Who Will Drive Miss Daisy?

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- We love our wheels, even as we age, but when driving is no longer an option, many of us will be stranded by myriad obstacles unless public transportation systems are able to meet our changing needs.

With an eye to recommending change, Daniel B. Hess, Ph.D., assistant professor of urban and regional planning at the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, is conducting a study of the barriers faced by Western New Yorkers over the age of 65 when they try to get around using public transportation.

"The use of public transit is at an all time low," he points out, "so transportation companies want to improve access and service to the elderly which would increase the number of transit riders."

The study, funded by the Mineta Transportation Institute of San Jose, Calif., is the first step in that direction and Hess expects to report its results next spring.

Currently, Hess is seeking first-hand accounts of the barriers faced by residents age 65 and older in Erie County when riding the bus or Metro Rail. In addition to focus groups already underway, a written survey will be mailed to the homes of hundreds of the county's older adults to collect information about the factors that prevent them from using public transportation.

"The research is important," Hess says, "because if we can identify and correct barriers faced by older adults, the rest of us, including the young and the physically disabled, will benefit from better accommodations."

Hess points out that already 16 percent of Erie County residents are 65 or older and the number is increasing.

"By the year 2030," he says, "the population of Americans in that age group is expected to double to 70 million people, and a statistical analysis by the National Institutes of Health has found a significant gap between overall life expectancy and driving expectancy.

"That means a significant number of adults will live well beyond their ability to drive an automobile, and will need to use public transportation on a nearly daily basis just to perform perfunctory tasks like visiting friends or family, grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions or going to medical appointments."

"The barriers to traveling for the elderly are considerable and vary in seriousness and kind," he says. "There are perceptual barriers like fears for safety; and cognitive barriers, including lack of knowledge about routes, schedules and where to get information."

"Then there is age itself, which renders some people frail and may necessitate rider assistance. There are physical disabilities of many kinds, and often some degree of vision impairment. Any and all of these factors makes it difficult for older people to use public transportation."

Hess also is examining the transportation challenges posed by what researchers call "aging in place."

He says, "This is a term used to describe the phenomenon of older adults electing to remain in the largely automobile-dependent neighborhoods -- often in the suburbs -- where they've lived most of their lives. Many of these metropolitan neighborhoods have little or no access to public transportation.

"Although Erie County ranks eighth among U.S. counties in the percentage of older adults living in suburbs, there is less transit service there than in the city, because there are fewer homes, destinations are farther apart and there are fewer transit riders," Hess says.

"Driving will cease to be an option for many older residents in these neighborhoods," he adds, "and without changes in our transit systems, it will be very, very difficult for them to maintain the mobile, independent lifestyle to which they are accustomed, especially if funding for public service transportation continues to be cut back."

Hess points out that Pamela Krawczyk, commissioner of the Erie County Department of Senior Services, reports that recent Erie County budget cuts eliminated the "Going Places" van service that every year provided 25,000 trips to older adults in Buffalo and Lackawanna.

Because mobility for older adults in this region is critical, Krawczyk says Hess's study will help the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority (NFTA) make its bus and rail systems more accessible because "safe, reliable and convenient public transportation is the key to independence for older adults who no longer can drive."

Hess's past research about transit pass programs was awarded the 2004 Chester Rapkin Award by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. His recent study of commuting and access to jobs for lower-income residents was published last month in the international journal Urban Studies.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York.