Transportation in Michigan: older adults and caregivers

Michigan Department of Transportationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90963/1/102858.pd

Recommendations for meeting the transportation needs of Michigan’s aging population

Mobility, or the ability to get from place to place, is important for everyone. Mobility enables people to conduct activities of daily life, stay socially connected with their world, participate in activities that make life enjoyable, and increase their quality of life. In the United States, and indeed in Michigan, personal mobility is frequently equated with being able to drive a personal automobile. However, because of age related medical conditions and the medications used to treat them, as people age into older adulthood they are more likely to experience declines in abilities needed for safe driving. Because of the preference for the personal automobile, and the lack of acceptable mobility alternatives, one focus of efforts to enhance safe mobility for older adults is to keep older adults driving for as long as they can safely do so. At the same time, society has a responsibility to help maintain mobility for those who are unable or choose not to drive. As the population of older adults in Michigan continues to grow, it is becoming more and more critical that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) understand the mobility needs of older adults and incorporate these needs into transportation facility design and planning. This project provided the background information needed to help MDOT identify where to concentrate resources to maximize the safe mobility of Michigan’s aging population. The overall goal of the project was to help maintain the safety and well-being of Michigan’s older adult residents by developing a set of low-cost, high-impact measures that could be implemented by MDOT. This goal was achieved through a literature review, an analysis of demographic data, and statewide surveys of older adults and family members/caregivers for Michigan older adults in order to gain a better understanding of the travel and residency patterns, gaps in transportation services, and the transportation needs and wants of Michigan older adult residents and the population of adults who provide care and/or transportation assistance to Michigan older adults. The complete results of these research activities, a list of measures for improving older adult mobility in Michigan, and an implementation plan are included in this report.Michigan Department of Transportationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90961/1/102857.pd

Solving Commuting Challenges with RTS Bus Rapid Transit (RTS-BRT) Rochester, NY

The public transport service in Rochester, NY, is inefficient in terms of reliability, safety, comfort, security, waiting, transfer, and longer commute hours. The public transportation system needs significant transformation to overcome this alleviating issue and relieve the burden on low-income residents, pedestrians, and non-motorized vehicle users. The research objective of this thesis is to advance and discover a connection pattern between transportation, urban sprawl, poverty, and unemployment in Rochester, NY. It targets the low-income resident’s detachment from diverse uses, residential settlement, locations of jobs, and transportation options. The research analyses how-: people commute to work, how long the commute takes, the rate of car ownership, and the financial burdens of owning a car. Furthermore, the research goes deeper into the energy demands and emission reduction caused by the transport sector. The data collection method used for the analysis is metanalysis, gathering data from local authority websites, organizations, research papers, and media. Sustainable transport can be a catalyst for urban development that prioritizes equity, accessibility, and time savings for the low-income commuter while reducing emissions and increasing traffic safety. Thus, all benefactors are a modal shift to lower-carbon transport systems such as walking, cycling, public transport, alternative fuel vehicles, modifying roads, and minimizing travel time. The scope of this study is to assess the environmental, social, and economic impacts caused by car dependency in Rochester, NY. As a result, the research probes the opportunities and challenges of leveraging Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) while introducing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system

Making Livable Places: Transportation, Preservation, and the Limits of Growth

Making Livable Places presents ten research essays on political and historical issues that shape metropolitan growth. Sponsored by Boise State University, the anthology was written and produced by graduate and undergraduate student researchers in the 2009 Investigate Boise field school on urban affairs. Social Science is civic engagement. Making Livable Places showcases a university\u27s commitment to the pragmatic concerns of municipal government. Dean Melissa Lavitt, Boise State University College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs.https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/fac_books/1477/thumbnail.jp

Bicycle Space and the American Urban Landscape: Re-thinking Distance and Mobility in the City

Since its arrival in the United States, the bicycle’s place in public space has influenced, and been influenced by not only road improvements and infrastructure investments but also by the social production of what it means to be mobile and to circulate throughout the city. Drawing upon the theory of “Time- Space Compression” posited by the geographer David Harvey, I propose that the bicycle can compress time and space in urban environments where time-space compression is occurring for motorists and their automobiles. But yet, bicycles (and their riders) have been consistently and systematically excluded from the American urban landscape; keeping them a part of this landscape has been a continuous and necessary battle. This thesis argues that the quest for an inclusive bicycle landscape requires the re-thinking of distance by activists, planners, the producers of popular culture and society at large

Spartan Daily, May 15, 1980

Volume 74, Issue 69https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/6636/thumbnail.jp