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Canadian Rural Partnership Research and Analysis  RURAL TRANSPORTATION SERIES
No. 4: Elderly and Disabled Rural Residents: A Continuing Transportation Issue Acrobat Portable Document Format (.pdf) February 2002 PREFACE TO THE SERIES This is the fourth in a series of reports on research undertaken on rural transportation in Ontario, 1998-2001. The fourth report is based on an examination of elderly and individuals with disabilities living in rural areas and their mobility problems. Information is drawn from the literature and from comparative studies. Report number one reviewed the Community Transportation Action Program (CTAP), 1998-2000, and the experience of the selected rural communities that participated. Report number two is based on an examination of rural youth and their mobility problems. Considerable evidence suggests that young people between the ages of 16 and 24 are almost invariably transportation-disadvantaged, especially those in rural locations outside of towns. Obtaining a sense of the dimensions of the problem is the main purpose of the rural youth scan. Report number three is a first look at rural roads and their future given the changes in municipal restructuring and the rural economy's dependence on exports. At the small community level, rural transportation is almost entirely dependent upon the automobile. Apart from inter-city buses, there is no public transportation in small-town Canada. We assume that those with access to an automobile are able to get around and those without are considered "transportation disadvantaged." This includes the elderly, rural youth, and the mobility challenged. Getting around in rural areas is essential for most people's needs. Mobility governs access to jobs and services as well as to social and recreational activities. To a large extent, the economy, as well as civil society, is dependent upon transportation of one kind or another. Therefore, the provision and maintenance of transportation infrastructure is of prime importance in rural areas and this includes roads, bridges and soft infrastructure such as regulation (insurance and policing). Transportation thus involves a complex set of interconnected parts and requires a good deal of planning and servicing to remain effective and efficient. It is surprising, therefore, that very little research attention has been paid to rural transportation issues in the 20 years preceding the end of the 20th century, at least in Ontario. This is particularly true for rural youth. The scans of transportation conditions in rural areas of the province are intended to provide information on some of the key issues and servicing problems facing governments, organizations and rural citizens. Tony Fuller ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was sponsored, in large part, by the Rural Secretariat at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Some financial aid was also provided by the Sustainable Rural Communities Research Program at the University of Guelph, part of the Enhanced Partnership between the university and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). The research was undertaken in the field by Marni Herold, Kathy Kaye, Emily Brockie, and Todd Gordon, all graduates of the School of Rural Planning and Development at the University of Guelph. The Grey Bruce Huron Perth District Health Council was helpful in allowing their staff to distribute the surveys on behalf of the University of Guelph. Tony Fuller
Executive Summary Rural households in Canada generally face several conditions that affect their mobility. These conditions are increasingly problematic for rural residents who are elderly or disabled. The conditions include:
Why is it still a Problem? What the Literature Says Transportation is an ongoing problem for the elderly and physically disabled residents of rural areas. This is despite an increase in car ownership.
Recent Societal Changes Increases in home-care services, which encourage independence through deinstitutionalization, have decreased the transportation problem. However, problems still exist in areas where seniors must travel to services themselves. The centralization of health, education, and social services has led to the consolidation of services, which has resulted in a changing dynamic for rural community transportation. Rural residents must travel farther, and for longer periods than they had in the past and when compared to their urban counterparts, in order to gain access to treatment facilities, hospitals, schools and community activity centers. Seniors are a fast growing population group in Canada. By 2021, it is expected that there will be about 7 million seniors in Canada representing 19% of the total population. In the year 2000, there were an estimated 3.8 million Canadian residents over the age of 65. Approximately, 24% of this population lives in a rural area. The reliance on the personal automobile has shaped funding agendas. As it becomes easier for people with an accessible vehicle to be mobile (improvements to infrastructure etc.), a greater division between those with cars and those without is formed (i.e. people who do not have access to an automobile, or who cannot afford to travel the required distances, may be left unable to access necessary services). With increasing cutbacks to social services, a higher demand is being placed on the volunteer (third) sector to provide transportation services. This situation may be exacerbated by recent trends with respect to volunteer participation - that is, recruiting and retaining adequate numbers of volunteers. On-going Issues The cost of both using and providing transportation service in rural areas is problematic for the rural elderly and physically disabled, and for the service providers of these populations. Several additional barriers to providing transportation services for rural elderly and disabled residents exist. These include:
The reality of differential needs and issues facing the rural elderly population, as well as the differences in rural areas themselves, suggests the need to explore possible alternative transportation systems, in order to have a variety of malleable solutions that are applicable to an array of transportation problems. In the midst of recent amalgamation strategies, rural areas have been included as parts of larger "cities", making it more difficult for the rural voice to be heard. What are we doing about Rural Transportation at the Policy Level? There is continuous debate over the appropriate division of responsibility to meet transportation needs (public vs. private, and levels of each). However, the need to provide transportation services is widely recognized. Provincial government ministries that provided funding for transportation programs in Ontario at the time of this research include the ministries of: Health, Transportation, Citizenship, Culture and Recreation, Education and Training, and Community and Social Services. Provincial funding has enabled non-profit agencies to provide various forms of transportation services for their specific clientele. This has caused duplication as well as gaps in transportation services. How Might we do Better at the Policy Level? The fragmentation of transportation service provision through public, private, and not-for-profit agencies, creates 'silos' where the needs of certain target groups are met, but which leaves individuals without access to these services. This may be because these individuals do not meet the required criteria. Service provision fragmentation also results from similar programs competing for the same limited transportation resources. These problems could be ameliorated through the following:
What are we Doing at the Community Level? Approximately 25 rural communities participated in an inter-ministerial Ontario provincial initiative, CTAP, in recent years. These communities have all attempted to coordinate existing transportation resources, and some continue to do so. In response to the continuing need for new and expanded transportation services, numerous community based transportation projects have responses to the need for transportation services for sub-groups of the rural population, including the elderly and persons with disabilities. Many small-scale projects and programs have been organized by community clubs, churches, and local volunteers. These "micro" programs often operate separately from government-funded programs How might we do better at the Community Level? Service agencies could implement or strengthen coordination strategies. The majority of existing transportation services in rural areas are specifically geared toward special populations, such as elderly and disabled individuals, thus providing the opportunity for independent living. This typically narrow focus of transportation services creates undesired results in rural areas of Ontario, especially during times of limited public funding for the provision of accessible transportation. The existence of criterion-based transportation services also results in duplication and similar programs unnecessarily competing for transportation resources. The resulting gaps, as well as the overlapping of services, prompts the need to consider coordination efforts. Coordination Benefits Identified in the Literature
Source: Adapted from Rogers and Whetten, Interorganizational Coordination 1982. Iowa State Univ. Press. It is commonly felt that coordination may be the key to overcoming mobility issues for rural residents. The potential benefits of coordination have been well documented and are outlined in the above table. Coordination of multi-sector transportation services could lead to more effective transportation services when transportation resources (programs, volunteers, vehicles, staff, and funding) are available. However, there are many different types of "rural" and various levels of coordination. It is important to realize that one coordination strategy does not provide all of the answers. One has to be mindful that coordination efforts must be structured and adjusted to fit each unique rural area. Another caution to consider when moving toward coordination of rural transportation services is the already existing multi-stakeholder involvement in transportation services. In order to fill in the gaps, many transportation projects have been implemented at the cost of volunteer time in planning as well as service provision. Therefore, any coordinated effort must be approached from several angles to honour those groups, individuals, senior's councils, agencies, organizations, etc. that have committed themselves to improving mobility conditions for residents of rural areas. In recent years, there has been a concentration on community economic development, quality of life, supportive housing, school restructuring, and healthcare provision in rural areas. All of these issues are imperative to rural life. However, one common thread winding throughout them all is the ability of all rural residents to be mobile. The full report is available in PDF format or by contacting:
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