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| Volume 16, Issue 3 | Fall 2004 |
Cooperation in Community Transportation: New Directions
While the overall number of people younger than 18 isn't growing that rapidly in the Dakotas, the travel patterns of young people are becoming more of a transit issue. In contrast to earlier generations, today's young people are programmed with sports, youth groups and other activities, all of which involve transportation. Over the past 40 or 50 years, economic factors have compelled nearly all adults in households to work, creating additional transportation demands to get kids to day care, after school care, etc. This is an element of travel demand that has become even more pronounced since the "welfare reforms" of 1996. Curiously, the U.S. Department of Education invests $1 billion a year in after-school care and programs for kids, but study after study shows these programs don't come close to meeting their full potential, generally because of poor transportation - even though transportation is an eligible use of those program dollars! In rural areas, such as most of North and South Dakota, transportation is a vital component of the educational system, as distances between kids' homes and schools are far too great to walk most of the time. However, most rural school districts are in a bind because the funds they receive from the state for transportation increasingly fail to cover the cost of this elaborate and expensive rural transportation network. There also is an important, if somewhat morbid, aspect to kids' travel that should inspire more bus utilization in the future. Teens and motor vehicles are a deadly combination, with a disproportionate share of highway fatalities involving teen motorists. Most of these are on evenings and weekends. The most dangerous way by far for a child to get to school is to have a teen driver. These drivers account for 10 times as many school trip fatalities as school buses or transit buses. North Dakota, has more longer-lived people than any other state. South Dakota isn't far behind. Several factors contribute to the above-average age of the Dakotan population. There are more elderly people in general, thanks to medical advances, nutrition, etc. However, what really drives up the average age of the population is that many middle-aged adults no longer reside in the Dakotas, especially in the smaller cities and towns. We are well aware of the fact that, sooner or later, transit is necessary for almost every senior citizen. What is really challenging us, though, is that the Dakotas are losing much of the caregiver population. As a result, family members are counting on local public and community transit to do more to address the travel needs of older Dakotans. This gets even more complicated as seniors' travel needs tend to be for greater and greater distances, as health care becomes centralized, or even as banks, stores, churches, etc., become concentrated in a few growing population clusters around the Upper Great Plains. There is no question that persons with disabilities need public and community transportation. What is challenging is that, as with the senior population, the expectations of quality of life, the ability to maintain independent lifestyles, and even the expectations to enter and remain in the workforce regardless of disability status all have grown far more than the capacity of our transportation networks. In previous generations, we may have felt proud of our ability to transport disabled persons to doctors, therapies, or the like one or two or three times a week. Today, that's not good enough, as we're being expected - rightfully so - to transport persons with disabilities to their jobs five days a week and then take them shopping and socializing when they're not working. That's the kind of mobility those of us without disabilities take for granted, but it's a fiscally challenging obligation to uphold for our service to those with disabilities. Poverty in North and South Dakota while below national averages, certainly is present, especially Indian reservations and in the larger cities. "Welfare Reform" ended the excuse for people without transportation to remain on the welfare rolls, but have we been able to respond to the demands. An entry-level job often involves traveling long distances at unconventional hours. Those trips are the most expensive or challenging for us as transit providers to operate. However those trips are a lifeline out of poverty, and must somehow be provided. How do we put together the puzzle that is the Dakotas' transit future? Look close to home to see what changes are afoot. If you see changes in seniors' medical transportation patterns, track down the people in the state office of rural health and learn more about Medicare Rural Flexibility Grants and local critical access hospital designations, which can allow Medicare dollars to be used to pay for routine, non-emergency transportation to Medicare-covered services. If people in your community with disabilities are becoming enrolled in job training or vocational rehabilitation programs, find out about the "Ticket to Work" program, which can provide transportation benefits to these individuals. If your local schools are suffering because of increased transportation costs, find ways to work with them to meet some of those student mobility needs. We have spent far too many years trembling in fear of perceived federal transit and school bus restrictions that don't even really exist. You can set up local partnerships to change that picture. Above all, remain engaged in your state and in your community. Remember, ours is not a business in which we simply run buses around in oblivious circles. We are agents of change and of opportunity in our communities. Our mission is to do what it takes to get people where they need to go. (From a presentation at the DTA conference)
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In this issue...
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In preparing for the future of transit in the Dakotas, it may be helpful to look at present facts and trends. Let's pay particular attention to the demographic trends relating to those people most likely to use transit in North and South Dakota: the young, the old, the disabled and the poor.