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| Estimated percentage of county population aged 65 or older in 2019 (Rural Transit Fact Book map from Census Bureau's American Community Survey data) |
"Millions of older adults living in rural America no longer drive and don’t have adequate access to alternative transportation that can assist them with rides to banks, pharmacies and other important places, "Deon Hampton reports for NBC News. "President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law is set to unlock $2 billion in federal money for various rural transit projects. But it still may not be enough to solve the seemingly intractable problem of inadequate transportation for rural older adults."
An estimated 3 to 9 million rural Americans depend on transit programs to get around; they're disproportionately senior citizens, people with disabilities, Appalachians, and/or people living in low-income households, Hampton reports. Some can't drive anymore, some don't want to drive, and some can't afford their own vehicle, according to the Rural Transit Fact Book published earlier this year by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute's Small Urban and Rural Center on Mobility at North Dakota State University. (The report has a wealth of maps and county- and state-level data.)
Lack of access to mass transit can exacerbate food insecurity and make it harder for vulnerable populations to access health care, especially during the pandemic. Rather than the buses and subways that characterize urban mass-transit services, rural services tend to rely on volunteers driving vans or small buses that pick up riders on-demand rather than operating on a fixed route. Such rural transit services could get a share of the transportation funding, but much will likely go to infrastructure projects such as highways, bridges and dams. "The Transportation Department will award up to $300 million in grants this year and $2 billion over the next five years as part of the program," Hampton reports.
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