homepage. Among others, the priorities include a ban on forced electroshock, support for Senate processing of judicial nominations, housing, health and medical support services, and opposition to the ADA Notifications Act, which would require 90-day notice before filing an ADA complaint. NCIL is also making requests concerning funding and the structuring of state independent living entities.

NCIL's transportation endorsements favor Complete Streets legislation, accessible taxi fleets and reauthorization of transportation legislation.

Joint Actions, Legislation and FTA Update

American Public Health Association
APHA has 10 Public Health and Equity Principles for Transportation, which include increased funding for community transportation, transportation for mobility-challenged populations, multi-modal infrastructure and planning, and reducing carbon emissions. Signatories include the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) as well as pedestrian and biking advocates, and public health and medical associations.

Inter-Agency Partnership for Sustainable Communities

Smart Growth America announces the 50 organizations that sent a joint letter to the Senate leadership for appropriations and transportation urging funding for the inter-agency partnership for sustainable communities. Those 50 include the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A), the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), and the Amalgamated Transit Union, all members of the National Consortium on the Coordination of Human Services Transportation, as well as organizations devoted to planning, the environment, health and transportation equity.

Federal Transit Administration
FTA has released federal register notices of funding opportunities with deadlines this summer.
* State of good repair funds for buses and bus facilities - deadline July 29.
* Discretionary Sustainability Funding Opportunity Transit Investments - deadline Aug. 23. The funds are specifically for the Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) Program and Clean Fuels Grant Program, Augmented With Discretionary Bus and Bus Facilities Program.
* Discretionary livability funding - deadline July 29. The programs involved are Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities Livability Initiative Program Grants and Section 5339 Alternatives Analysis Program.

FTA also announced apportionment of new starts and small starts funds. These go beyond coast to coast to serve places unconnected to the mainland, including Alaskan and Hawaiian ferries and the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan.

Another funding announcement made recently was the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Advance Notice of Requirements for HUD’s FY11 Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program, which will provide an additional $67 million for building sustainable communities throughout the country.

Convenient Places to Live and Work

American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
APTA helped craft the listing of today's 10 most convenient cities, as measured by transit access and walkability. In addition to the obvious ones of New York, Chicago, Seattle, Boston and Portland, there is also Milwaukee and Los Angeles.

Enthusiastic Legislative Support

National Council on Independent Living
NCIL is strongly endorsing and working for independent living (IL) legislation pending in Congress. The IL provisions within the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act would create an IL Administration, which would not require any new or additional funding, but would streamline the IL Program and enhance consumer-control. This new entity would be independent of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) within the Department of Education.

Consortium Organizations Find Transit to Be a Vital Link

Each day, news of the importance of transportation options for specific populations and the general public comes across my computer screen. Sometimes it feels like I am only writing about the contours and depth of the need. Today this started before I got to the office. Signs for one of the local bus systems notified riders of reduced frequency of service and route eliminations. Some of those riders this morning - most of whom appeared to be commuting to jobs - were using crutches or walking with great difficulty. Others had small children along. Then my computer screen gave me more news, some of it bad, but accompanied by possible solutions.

The Children's Health Fund (CHF) finds insufficient services for children in the Gulf Coast region during the five years since Hurricane Katrina. Among the points made in Legacy of Katrina: The Impact of a Flawed Recovery on Vulnerable Children of the Gulf Coast: A Five-Year Status Report, the reasons for continuing emotional and behavioral problems include lack of transportation to care and lack of childcare that would enable parents to take one child to an appointment.

Old and Young Share Mobility Challenges

On the other end of the lifespan, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A) accesses the challenges that cities and counties confront as their populations age. N4A informs communities that transportation is among the critical services necessary for aging in place.

Like the majority of American adults, older Americans rely on private automobiles to meet their mobility needs. However, the physical limitations that come with age may over time restrict or eliminate an older person’s ability to drive. Many older adults who cannot drive can still live independently if they have access to available, adequate, affordable and accessible public transportation.

Recommendation: Communities should offer driving assessment and training to help older adults remain on the road as safely as possible for as long as possible. Communities should also consider improvements to roadway design such as large print road signs, grooved lane dividers, dedicated left turn lanes and extended walk times at pedestrian crosswalks to accommodate older drivers and pedestrians. Additionally, local governments should assess their existing public transportation systems to see if they address the needs of an aging population.

N4A also recommends that housing amenable to older adults be developed close to "transportation links," which would enable those who do not drive or who have cut back on driving to have transportation options.

Map to AAA and CIL Cooperation

The National Council on Independent Living
posted a report with suggestions for collaboration between centers for independent living (CILs) and area agencies on aging (AAAs) and the mechanics of the relevant federal statutes. Among the suggestions made were coordinating transportation, development of transportation service, and travel training for people who need mobility options.