Report criticizes KC area for older people’s lack of public transportation options – KansasCity.com

Among metropolitan areas its size, the Kansas City area has the most neighborhoods with poor access to transportation options for senior residents who no longer drive.

That rating comes from an analysis released this week by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, which evaluated metropolitan areas based on the percentage of 65-and-older residents who lack access to public transportation services.

In its size group — of 1 million to 3 million — Kansas City ranked worse than Oklahoma City; Fort Worth/Arlington, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

The study, distributed by the advocacy organization Transportation for America, focused on near-term needs. By 2015, more than 15.5 million Americans are expected to live in communities where public transportation is “poor or nonexistent.”

As reported in the “Growing Old in Kansas City” series published in April in The Kansas City Star, surveys and anecdotal experience show that the majority of people prefer to stay in their own homes as long as they can, even after they no longer can drive themselves where they need to go.

Today, about four in five people age 65 and older live in suburban or rural communities that are largely car-dependent, the new study said.

The Transportation for America coalition is calling on Congress to increase funds for buses, trains, van pools and ride-sharing programs; provide incentives for transit operators, nonprofit agencies and communities to innovate transportation programs; and ensure that state transportation departments can use their highway funds for transit programs.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/16/2955706/report-criticizes-kc-area-for.html#ixzz1PYEkbGdO