Experts: Public needs to know transportation options for rural elderly

May 11, 2012 -

COLLEGE STATION – The question of when to stop driving is often a concern for older individuals and their families. They may disagree about whether someone can drive safely and if an older person may fear losing independence or become a burden to family and friends, according to researchers.

“Transportation issues can be compounded in rural areas where it can be 25 miles to the nearest grocery store and driving may be the only transportation option,” said Alicia Israel, a graduate student in agricultural economics at Texas A&M University. “Rural residents who do not drive face a higher risk of isolation.”

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Filed Under: Agrilife Extension, Elderly, Rural, Transit, TTI Tagged With: , , , ,

Distance, Dispersion and Poverty Make Difficult Choices for Public Transit

April 30, 2012 -

The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is located in the very southernmost region of the continental U.S.  This area is composed of three counties with 3,643 square miles which contains a population of over 1.2 million inhabitants.1 This land area is larger in square miles than two states (DE and RI), and has a population larger than eight states (WY, VT, ND, AK, SD, DE, MT, RI). If the distances weren’t enough of a problem for transit providers, there is the dispersion of the population over those 3,600 square miles. Dispersion occurs as a result of small, very poor housing communities called colonias. Read More

Filed Under: Rural, Transit Tagged With: , , , ,

Our Changing Rural Areas

April 10, 2012 -

The United States continues to face population increases and changing demographics. This trend is particularly true in Texas, where the population boom of the past 10 years has resulted in a rapid urbanization of rural areas. At the same time, some rural parts of the state have experienced population decreases.

This trend has become a hot topic for transportation planners seeking to find proactive solutions for transit in rural America, the theme of a recent presentation by Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Transit Mobility Program Manager Linda Cherrington. (Read more)

Filed Under: Transit Tagged With: ,