ARC Receives Grant to Develop Transportation Plan for People with Disabilities, Low Incomes and Older Adults
(ATLANTA - January 24, 2007) As the Atlanta region continues its expected expansion to nearly seven million people by 2030, the area’s older adult population – those ages 60 and above – will triple to 1.2 million. The number of disabled persons will grow beyond the 515,373 cited in the 2000 Census. And the number of those in poverty, estimated at 418,000 or more than 11 percent of the region’s population, will also increase.
Those populations – older adults, people with disabilities and low-income individuals – are more likely to experience mobility challenges, from the lack of access to a car and declining health to limited access to public transportation.
These issues, among others, and how to address them through technology are the focus of a Human Services Transportation (HST) Plan under development by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the official planning agency for the 10-county Atlanta region. A $400,000 grant recently awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation will support the planning efforts, along with $100,000 in matching funds from ARC.
The grant, one of eight awarded across the U.S., strengthens ARC’s HST planning, which will integrate technology into transit services to coordinate and enhance transportation resources, improve safety and operations, minimize duplication of services and facilitate cost-effective transportation services in the Atlanta region. For older adults, those with low incomes and the disabled, the planning efforts will make transportation services more accessible, easier to find and less expensive to use.
“Regional partnerships are essential to coordinating services to meet mobility needs for all residents and enabling human service agencies to provide these services more effectively and efficiently,” said Chick Krautler, ARC’s director. “The region needs a system that is transparent to the customer, yet comprehensive and sophisticated to service providers.”
The U.S. DOT grants, which totaled $2.7 million, were also awarded to Louisville, Ky.; Paducah, Ky; Fitchburg, Maine; Cherry Hill, N.J.; Kent, Ohio; Orlando, Fla. and Aiken, S.C. The awards support two federal initiatives – the United We Ride and Mobility Services for All Americans programs – to bring the transportation and human service communities together to overcome service coordination and accessibility barriers.
The expected results of the ARC initiative will be a deployment-ready and replicable HST model that can be used throughout the country. The model will include the design of a Transportation Management Coordination Center that will provide information on what services currently exist, route planning assistance, improved reservation making, coordinated service delivery, “real time” travel information and client screening, matching and education programs.
Over the past year, staff from ARC’s Transportation, Aging Services and Workforce Development divisions worked on HST planning for the region. In September, ARC began work on an initial regional HST plan, which is expected to be completed in early spring of 2007. To help develop and guide those efforts, a steering committee was formed and meets regularly. The committee includes transit providers, job training and placement agencies and state agencies that provide service options for older adults, disabled persons or people with low incomes.
More information about ARC’s Human Services Transportation Plan.
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