Lack of transportation a problem for rural seniors - Entrepreneur Generations

 A recent survey found that rural seniors who can no longer drive face significant obstacles in finding transportation, which can limit their ability to stay in their homes as they age.

"A survey by the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center found that 68 percent of adults 60 and older who they polled this fall said it would be hard to find alternative transportation options if they needed to stop driving," Laura Maggi reports for Route Fifty. "The poll also included younger disabled people, who said they would struggle even more, with 80 percent responding that it would be difficult to find other alternatives."

Most rural areas have two major problems when it comes to transportation: too many people don't know about public transit or other available options, and sometimes there just aren't enough transportation options to augment or replace public transit, Maggi reports.

"Only 15 percent of the 509 older adults who were polled between Oct. 19 and Nov. 5—which included both phone and online respondents—reported using public transportation and even fewer used special services like paratransit or a volunteer ride agency," Maggi reports. "Transit use was higher among younger people with disabilities, with about a third of the 513 respondents saying they used public transportation."

Even a small state like Massachusetts is having a hard time providing public transit for rural areas where seniors are a key demographic. The state has 15 regional transit agencies, but some rural areas still don't have access to public transportation, or can only access it on weekdays, Adam Vaccaro reports for The Boston Globe.

The state legislature provided more funding for bus services last year, but the regional agencies still have to apply for the money and show why they need it. Some proposed solutions include better broadband access so seniors can use ride-hailing services like Uber, a "micro-transit" service that blends ride-hailing services and smaller transit vehicles like shuttle buses to create flexible routes that change with passenger demand, Vaccaro reports.

from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2FsGAkx Lack of transportation a problem for rural seniors - Entrepreneur Generations

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