America, the land of the open road, is built for cars. Other countries invested in rail and subway systems to network their countries but the US focused instead on highway systems. Many benefit from this great network of roads, but, these busy highways and byways are daunting to those who have lost reaction time and dexterity. Many seniors stay off the roads because of poor eyesight, dizziness, and passing dementia among other afflictions of age keep. Without the ability to drive, the elderly are forced to depend on other means to get out and about. The ADA has made great strides fixing many access issues with transportation there are still 5 key issues to consider.
- Timing: Trains and buses are often scheduled for peak transit times for commuters and during non peak hours coverage is sparse. If a senior needed to make a short trip they are forced to spend the whole day, and, travel with the most crowds. Another aspect of timing is the speed doors on trains or subways stay open. For someone who does not move quickly they may not be able to get on or off the transit fast enough.
- Cost: Not insuring, fueling, and maintaining a car certainly saves money, however, money is still needed for transportation. Relying only on free shuttles or the kindness of friends can work for many things but not everything. Unless you live very near a transit stop taxi fees can mount up. Trains, bus, and subway fares add up faster than you think.
- Physical requirements: The ADA has created a better environment with ramps and parking but there is more to do. Buses and many trains have steep and narrow stairs to navigate. Subways are below ground meaning stairs or finding the elevator. Walking the distance in terminals or to get to a station can be exhausting and worse if there are hills or bad weather.
- Mental gymnastics: Everyone gets confused with the changing schedules and rules on transit systems and for a senior with poor hearing or eyesight or breaks in cognition navigation is very challenging. Too often there are changes or delays that need quick thinking and sometimes a dash across a terminal to catch a connection that might be beyond the comfort zone of an elderly rider. Many elderly riders ask a friend to ride with them to navigate but that defeats the independence of public transit.
- You can’t get there from here: This phrase is a joke in many movies but based in truth. So many places are isolated from any branch of public transit and some are even unserversed by taxi’s. The same is true for the other end of the journey, sometimes the place you want to go just is not connected to the network.
With so many limits on where you can get to or from, public transit can’t be a 100% solution for a senior who can no longer safely drive. The over arching transportation issue that the elderly must face is that there is no good substitute once driving is not an option. More then 80% of the elderly depend on someone else to drive them all or some of the time and it is important to note that we say someone meaning a person. For all the public options there is not a true solution for an elderly person to stay independent.