KERR-TAR TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND SENIORS

1. KERR-TAR TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND SENIORS Working Together to Improve Regional Transportation Options and Safety Kerr-Tar Area Aging Presentation

2. Main Components of This Presentation • Transportation’s Vital Role in Seniors’ Lives • Coordination – the key to success • Techniques for success • Senior Transportation Action Items • Conclusion • Questions / Comments and Contacts

3. Transportation’s Vital Role in Seniors’ Lives • Mobility is essential for independent living • Aging demographics show vast increased demand for more transportation options • Suburban and rural communities have greatest need for transportation options • Elder-friendly communities and aging in place require transportation options • Ensure seniors are able to remain mobile safely • Coordination – “the best way to stretch scarce resources and provide more mobility for all.”

4. What Is Transportation Coordination? • A strategy to better manage scarce resources • Committed partners who: • Share power • Share vision • Share funding information and help with funding opportunities • Share responsibility • Share benefits • Plan together, work together, support the broader community • A way to increase transportation options for all residents

5. Techniques Used to Achieve Benefits – Community Planning • A community planning process developed in cooperation with service providers (area aging agencies, healthcare providers, transit services), seniors, and others • A planning process for community self-assessment through five key steps: • Making things happen by working together • Taking stock of community needs • Identifying opportunities and constraints to improving the transportation network for seniors • Adapting funding for greater mobility • Moving people efficiently

6. Techniques Used to Achieve Benefits - Partnerships • Federal programs like those from the Administration on Aging and the Federal Transit Administration • North Carolina Departments of Health and Human Services, and Transportation • Rural Planning Organization • State, city, and county governments • Public and private transportation providers • Agencies and organizations unique to each community include the following: • Area Agencies on Aging • Community service providers (health, home care) • Foundations • Faith-based groups • Colleges and universities • Local businesses and developers

7. Techniques Used to Achieve Benefits – KTRPO’s Role • Transportation planning and recommendations for transportation improvements • Public outreach and education • Inventories of local transportation resources • Focus groups and surveys • One-on-one agency meetings • Geographic Information System (GIS) that identifies transit riders and their common destinations; sidewalks; locations of services providers, senior centers, senior housing and communities; and, areas where vehicular, pedestrian, or bicycle crash rates are high

8. Senior Transportation Action Items • Develop partnerships with other community agencies interested in senior transportation issues • Analyze local needs and conditions • Use examples from elsewhere to help develop options for better services locally • Assess what options work best in your community and implement them • Create a Safe Routes for Seniors Plan

9. Conclusion • The KTRPO will work to: • Bring more local agencies into coordination activities to ensure seniors’ transportation needs are addressed • Realize solutions to enhance and expand senior mobility and travel safety • Apply benefits from new technologies to address senior transportation needs • Ensure senior voices are heard • Ensure funding opportunities are identified to advance senior transportation needs and goals

10. For More Information • Call Mike Ciriello at 252.436.2040 • Email Mike: mciriello@kerrtarcog.org • Visit our website: www.kerrtarcog.org