Citation

Schnell JB. Transp. Res. Rec. 1974; 516: 1-10.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1974, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Section 16(a) of the United States Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended, declares as national policy that urban public transportation shall be available to the elderly and handicapped and that this shall be transportation that they can effectively use. This paper reports on a series of interviews concerning the most efficient and economical means of ensuring the availability of transportation that meets that requirement. The paper discusses the characteristics of these citizens, defines the dimensions of the problem, and focuses on the major measures already in existence or proposed for facilitating their use of urban transit. Measures include modification of the types of vehicles currently in service, use of taxis, development of new vehicles in the TRANSBUS and Small Bus Programs, and demand-responsive service. In the opinions of those interviewed, the most efficient and economical means of providing transportation that the elderly and handicapped can effectively use is to centralize, and support by public subsidy, transportation in the principal urban transit systems: TRANSBUS and small bus for the ambulatory and semiambulatory and demand-responsive vehicles with attendants who would assist invalids and nonambulatory through the doors of their homes and through the doors of their destinations. Interviewers agreed that, regardless of the solution, a sustained program of education is essential to convince and remind the public and the typical rider that the needs of the elderly and handicapped deserve special attention.

Language: en