Webinar on Engaging People with Disabilities and Older Adults in Coordinated Planning

SURTC researcher Del Peterson will be participating in a webinar November 22 on engaging people with disabilities and older adults in coordinated planning. He will be presenting results from SURTC research regarding the use of technologies to improve public participation in transportation planning. The webinar is being hosted as part of a project sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Community Living. More information about the webinar is below:

What's Research Got to do with It? Applying Evidence-based Practices to Improve the Participation of People with Disabilities and Older Adults in Coordinated Planning

Learn how evidence-based practices can be incorporated into strategies to engage people with disabilities and older adults in coordinated transportation planning; hear stories from SURTC researchers and ACL catalysts about how evidence-based practices are used in their work; obtain resources to identify evidence-based practices; and learn how to tap into the UTC program and other federal and non-federal resources related to research.

Speakers

• Del Peterson, associate research fellow with the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center (SURTC) located at North Dakota State University (NDSU)
• Crystal Lyons, president of Crystal Fortune Lyons, LLC, and a professional consulting company specializing in disability policy development and DOJ and DOT ADA Title II compliance.
• Jed Johnson, MSW, MBA, Director, National Veteran Caregiver Training Program, Easter Seals headquarters
• Full speaker biographies (PDF)(133 KB)

Webinar Information

• Nov. 22, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern Time
• Click here to participate in the webinar.

To learn more about the Inclusive Coordinated Transportation Project, visit TransitPlanning4All.

SURTC Partnering with National Center on Senior Transportation

SURTC is working with the National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST) to develop a plan for conducting technical assistance and training needs assessments.

NCST has been administered by Easter Seals, Inc. and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) since its inception, and these partners were once again selected in 2012 by the Federal Transit Administration to administer the center.

Easter Seals, Inc. and n4a identified the development of a plan for conducting technical assistance and training needs assessments as one of NCST’s milestones.

Ph.D. student Elvis Ndembe and Dr. Jill Hough began work on this project December 1, 2012.  Ndembe and Hough are looking at past successful technical assistance mechanisms NCST has utilized and will develop survey instruments, conduct focus groups, and evaluate other appropriate data sources to help with the new assessment. The assessment should be completed by May 2013.

Research Report – Travel Behavior and Mobility of Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations: Evidence from the National Household Travel Survey

A new report published by SURTC examines travel behavior and mobility of older adults, people with disabilities, individuals from low-income households, and rural residents by analyzing data from the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). NHTS is a nation-wide survey last conducted in 2009.

The study, conducted by researcher Jeremy Mattson, highlights data on driving, trip frequency, staying in the same place all day or week, miles driven per year, mode choice, use of public transportation, trip purpose, trip distance, and issues and concerns regarding transportation. Changes over the last decade were also examined to identify trends in travel behavior.

Findings show how use of transit increases the number of trips taken and provides rides to individuals who would otherwise not make the trip. The study also shows the differences in mobility between different population groups. Half of those 85 or older were found to have a disability or medical condition affecting their ability to travel, and for many of them, it results in reduced day-to-day travel. A strong desire to get out more often was found by those not making a trip within the last week, which shows the importance of mobility on quality of life. People with disabilities or medical conditions were shown to make significantly fewer trips than others, while expressing a desire to get out more often.

Trends from 2001 to 2009 show increased use of transit. Older women are driving more and making more trips than they were a decade ago, slowly closing the gap between older men and women. These trends may continue as the active baby boom generation retires and expects to maintain their mobility.

For more information about the study, contact Jeremy Mattson at jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu. The full report can be downloaded at the following link: Travel Behavior and Mobility of Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations: Evidence from the National Household Travel Survey.

Mattson had previously presented findings from this study at the International Conference on Aging, Mobility and Quality of Life. That presentation is also available on the SURTC website.

Presentation on NHTS Travel Behavior for Older Adults and People with Disabilities

A recent presentation by SURTC researcher Jeremy Mattson is available online. Mattson presented findings from a study on travel behavior and mobility of transportation-disadvantaged populations, specifically older adults and people with disabilities. The research was presented at the International Conference on Aging, Mobility and Quality of Life, hosted by the University of Michigan and Elsevier, June 24 – June 26. The study examined 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) data on driving, trip frequency, staying in the same place all day or week, miles driven per year, mode choice, use of public transportation, trip purpose, trip distance, and issues and concerns regarding transportation. Differences between 2001 and 2009 were documented to identify trends in travel behavior.

A full report based on this research will be available this Fall. The presentation can be viewed at the following link: Travel Behavior and Mobility of Older Adults: Evidence from the National Household Travel Survey.

Presentation Recordings Posted Online

Presentation recordings for three recent SURTC research projects are available online. The recordings summarize the research methods and major findings from each of the studies. These presentations were also given recently at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting. Click on the links below to view the recordings.

• Marginal Cost Pricing and Subsidy of Transit in Small Urban Areas
• Travel Behavior of the Lone Rangers: An Application of Attitudinal Structural Equation Modeling to Intercity Transportation Market Segmentation
• Transportation, Distance, and Health Care Utilization for Older Adults in Rural and Small Urban Areas

SURTC Participates in Conference on Mobility of Older Adults

Researchers Jeremy Mattson and Del Peterson participated in a conference last week on Emerging Issues in Safe and Sustainable Mobility for Older Persons. The conference, which highlighted the latest research regarding safe mobility for older persons, was hosted by the Transportation Research Board and the Committee of the Safe Mobility for Older Persons in Washington, DC. Mattson presented the results from a study analyzing the impacts of travel distance and access to transportation on use of health care services in small urban and rural areas. Peterson participated in a poster session, presenting the results from his Ride or Relocate study that examined costs of aging in place and using transit versus relocating to an assisted living facility. The following are links to these presentations and the studies they were derived from. Also provided is a link to a webinar in which Peterson presented the results from his study.

• Presentation: Transportation and Health Care Use for Older Adults in Rural and Small Urban Areas
• Poster: Ride or Relocate? Transportation and Housing Options for Senior Adults
• Report: Transportation, Distance, and Health Care Utilization for Older Adults in Rural and Small Urban Areas
• Report: Ride or Relocate

Ride or Relocate Webinar

SURTC and the National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST) held a live webinar August 3. The webinar was cosponsored by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) and the Community Transportation Assistance Program (CTAP). The presentation addressed results from a study conducted in North Dakota which quantified the cost of living at home and riding transit versus relocating to an assisted living facility. In addition, potential marketing strategies were presented utilizing the results of the study to reach people who may be in the process of making these difficult decisions.

SURTC Report on Transportation and Access to Health Care Released

A new SURTC report titled "Transportation, Distance, and Health Care Utilization for Older Adults in Rural and Small Urban Areas" by Jeremy Mattson is now available online.

In this study, Mattson estimated the impacts of transportation and geography on use of health care services by adults aged 60 or older in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. There is evidence that health care usage is lower in rural areas, and this research studied whether long travel distances to health care facilities play a role and whether ability to drive, access to public transportation, or having others in the household who can drive have any influence on the number of health care trips taken. Other objectives were to find how many missed trips there are due to lack of transportation and estimate the characteristics of those people who miss trips, to determine how much older adults rely on public transportation for medical trips, to discover the concerns older adults have with using public transportation for medical trips, and to estimate the demand for using public transportation for medical trips among those who do not currently have access to transit.

The study received survey results from 543 individuals 60 years of age or older living in these four, largely rural, Upper Great Plains states. An analysis of the data found that those who needed care were generally able to access it. However, those who cannot drive were found to make more trips if someone else in the household can drive, and individuals traveling longer distances or those with fewer transportation options were more likely to report difficulties in making trips or to delay a trip. If someone delays a trip, he or she may not get the care at the time it is most needed.

By providing transportation to health care services, especially preventive care, people can manage their conditions better, their health status may improve, and in the long-run there could be a decrease in health care costs. The greatest problems reported for using public transportation were inconvenient schedules and infrequent service.

For more information, email Jeremy Mattson (jeremy.w.mattson@ndsu.edu).

Presentations from Conference on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Available Online

The Transportation Research Board has released a Final Program for the 19th National Conference on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation, held October 24-27, 2010, in Burlington, Vermont. Most of the presentations from this conference are now available online and are linked to within this document. Click here to open the Final Program (pdf), and then click on the presenters names highlighted in blue to view the presentations.

SURTC was heavily involved in this conference. Director Jill Hough served as the Chair of the Conference Planning Committee, and researchers David Ripplinger, Del Peterson, and Jeremy Mattson gave presentations and moderated sessions. The following are links to the presentations (pdf documents) given by SURTC staff:

• Ride or Relocate, presented by Del Peterson
• Mobility of Older Adults and People with Disabilities in North Dakota, presented by Jeremy Mattson
• How Rural Areas are Using Technology, presented by David Ripplinger
• Practical Uses of Rural NTD Data, presented by David Ripplinger

Ride or Relocate

The American population continues to mature with an impending ‘aging tsunami’ just a few years away.  Public transportation provides freedom to much of the aging population who would otherwise be forced to give up their lifestyles.

The objective of this research was to quantify the cost of living at home and riding transit in North Dakota versus relocating to an assisted living facility. Special attention was paid to three different living situations including homeowners with and without mortgages as well as apartment dwellers.

Overall, simulation results indicated that the cost of assisted living was almost always higher than the other three alternatives. Homeowners without mortgages had the lowest costs followed by apartment dwellers and homeowners with mortgages. Finally, every senior’s situation is unique and other factors such as amenities and safety may be more important than cost in considering quality of life and peace of mind for them and their families.

View the full report