Continuing on with the deep dive into the 8 Domains of Livability of an Age-Friendly Community, let’s look at transportation. This domain is focused the ability of an individual to comfortably move in and around their community. Transportation, including accessible and affordable public transport, is a key factor influencing active aging. Elements of mobility and access are deeply integrated across all of the eight domains. Being able to move about in public determines social and civic participation and access to community and health services. This domain encompasses the availability and affordability of transportation, the reliability, and frequency of transportation, age-friendly vehicles, driving conditions, and parking.
Here’s some questions to ask in this domain that may be of concern to Door residents :
- Is public transporation costs consistent, clearly displayed and affordable.
- Is the public transporation reliable and frequent, including at night and on weekends and holidays.
- Are city/town areas and services accessible by public transport.
- Are vehicles clean, well-maintained and accessible, including specialized transportation for disabled people.
- Is complete and accessible information providered to users about routes and schedules.
- Is there a voluntary transport service available where public transportation is limited.
- Are taxis or similar accessible and affordable.
- Are roadways free from obstructions and traffic signs/crosswalks visible and well placed.
- Are there parking and drop-off areas for people with special needs.
- Are sidewalks accessible and in all walkable areas.
- Are bicycling features and lanes available.
- Is there a one call-one lick option to access public transporation.
Door County Connect/Door2Door is our public transporation system! Door2Door rides are available to all residents and the cost is dependent on where you are going in the county, and Door CountyConnect provides rides throughout the City of Sturgeon Bay. For more information about these valuable resources, go to https://www.doorcountyconnect.com/170/Transportation.
If you need to get outside of Door County or just not sure how to get from A to B, Door-Tran is who you call. Door-Tran is a non-profit that has several programs and works with transportation providers throughout the county to help get you where you need to go. Door-Tran is here to help you to find the most affordable, available, accessible transportation options to fit your needs. Go to https://door-tran.org/ to learn more about all their great services.
Roads, sidewalks, bicycle lanes/paths, lighting, signage, parking and all the other things that go into a safe, accessible community varies greatly from town to town in the county. The AARP has developed multiple tools to assess and address issues, see https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/network-age-friendly-communities/info-2015/resources-domain2-transportation.html. The bigger question is how do we look at this domain in respect to the county as a whole and in each the individual communities. Contact us to join in on the conversation about this, giving a voice to this very important part of living in our community.
Has a web site been created to hold information like the Door-Tran site and AARP site mentioned in this article? (With a cross-referenced index — people have different names for things.)
Is there a course or a set of written instructions to teach people who want to access all the information they might need to live successfully in Door County? How to put phone numbers on “speed dial.” How to create book marks or icons on their computers and phones to quickly access useful, relevant information.
A regular radio program on a local station with useful information, updates, new services, and interviews with people offering services.
A regular column in the Pulse with contact and references to aid people looking for help of all kinds. (Some such information is already there but it is not all in one place in the paper.)
Same kinds of information (contact numbers, web sites, etc) on magnetic stickers (or less expensive media) for ready reference. The problem here is that this information can be out of date or incomplete.
My sense is that there may be more resources available in the county but it may not occur to people that it they are there.
What are the names of the services? If you don’t know the name of it, you can’t go looking for it or asking about it.