ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY FOR MOBILITY OF ELDERLY AND HANDICAPPED: THE ROLES OF TRANSIT PROPERTIES, TRANSIT PLANNERS, AND SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES IN SMALL CITIES

Public policy currently promotes the proliferation of small, uncoordinated programs aimed at agency clients rather than broader transportation services for the community. The purpose of this research is to explore the degree of harmony in actions between transit operators, social service agency personnel, and local transportation planners in small and midsize cities (50,000 to 500,000 population) with emphasis placed upon the perceptions of actors in the system (planners, social workers, and transit operators) about their roles in providing transportation services to the elderly and handicapped. This report purports to test the underlying assumption of revenue sharing advocates that, left to themselves, local agencies will allocate resources efficiently at the local level. The results of this study suggest that this assumption is unwarranted in many cases. This report cites examples of successful interactions between transit planners, social service agency staffs, and transit properties in enhancing consolidated transportation services to the elderly and handicapped. It also documents the more usual pattern of non-interation which seriously impairs the efficiency of transportation services to this disadvanaged group. Data was obtained from three principal soruces: (1) the set of 89 questionnaires; (2) the set of case studies of ten localities; and (3) the two volumes of written submissiona made to the Chief Counsel of UMTA pursuant to the public hearings on UMTA's proposed "Elderly and Handicapped Regulations" held in 1975.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by DOT, Urban Mass Transportation Administration.
• Corporate Authors:

  North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro

  Transportation Institute
  Greensboro, NC  United States  27411
• Authors:
  • KIDDER, A E
  • Amedee, G
• Publication Date: 1976-7

Media Info

• Pagination: 67 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Case studies; Economic efficiency; Persons with disabilities; Public policy; Public transit; Questionnaires; Small cities; Transportation planning; Urban transportation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Efficiency; Interaction; Revenue sharing; Welfare
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Highways; Policy; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00158141
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Urban Mass Transportation Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-NC-11-0004-77-1
• Contract Numbers: NC-11-0004
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 28 1981 12:00AM