JFActivist: Transportation: Will Technology Innovations Benefit People with Disabilities?

By Jenifer Simpson, AAPD Policy

On February 23, 2011, AAPD was invited to attend a workshop on “Technological Innovations in Transportation for People with Disabilities” held by the Federal Highway Administration in McLean, VA. The event was convened by Mohammed Yousuf in the Office of Operations Research & Development at the agency, as part of their Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) program. The EAR program is examining how current and future advancements in intelligent transportation systems and other technologies could improve accessible transportation for people with vision disabilities and for people with other disabilities. The aim would be both to advance safety and promote greater independence.

While connection of vehicles through wireless networks is a current focus for intelligent transportation – for the purpose of more efficient use of vehicles and the goods they transport – pedestrians can also benefit from technology advances. Research on vehicle-highway interaction, nanotechnology, and a host of other types of transportation research in safety, pavement design, highway structures and bridges, human-centered systems, operations and intelligent transportation systems, and in materials science can all offer new ways to provide accessibility for people with disabilities.

 

The workshop included presentations on advances in wireless technology, computer vision, artificial intelligence and robotics. Discussion focused on how these new technologies could be integrated to assist people with disabilities to be more mobile and independent. For instance, wayfinding, navigation, orientation and guidance for people with vision disabilities could be enhanced by more wireless connections and better databases of information about the built environment. Similarly, people with intellectual disabilities might benefit from devices that provide directions and guidance. A key component to new tools for accessibility by people with disabilities is greater availability of sensor devices that can be attached to objects in the environment, such as lamp posts, traffic signs, building entrances, vehicles etc.

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Delta Airlines Fined Record Amount for Mistreatment of Travelers with Disabilities | Wheelchair Accessibility Blog and Disability News

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Delta Airlines was fined a record $2 million by the US Department of Transportation for not following federal rules regarding accommodating air travelers with disabilities, including lack of accommodations for boarding and exiting airplanes as well as not responding to complaints in an appropriate time frame. A portion of the fines will be paid directly to the Dept. of Transportation for violating federal statues, while the rest are to be used by Delta to raise awareness within the company and improve their services for disabled passengers.
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When Elderly Drivers Must Stop Driving - NYTimes.com

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By JANE GROSS

In my many years of reporting about the elderly, I found little that caused doctors more angst than confronting a patient and family about driving. When is it time for someone with physical or cognitive problems to give up the car keys? Who makes that decision? And how can it safely and compassionately be enforced?

Late into the fray, but with a comprehensive and thoughtful handbook, is the American Medical Association, in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Recently updated, the “A.M.A. Physician’s Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers” is an invaluable addition to the literature on the subject, directed to its own members but accessible and informative to the layperson as well.

The guidebook has plenty of information about assessing a patient’s driving ability; medications and medical conditions that impair mobility, vision, hearing, reflexes and judgment; tips on having the conversation with patients and caregivers; advice on how to avoid isolation and dependence when driving is no longer sensible or safe; discussion of a doctor’s ethical responsibilities; and state-by-state guidelines for reporting drivers to the state department of motor vehicles, which has the ultimate say in who remains on the road.

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Mobility Counseling: Principles and Core Components

Drs. Tom Meuser and Marla Berg-Weger discuss their recent, NCST funded research on readiness for driving transitions, including the principles and core components of mobility counseling, in a free audio conference. Dr. Berg-Weger, co-chair of the Gerontological Society of America’s Transportation and Aging Interest Group summarizes, “Mobility counseling is a new and growing area as persons living into their eighth and ninth decades of life will likely need to retire from driving and find alternative means of remaining mobile. A person-centered approach to mobility counseling that integrates meanings and emotions is an important first step.”

This conference will also introduce the Assessment of Readiness for Mobility Transition tool developed to assist practitioners working with older adults who can no longer drive a vehicle safely. Through the use of this tool, a mobility counselor can develop a shared understanding of what is occurring and finds ways to intervene to promote effective planning for the future and possible transitions. The ARMT tool is designed to support this process by raising key concerns about mobility (i.e., those expressed by other adults of various ages and levels of functional ability) and by placing those concerns on the table for active discussion and planning. Responses will help inform mobility counselors as to what approaches and messages would be more likely to resonate with individuals.

Moderators

• Lucinda Shannon, National Center on Senior Transportation

Presenters

• Dr. Tom Meuser, PhD, University of Missouri
• Marla Berg-Weger, PhD, LCSW, Saint Louis University

Join us for this free audio conference! Please register by clicking on the button labeled "Sign Me Up"

Dial-in instructions will be in your registration confirmation email.

If you'd like to attend this event you must RSVP online by Wednesday February 23.
Learn more about the Assessment of Readiness for Mobility Transition project.

If you have comments or questions please contact Lucinda Shannon at lshannon@easterseals.com.

Note: The time listed is Eastern Time.
Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

If you'd like to attend this event you can RSVP online.

Once you have reservations, you can still click Sign Me Up to increase or decrease the number of people in your party (subject to availability).

National Center on Senior Transportation:

New York City Sued for Lack of Wheelchair Accessible Taxis | Wheelchair Accessibility Blog and Disability News

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Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit law firm, have filed a federal class action lawsuit stating that there is a lack of wheelchair accessible taxicabs in New York City, which violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The lawsuit was placed against the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). The disability rights group was not pleased with their failure to require that taxis be accessible to people with disabilities and also state that their actions are violating multiple civil rights laws. Citing the fact that out of 13,000 taxicabs in New York City, only 231 of those cabs are accessible to people with disabilities, the Disability Rights Advocates assert that the TLC ignores the needs of the disabled.

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What if Mom Dies in San Francisco But Dad Is Buried in Vermont?

by Helen Kao

I was recently asked by a patient’s family member what they need to prepare for should their loved one pass away and they need to transport the body to their family home. While I have encountered this issue for a patient who died and was cremated (the family carried the urn with them on the flight as a carry-on) I surprised myself in realizing that neither I, nor my informal survey of several geriatric and palliative care colleagues knew the answer. I suspect that, ultimately, most palliative care social workers and, certainly, directors of mortuaries and funeral homes can provide the answer this family member needed. But I decided I needed to learn how to answer this important question myself.
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The Future is Gray, Small & Female: Disruptive Demographics and Transportation Tomorrow | MIT World

Keeping Us Safe: Beyond Driving with Dignity; The workbook for the families of older drivers

Do you think your older loved-one may be experiencing diminishing driving skills due to the aging process? Are they becoming lost in familiar places, bumping into curbs, mailboxes, or scraping the sides of the garage when they back out? Have they been involved in a minor parking lot fender-bender or do they complain about being honked at? Do they seem easily confused or more forgetful when you talk with them on the phone?

If so, don’t panic; you’re certainly not alone. The most important thing to remember is that the time to start addressing your concerns is now, before “concerns” turn into “tragedies”.

To help you do that, Keeping Us Safe has released its long awaited workbook titled “Beyond Driving with Dignity; The workbook for the families of older drivers”. The workbook employs a very user-friendly, uncomplicated method and is designed to be used in the comfort and confidence of the family’s home.

“Beyond Driving with Dignity” was written to help families (or professionals working with families) by providing them with a “roadmap to success” in their quest to overcome the challenges of an older driver’s safety.

If driving restrictions or even a complete retirement from driving are deemed appropriate, the “Limit Driving, Not Living” chapter of the workbook helps the family identify and implement alternative means of transportation for the retiring driver.

To learn more about how the workbook can help your family or client, please visit Keeping Us Safe or call us toll-free at 877-907-8841.

Matt Gurwell
Founder & CEO
Keeping Us Safe

Keeping Us Safe: Beyond Driving with Dignity; The workbook for the families of older drivers

TIME GOES BY | Old People Driving - A Documentary

by Ronni Bennett

In a comment on a recent post here, Mage B who blogs at Postcards mentioned that her driver's license has been confiscated because she had lost consciousness.

It is one the greatest fears elders have – to give up driving, losing the freedom and convenience we have experienced all our lives and to become dependent on friends, relatives or public transportation (which isn't all that good in many places) for everything we need or want to do away from home.

A new documentary film titled, Old People Driving, sensitively explores the emotional and psychological aspects of giving up driving. The 35-year-old producer, Shaleece Haas, tells me that her goal is to dispel some of the myths about older drivers,

“but I didn't want to shy away from the fact that most people will outlive their ability to drive - usually by seven to 10 years - and that all of the alternatives to driving pale in comparison.”

According to Shaleece, there are three million drivers older than 85 in the U.S. and most people believe they are a menace on the road. However, Julio Lacayo, who is the older driver ombudsman for the California DMV, tells us in the film, it is a myth that old drivers are the worst drivers.

Although elder drivers have a 16 percent accident risk compared to other adult drivers, he explains in the film, those under age 25 have a 188 percent accident risk. And while teens most often kill others, old drivers are mostly a danger to themselves.

Shaleece's poignant film tells the stories of two elder drivers - Herbert Bauer, age 99 and her grandfather, Milton Cavalli, 96. Here are the three of them.



Milton has been a car buff all his life, starting with his first Model T when he was 14 years old. He still owns three of them and a Saxon too, which he drives with confidence. “Age has nothing to do with it,” says Milton, sounding like me on this blog when he explains how some people are old at 50 while others are still capable at 100.



Herbert, on the other hand, has been planning for what will be his last day behind the wheel of a car, intent on stopping driving “before someone invites me to change,” he says. When asked if he will miss his car, he says, “I plan to.”



Leading up to that final drive, Herbert visits a bicycle shop to try out an adult tricycle. He has broken his hip in the past and has trouble mounting the trike because the seat is too high for him. I was struck by the young sales girl who, standing nearby, is oblivious to Herbert's struggle.

But he doesn't give up and works out a deal with a friend who still drives to trade his car for her tricycle. Shaleece shows us that sometime later, it sits chained to the side of his house unused because, Herbert explains, his left leg has gotten worse.

On the fateful day of his last drive, Herb is careful not to break his perfect record of no accidents in 80 years of driving as he notes that his last left turn is coming up. It is a powerful moment when he removes the car key from his wallet to give to his friend who drives it away as Herb slowly walks into his house.

Nevertheless, Herbert says giving up driving is a triviality compared to giving up someone you've loved all your life, as he did when his wife died. Losing the freedom of a car is “nothing by comparison.”

Both of these men, the oldest of the old, accept the limitations of their age with astonishing equanimity and in Herbert's case, a humor that I hope I will develop should I live as long. “If you have to live by yourself,” says Herbert, “tell yourself you're in good company.”

Here is a short clip from the beginning of the 24-minute film:
You can find out more about Old People Driving here.

Shaleece Haas has made a remarkably beautiful film that everyone – old, young, caregivers - should see. It will premier on Sunday at the Mill Valley Film Festival, will be screened at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival on 16 and 19 October and will be shown too at the National Transportation Safety Board symposium on older drivers in Washington, D.C.

She hopes to it will be broadcast on television soon; DVD copies for personal use may be purchased online for $20.

Transportation: The Silent Need

Transportation: The Silent Need provides the results of a survey of the nationwide network of Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and reflects their knowledge and opinions about senior transportation.

The survey of Area Agencies on Aging was undertaken by the National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST) as a first step in our efforts to identify the extent to which the Aging Network, including AAAs, Title VI Aging Services Programs, State Units on Aging, and Aging Transportation Services Providers, is involved in the delivery, administration and coordination of transportation services for senior citizens.

Summary The survey’s particular focus from the AAAs’ viewpoint should be considered when interpreting the survey results; nevertheless, we believe the report is useful and will enhance understanding of senior transportation. AAAs’ perspectives and knowledge of transportation are informed by their work on behalf of older people. A total of 367 Area Agencies, 58.3% of AAAs nationwide, responded to the survey. As the survey indicates, AAAs play a variety of roles in senior transportation - advocating, planning, administering, coordinating and providing services.

Of particular note are the following survey findings:
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Family Value: When It's Too Expensive for Dad to Keep Driving - WSJ.com

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Trying to persuade older family members to give up their car keys isn't just an emotionally fraught chore. Increasingly, it is a financial issue, too.

Cars can be expensive to maintain for an elderly person on a fixed income. The cost of auto-insurance claims in later life—even for fender benders and accidents without injuries—can quickly add up. Conversely, if an aging parent decides to move to a place where transportation is readily available, such as an assisted-living facility or continuing-care retirement community, housing costs could escalate.

If there is compelling evidence that parents shouldn't be on the road—because of failing eyesight or other physical limitations—then adult children shouldn't want them to drive. People who are 75 and older have higher crash rates per mile than all groups except 16- to 25-year-olds, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Many states require older drivers, starting in their 60s or 70s, to renew their licenses more frequently than younger drivers, to do so in person or to take additional vision tests. Still, health and driving skill can deteriorate between those renewal dates.

One possible solution: Take the cash that your relative would spend maintaining a car to get safer, reliable rides through taxi services or nonprofit groups. There are a growing number of alternative transportation options aimed at older adults who could continue to live independently if they could just find a good alternative to their own car.
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New Rules Aim to Make Travel Easier for the Disabled - NYTimes.com

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By TANYA MOHN

People with disabilities never have an easy time traveling, but a rash of recent improvements, including more wheelchair-accessible taxis and rental vehicles — and even Web sites for people with dexterity or vision problems — have made it easier.

New regulations updating the Air Carrier Access Act, for instance, extend coverage to flights by foreign airlines originating or landing in the United States, or ticketed through American carriers.

Airlines are required to provide accommodations for people who travel with oxygen and other respiratory assistance, fly with service animals or have impaired hearing or vision. If passengers are unable to use automated kiosks to check in or to print boarding passes, for example, carriers must provide assistance at the kiosk or allow them to go to the front of the line.
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Federal Transit Administration - FTA Announces Launch of Livable and Sustainable Communities Website

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The Federal Transit Administration recently launched a new Livable and Sustainable Communities Website -- an important step in FTA’s efforts to advance the Department of Transportation’s Livability Initiative and the Interagency Sustainable Communities Partnership. This website can be viewed at: www.fta.dot.gov/livability.

The website provides information about the Department of Transportation’s role in livability and sustainable communities, the interagency partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and Housing and Urban Development, and how FTA is supporting these exciting new initiatives. Specifically, FTA has reworked its transit-oriented and joint development webpage, included information on transit and environmental sustainability, highlighted efforts on affordable housing near transit, and provided case studies that can be used by transit agencies and communities around the nation as they plan to make their cities and towns livable.

FTA is uniquely positioned to contribute to these initiatives as many of its programs inherently support livability and sustainable communities. Transit provides critical services that connect all members of the community, rural and urban, with employment, health, educational, and other important opportunities and services. On the website, FTA has provided a key webpage that lists FTA’s grant programs as they relate to livability. This list includes major grant programs, such the Urbanized Area Formula Program, as well as programs that focus on specialized services, such as those serving seniors and people with disabilities.

FTA will continue to expand on the assistance we provide the transportation industry to build the principles of livability and sustainability into communities around our Nation.

United We Ride National Dialogue Report

Another important report is that of the United We Ride National Dialogue, which attracted the participation of more than 3,500 stakeholders from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia last November. Easter Seals Project ACTION and the National Academy of Public Administration hosted the initiative on behalf of the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM). An Independent Panel of Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration conducted a review and analysis of the content and identified emerging themes and key recommendations for the CCAM, which will use the outcomes to develop their new strategic plan and future policy direction.
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Riding Public Transit Saves Individuals $9,242 Annually

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Transit riders now save $600 more per year compared to last year at this time as the cost of gas has increased nearly $1 per gallon

Washington, DC – Individuals who ride public transportation can save on average $9,242 annually based on the January 11, 2010 national average gas price and the national unreserved monthly parking rate. Compared to last year at this time, the average cost per gallon of gas was $1.79 which is nearly $1 less than the current price of gas at $2.75 per gallon. This increase in cost equates to an additional $600 in savings per year for transit commuters as compared to last year’s savings amount at this same time.

“The Transit Savings Report” released monthly by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) calculates the average annual and monthly savings for public transit users. The report examines how an individual in a two-person household can save money by taking public transportation and living with one less car.

Transit riders can save on average $770 per month. The savings amount is based on the cost of the national averages for parking and driving, as well as the January 11 national average gas price of $2.75 per gallon for self-serve regular gasoline as reported by AAA.

Taking public transportation provides a safe and affordable way for individuals and families to cut costs, according to APTA. In addition, local public transit offers a travel option that has an immediate positive impact in reducing an individual’s overall carbon footprint while helping reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

The national average for a monthly unreserved parking space in a downtown business district is $154.23, according to the 2009 Colliers International Parking Rate Study. Over the course of a year, parking costs for a vehicle can amount to an average of $1,850.

The top 20 cities with the highest transit ridership are ranked in order of their transit savings based on the purchase of a monthly public transit pass and factoring in local gas prices for January 11, 2010 and the local monthly unreserved parking rate.*
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• APTA: Transit Ridership Down Nationwide (seattletransitblog.com)
• Transit Fare Inflation Hitting Health Insurance-Like Levels? (streetsblog.org)

Obama administration shifting transportation priorities to include livibility, environment — Autoblog Green

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The idea is that limited transportation funds will be spent on projects that improve "livability issues such as economic development opportunities and environmental benefits," instead of just low cost and time saved. Think of it as a holistic approach to moving people around. What this means in practice going forward is not exactly clear, but the U.S. Federal Transit Administration will "immediately rescind budget restrictions issued by the Bush Administration in March of 2005 that focused primarily on how much a project shortened commute times in comparison to its cost."

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Cabs pass Lenny Zakim's daughter by as she waits in her wheelchair - Newton - Your Town - Boston.com

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By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff

On weekends, Zakim and her twin sister, Deena, often enjoy the student clubs in Allston and Brighton. This past New Year's Eve was no exception, and the young women and a friend, rang in 2010 at the White Horse Tavern on Brighton Avenue.

Around 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, Shari Zakim said, they emerged onto the sidewalk outside the club to hail a cab back to Deena's home in Allston. When the first empty cab passed her group by, they chalked it up to a busy night. But then another empty cab, then several more, drove right on by, she said.

Finally a car from Revere-based Top Cab, the city's second-largest cab provider, stopped, she said.
...........
But the ride never happened. The driver pulled over, and then, according to Shari Zakim, saw her wheelchair, locked his doors and drove off.

She was shocked and humiliated.

"It made me angry. I can transfer (from the wheelchair) very easily. The assumption was made that people in wheelchairs must not be independent."

She never got to show the driver that she lifts herself onto the seat and disassembles her own wheelchair without assistance. The wheels and seat can be placed next to her, as Zakim does when driving her own car, or stowed in the trunk like any other piece of luggage.

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Love of Car: Transportation as We Age

The Minnesota Gerontological Society (MGS) and Twin Cities Public Television (tpt) have co-produced a one-hour documentary that can be viewed streaming online. It will also periodically air on Minnesota tpt channels between November 2009 and November of 2010.

The focus of the documentary is on the following four issues:

* How to determine if you're a safe driver
* Personal strategies to increase your safe driving years
* Ways to adapt vehicles to allow safe driving longer
* Who should be involved in deciding when a person should stop driving
* How to locate and promote alternate transportation options

This documentary is aimed at stimulating dialogue about solutions to community mobility issues for older adults. It features interviews of seniors living in rural as well as urban areas who are in the process of driving cessation, or have already gone through that transition. It weaves those stories with interviews of experts and demonstrations of solutions.

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FTA issues notice of proposed policy and request for comment

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The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, has issued a "Proposed Policy Statement on the Eligibility of Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements Under Federal Transit Law." The notice describes the eligibility of pedestrian and bicycle improvements for FTA funding and proposes a formal policy on the catchment area for pedestrians and bicyclists in relationship to public transportation stops and stations. FTA seeks comment from all interested parties. After consideration of the comments, FTA will issue a second Federal Register notice responding to comments and noting any changes made to the policy statement as a result of comments received. Comments must be received by Jan. 12, 2010. Federal Register Notice

Recommended reading: Guide to a Successful Volunteer Driver Program

NCST’s Jed Johnson and CTAA’s Jane Hardin recently participated in a panel presentation of the American Assn. of Homes and Services for the Aging conference along with Hank Braaksma of the Seniors’ Resource Center, who highlighted a valuable resource titled “Guide to a Successful Volunteer Driver Program." The document was funded through a project with the Rose Foundation, Denver, Colo.

Download Guide