TRANSPORTATION OF ELDERLY TO RURAL SOCIAL SERVICES

In an effort to organize a systematic approach to the development of guidelines for public agencies estimating the need for, and use of, special transit systems, and to enable them to design cost-effective systems in terms of vehicle size and number, routing, scheduling and general operating procedures, this report summarizes the current status of the rural transportation problem for the elderly and discusses a methodology for designing and implementing a rural transportation system. Detailed information from surveys in Southwestern Virginia and other sources were used and a variety of travel variables were interrelated to develop an approximate image of travel activity of the rural elderly, showing effects of residential density, income and living situation on frequency and mode of travel. The nature of social services and currently available travel services are detailed. Although less than 3 percent of all elderly use special services, at least 10 percent would prefer such services. Questions concerning the findings substantiate the need for a broad systems perspective. A broad formulation for studying the effects of attractiveness of transportation services is proposed. Analysis of alternative operating configurations for typical rural transportation systems revealed that significant operational cost savings could be realized by coordinating the provision of rides to a variety of social services. It was concluded that a systematic and comprehensive definition of rural transportation problems is essential to the development of a successful rural transportation program; it cannot be assumed that simple rules and approximations to transportation system design are applicable to all possible rural service delivery scenarios; and demand estimates may be generated through existing, but approximate methods. Data from existing systems must be monitored, collected and utilized in planning future systems.