The Benefits of Public
Transportation
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As people age, isolation becomes a growing problem, and
access and mobility become increasingly critical needs. For
older Americans, affordable, reliable transportation options
are essential. Public transportation in various forms
provides:
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The ability to live independently
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Access to medical and social services
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Contact with the outside world
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The feeling of belonging to the community
America’s aging population is growing at a faster rate than
any other U.S. population group, and public transportation
systems must continue to be expanded and enhanced to meet this
group’s needs. Through the commitment of more transportation
dollars to public transit systems, the U.S. will be better
able to keep pace with the mobility needs of older
persons.
Meeting the most basic needs of America’s older individuals
requires enhanced mobility. And the car is not the only travel
option. There is a growing recognition of the broad-ranging
benefits of public transportation for older Americans,
including:
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Greater freedom to live in a variety of settings
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More mobility as a result of more travel choices
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Greater access to varied destinations
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Enhanced opportunities to lead a full and meaningful
life
Our national transportation policy can address more
comprehensively and more effectively the needs of aging
Americans through reauthorization of the Transportation Equity
Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21). Reauthorization is the best
way to assure that public transportation is adequately funded,
more widely available, more accessible and more fully
integrated with community-based and human-service
transportation services.
The Demographics
Statistics on the aging of America are dramatic:
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Today, more than 35 million Americans are 65 or older;
4.2 million are 85 or older.(1)
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By 2010, the numbers will rise in both age groups, with
the most striking increase in the 85+ age group, which will
expand over 30 percent to 5.8 million.(2)
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As America’s "baby-boomers" age, the over-65 age group
will grow at a rate nearly four times faster than the
population as a whole in the two decades from 2010 to
2030.(3)
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By 2030 one out of five people in the U.S. will be age 65
or older. (4)
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More older people now live in suburban settings that lack
transit options.(5)
Through reauthorization of the Transportation Equity
Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), our national
transportation policy can address more comprehensively
and effectively the needs of America’s aging population.
Reauthorization provides an immediate opportunity to
address these needs by assuring that public
transportation is adequately funded, more widely
available, more accessible, and more fully integrated
with community-based and human-service transportation
services. |
Figure 1
Growth Rate of America’s Aging
Population
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Projections of the
Total Resident Population by 5 Year Age Groups and Sex, with
Special Age Categories, Middle Series 1999- 2100 (NP-T3),
www.census.gov/population/www/projections/natsum.html
A Quality of Life Issue
For America’s aging population, isolation is a growing
problem that severely affects this group’s ability to take
care of basic needs and function as contributing members of
society. And studies show that, as people grow older,
isolation—in the form of lack of transportation access and
mobility—becomes increasingly acute.
Medical progress has enabled people to live longer,
enjoying more years of health and activity. However, this
growing population also includes an increasing number of
people, particularly among those over 85, with widely varying
health and medical conditions that preclude driving and
dramatically reduce mobility.
A 2002 AARP study found that:
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Compared to people ages 50 to 74, nearly four times as
many people over 85 (41% vs. 12%) had not left home the
previous day.(6)
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The percentage of those 85 and over who do not leave
their homes at all is three times greater than in the
80-to-84 age group.(7)
Studies also demonstrate a growing dependency on
transportation assistance among older individuals. Sixty
percent of older Americans expect to depend on rides from
friends and family when they can no longer drive.(8)
Lack of options and mobility can contribute to isolation.
Signs of Progress
Both large public transportation agencies and smaller
nonprofit providers are taking steps to improve transportation
options for the aging population. Many public transportation
agencies are expanding services in exciting new ways, putting
programs and enhancements in place to make public
transportation more available and user friendly for older
individuals throughout the day.
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Phoenix, AZ. With a goal of 100 percent
replacement, the Valley Metro System has replaced 80 percent
of its entire bus fleet with low-floor vehicles to ease
access for older persons. In addition, the system is
introducing state-of-the-art information technologies that
automatically announce bus stops for riders and identify the
route of the bus for waiting passengers. The system is also
introducing neighborhood circulator services using small
vehicles to allow older users to travel safely between home
and busy activity centers and major street and highway
corridors.
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Charlotte, NC. Charlotte Transit is undertaking
development of a database of bus stop features that will
identify elements needing improvement and allow a new
tripplanning system to show photographs of stops to riders.
In addition, through the Elderly General Purchase
Transportation Program, the agency, in cooperation with the
Department of Social Services, funds subsidized vouchers for
use on local taxis for aging residents who neither live near
a bus route nor are eligible for transportation assistance
through human service programs.
In addition to these breakthroughs, over 5,200 public and
private non-profit providers, nationwide, now offer
demandresponsive "paratransit" service to a wide range of
clients requiring transportation to human and social
services.
Figure 2
Elderly Place of Residence, 2000
“Aging in place” has meant that more elderly are living
in suburban settings where new transit options must be
found.
Source: Testimony of Ms. Lavada DeSalles, AARP Board
Member, before the U.S. Senate Housing and Transportation
Subcommittee, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs,
July 17, 2002.
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Tompkins County, NY. Gadabout Transportation
Services Inc., a non-profit agency, provides transportation
services for people age 60+. While Gadabout depends on 45
volunteers for operation, it also pays 11 drivers for
transportation services. In 1999, Gadabout provided 49,000
one-way rides on 20 buses.
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Loudoun County, VA. The county, whose aging
population experienced an 86% increase between 1990 and
2000, funds four major transportation programs in addition
to the service provided by two public providers.
Human-service transportation programs, operated by two
county departments, include both fixed-route and
demand-responsive service, provided through contracts with 6
private taxi-type providers operating approximately 550
trips per day in sedans, station wagons and vans.
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Des Moines, IA. The MTA has introduced a special
"On-Call" service to assist aging residents within suburban
Johnston—the fastest growing Des Moines-area suburb, with a
large concentration of elderly housing—in making trips
between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Those wishing rides call roaming
On-Call bus drivers directly. In the Urbandale area, similar
On-Call service is provided for seniors during rush hour to
park-and-ride lots and express bus services. On-Call
services promote a direct relationship between customers and
drivers, who are encouraged through pay incentives to better
serve customers and increase ridership.
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Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Public Transit
Authority’s (RIPTA) nationally recognized paratransit
service—The Ride Program—is coordinated with other
specialized human and social services transportation across
the state, allowing integration of multiple federal and
state funding streams, reduced duplication of service,
enhanced productivity and maximum service
delivery.
Other communities are organizing grass-roots transportation
services for seniors. A 2001 Beverly Foundation/AAA Foundation
for Traffic Safety study identified 370 transit programs in
rural, urban and suburban areas across the country that are
oriented toward helping older persons access medical services,
shopping areas, and many recreational and everyday activities
that would otherwise be out of reach. (9)
Need for a Broader Commitment to Ongoing
Innovation
While these programs represent exciting breakthroughs,
continuing innovations in transit services for aging Americans
requires expanded investment and support on a number of
fronts.
System design. Traditional public transportation
systems must continue to be enhanced and designed to make
everyday services more easily available. More older adults, as
well as young mothers, children and people with disabilities,
could access transit vehicles if more systems implemented
designs that are now available, such as:
Community design. Transit investment must include
improvements in community design to increase ease of access to
all transportation alternatives and community services. For
example, about one in five non-drivers among the aging
population could access regular fixed-route bus services if
better sidewalks and resting places were provided.
Advanced technologies. Increased emphasis must be
placed on state-of-the-art information systems to improve
information about alternative services and take the anxiety
and uncertainty out of trip planning and transit use. Examples
include:
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Web-based trip-planning systems, such as The RideGuide
system in Washington, D.C., that link route, schedule and
fare information for multiple transit systems across
metropolitan areas
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State-of-the-art electronic fare systems and multi-trip
ticketing, such as stored-value "Smartcards," that ease and
speed the boarding process, taking the guesswork out of
paying fares and ultimately allowing riders to use a single
electronic ticket on a variety of regional transportation
services
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Real-time vehicle arrival and departure information at
transit stops, such as systems in Washington, DC and Salt
Lake City rail stations, to reduce rider uncertainty about
schedules and conditions on the system
Coordination of services. Coordination of services
and joint investment between transit providers and other human
service and community service programs must be encouraged and
rewarded, not frustrated or discouraged. For example, in North
Carolina service coordination is carried out across each of
the state’s 100 counties by partnering at the county level in
the delivery of small urban and rural transit services through
jointly developed plans.
An Achievable Goal
While transit agency and community programs are
demonstrating that innovation and determination can stretch
limited transit dollars and help make public transportation
user friendly to older people, more must be done. What’s
needed is forward thinking and coordination that allows
municipalities to accommodate the needs of the aging
population into the designs of their transit systems and their
communities — and the funding to follow through on their
ideas.
TEA 21 is critical to this effort. In the months ahead,
local, state and national elected officials will have a unique
opportunity to expand the reach and quality of public
transportation for older Americans through the reauthorization
of this legislation.
For more information on how to communicate the
extraordinary value of transit for America’s aging population,
contact your:
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Local transit systems
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Local human service agencies
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State transit associations
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The American Public Transportation Association
Works Cited
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U.S. Bureau of the Census,
Projections of the Total Resident Population by 5 Year Age
Groups and Sex, with Special Age Categories, Middle Series
1999-2100 (NP-T3),
www.census.gov/population/www/projections/natsum.html
-
Projections of the Total Resident
Population by 5 Year Age Groups and Sex, with Special Age
Categories, Middle Series 1999-2100 (NP-T3)
-
Projections of the Total Resident
Population by 5 Year Age Groups and Sex, with Special Age
Categories, Middle Series 1999-2100 (NP-T3)
-
Projections of the Total Resident
Population by 5 Year Age Groups and Sex, with Special Age
Categories, Middle Series 1999-2100 (NP-T3)
-
Testimony of Lavada DeSalles,
Member AARP Board of Directors, before U.S. Senate, Housing
and Transportation Subcommittee, Committee on Banking,
Housing and Urban Affairs, July 17, 2002, Washington, DC
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AARP Public Policy Institute,
Understanding Senior Transportation: Report and Analysis of
a Survey of Consumers Age 50+, p. 19, 2002, Washington,
DC
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AARP Public Policy Institute,
Understanding Senior Transportation: Report and Analysis of
a Survey of Consumers Age 50+, p. 22, 2002, Washington,
DC
-
AARP Public Policy Institute,
Community Transportation Survey, p. 15, 1997, Washington,
DC
-
The Beverly Foundation,
Supplemental Transportation Programs for Seniors, Prepared
for the AAA Foundation on Traffic Safety, June 2001,
Washington, DC
Other Sources
Valley Metro System, Phoenix, AZ, Interview with senior
staff
Charlotte Transit, Charlotte, NC, Interview with senior
staff
Loudoun Co., VA, Interviews with senior staff
MTA, Des Moines, IA, Interview with General Manager
Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, Interview with
General
Manager