Blog

Transit Desert? Not in this rural Texas community.

  • Author: Laurel Schwartz
  • Date: February 6, 2024

Paris, a small city in Northeast Texas is connecting its residents through public mobility services. Supported by the community, this service is providing much needed access to healthcare, grocery shopping and socialization. Federal transportation funding in the United States is primarily allocated 80% for highways, 20% for public transit. In rural areas like Paris’s Lamar County, which has a population density of 55 people per square mile, this has led to a lack of mobility options for residents who don’t have access to a car.

Resources

Engaging Older Adults in Mobility Management

Brookline Council on Aging – Brookline, MA
Transportation Resources Information Planning and Partnership for Seniors (TRIPPS) is an initiative of the Brookline Council on Aging. TRIPPS launched in 2015 with initial funding through a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation using federal 5310 funding. We provide information, resources, and support to older adults in Brookline who are looking for transportation options. Our focus has been on older adults who are either not driving or are transitioning from driving to other modes. About 70 percent of our older adults who we work with do not own a vehicle.

Resources

Seniors on the GO

Gloucester Health Department – Gloucester, MA
Cape Ann Seniors on the GO launched in October 2019 across the communities of Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester by-the-Sea to meet an identified need of improving access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity among low income older adults through increased transportation access. This pilot grew out of the work of the Cape Ann Mass in Motion coalition, a part of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Municipal Wellness & Leadership Program. The need for food and physical activity access was identified through root cause analysis and examining high rates of chronic disease among older adults in our Cape Ann communities. Over half of older adults who reside in Gloucester have four or more comorbidities.

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