imm> department of I
IEm transportation i
URBAN MASS TRANSPORTATION
ADM IN iSTR ATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
FOR
THE ELDERLY AND THE HANDICAPPED.
UMTA OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
ROOM 9330 - (202) 426-4043
400 7TH STREET, S. W.
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20590
URBAN MASS TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATION
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FOR
THE ELDERLY AND THE HANDICAPPED
Introduction
Section 16 of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, states that
1-1/2% of the total funding of UMTA Programs may be set aside to
assist state and local public bodies and agencies in providing mass
transportation facilities and services for elderly and handicapped
passengers. The Administrator of UMTA has avowed his full support
of this amendment and has committed the Administration to do every¬
thing possible to effect its complete achievement.
The profile of this elderly and handicapped group is as follows:
20 million persons (10%) of our total population are past age
65, and this number is projected to increase to 28 million in
the next three decades. One-fourth of the elderly have
incomes below the poverty level. Their third largest expense
is transportation. 10% have impaired vision; 13% impaired
hearing; in addition, their locomotion ability and reaction
time are considerably slower than the rest of the population.
The aged live, mostly, in the city.
Six million persons, 3% of our total population, are chronically
handicapped, and an additional 4. 6 million have short-term
disabilities. Only 36% of the handicapped of employable age
are employed, as compared to 71% of the comparable age group
of the nonhandicapped. Over 1/2 of the chronically handicapped
have incomes below the poverty level.
The Urban Mass Transportation Administration has begun an inter¬
departmental effort to provide and/or improve mass transit services
for the transit deprived. Its Offices of Service Development; Research,
Development & Demonstrations; and. Program Operations are working
together to overcome the barriers that inhibit the use of mass trans¬
portation by this group.
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Accomplishments Prior to FY '71
Prior to the 1970 Act calling for transit services for the transportation
disadvantaged, especially for the aged and the handicapped, several
programs were supported by UMTA that had direct import for this
group. Noteworthy examples are:
1. In the years 1966, 1967 and 1968, UMTA rendered financial
assistance for the construction of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid
Transit (BART) System. According to one expert, this system "will
provide facilities for the elderly and handicapped surpassing those of
any other mass transportation system in the world. " Briefly, the
BART facilities for the aged and handicapped include:
i. vertical elevators to move passengers from street to train,
ii. rest rooms with special features such as wide stalls to
accommodate wheelchairs,
iii. stairway hand rails extending 18" beyond stairs,
iv. wide parking stalls at transit stations to accommodate wheel¬
chairs for handicapped persons using cars,
V. extra-wide transit car doors and aisles to accommodate the
handicapped and to allow more space to alleviate the fears of
crowds experienced by the elderly,
vi. loudspeaker systems and highly visible signs for those with
visual and hearing impairments,
vii. special gates and fare collection systems,
viii. low level wall telephones, elevator buttons, and
ix. other special devices to aid the aged and handicapped.
2. For the City of Baltimore, Maryland, UMTA provided financial
assistance for a demonstration project to provide transit service, from
the inner city poverty areas to employment centers (primarily suburban).
This project included taking handicapped persons to Goodwill Industries.
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3. In a joint project with HUD, UMTA provided financial assistance
for multi-purpose transportation service demonstrations to provide
access to community services and activities for persons living within
Kansas City's concentrated employment program project area. Older
persons are being transported to the city's downtown area and the
handicapped can take advantage of door-to-door service to one of the
two major manufacturing plants in the area.
4. For the California State Transportation Agency, UMTA has funded
studies and operational tests of transportation service in East Los
Angeles. Service on the community bus systems has been increased to
provide for the transit needs of senior citizen groups. Ridership by
this group is extremely high.
FY 1971 Projects - The Projects Obligated in FY 1971 Include:
Research, Development and Demonstrations
1. In Morgantown, West Virginia, UMTA has funded the demonstration
of an advanced people-mover system. This system includes approxi¬
mately 100 vehicles that are to be specially designed to facilitate use
by the elderly and the handicapped. These vehicles and all stations on
the system provide wide aisles, extra-wide doors, open floor space,
elevators, and other similar features to accommodate disabled or
aged riders.
2. In a Dial-A-Ride demonstration project soon to be conducted in
Haddonfield, New Jersey, one vehicle in a fleet of 12 will be specially
equipped with a lift device to handle wheelchairs.
3. Currently under development by this office, are new bus specifica¬
tions for special features which will ease travel for the elderly and the
handicapped. Such innovations as bus floors level with curb heights,
wider aisles, special tracks for canes are being investigated.
4. In its University Research and Training Grant Program, UMTA has
funded two studies in FY 1971 which it anticipates will be of significant
benefit in transit planning as it relates to the aged. Northwestern
University developed a mathematical model for predicting the effect
of reduced fare plans for the elderly. Florida State University designed
a course and wrote a report on "Effect of Age on Travel Patterns".
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Service Development
1. In the lower Naugatuck Valley in Connecticut, a suburban locale of
which 10% of the population is aged, UMTA funding will be used in a
demonstration to develop transportation services to health and medical
facilities. Demonstrations will test demand-responsive and fixed-route
services, as well as combinations of the two. A specially equipped
dial-a-bus system will be tested and demonstrated.
2. Helena, Montana, capital of that State and its retirement center,
has no bus system. The only transportation available for the aged
is by taxicab at high cost. Accordingly, UMTA has provided a demonstra¬
tion grant for a multi-modal bus system which will be demand-responsive
and designed to fulfill the mobility needs of senior citizens. The operator
of the system will be the local taxi company and if the demonstration
proves successful the city will continue operation at cessation of federal
funds.
3. The National Urban League (NUL) has been awarded a four phase
study grant. Phase I is a literature search of all efforts dealing with
marketing of transit services and providing information on transit
services to the elderly and handicapped. Phase II will be a nationwide
demographic identification of the transportation deprived. In Phase III
NUL will conduct a ten-city analysis of transit user and non-user
attitudes. The result of all of the above will be a handbook of proven
and new transit marketing and information techniques.
Program Operations
1. BART specifications call for a total of 250 cars in order to adequately
serve the Bay Area. UMTA assisted in the first purchase of 135 cars
which included 10 prototype vehicles. All cars are specially designed
to remove travel barriers with such features as extra-wide doors and
aisles, loudspeaker systems, and high visibility signs.
2. UMTA has on board a transportation specialist (architect) with
responsibility for:
a. To provide assistance and advice in the development and
application of architectural standards relating to facilities
for the elderly and handicapped.
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b. To assist in reviewing applications for capital grants to
assure the adequacy of proposed facilities designs for
the elderly and handicapped.
c. To evolve and recommend design criteria and performance
standards for mass transit facilities for use by the elderly
and the handicapped.
d. To advise cities that apply for federal funds on architectural
solutions to design problems that will ensure ready use by
the elderly and handicapped.
June 30, 1971