News From National Center on Senior Transportation

I am posting this newsletter to spread all the useful news. Welcome to the National Center on Senior Transportation's online newsletter. The news today: "Complete Streets for an Aging America" is topic of NCST's next Webinar The National Center on Senior Transportation will host a free Webinar from 1-2 p.m. Eastern Time Nov. 4. Register now for the program, "Planning Complete Streets for an Aging America, Opportunities for Creating Livable Communities," based on a report recently released by AARP. The report offers guidance to planners, engineers and others involved in making streets safer and more navigable for older travelers. Presenters will be Jana Lynott, strategic policy advisor for AARP’s Public Policy Institute, and Lucinda Shannon, NCST training and technical assistance specialist. NCST invites applications for the 2010 Student Scholars program For a second year, the NCST will sponsor a University Student Scholars Program, and applications are now available. Amounts of up to $2,000 will be awarded to graduate-level students to conduct projects that expand upon current transportation/mobility-related efforts that benefit older adults and transportation service delivery networks. The successful projects from the program’s first year also are described on the NCST Web pages about this important initiative. New NCST publication addresses key issues in senior transportation The NCST is pleased to present a publication titled “Senior Transportation Today,” which provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities involved in senior transportation. The paper addresses the need to increase public knowledge about transportation options for older people; aspects of coordination, cooperation and integration; volunteer programs; financing approaches; and using technology to improve services. Promising practices are also described. The paper was developed with aging and transportation professionals in mind, and includes both annotated citations and a resource list. It may be downloaded from the Library of the NCST Web site, http://www.seniortransportation.net/. New publication is about healthy aging Now available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Aging Initiative is “Growing Smarter, Living Healthier: A Guide to Smart Growth and Active Aging.” The guidebook goes beyond the fundamental principles of neighborhood and town design to promote awareness among older adults on why community design matters and how to get involved in decisions about growth. Transportation and mobility are key components in such planning and decision making. The guidebook also contains a self-assessment tool that allows communities to rate themselves. The publication is available electronically on the Aging Initiative’s Web site, and it can also be obtained in hard copy by ordering it online. YouTube video encourages citizen participation in transportation planning “Citizen’s Guide: Regional Transportation Planning” is a 6-minute 24-second video about the necessity and value of public participation in the planning process of local and regional governments working toward safe, effective and efficient public transportation. Narrator Brian Kennedy, a transportation planning consultant who contracts with the Federal Transit Administration as well as state and regional governments, also guides viewers in making their participation as meaningful as possible. New program supports family conversations about transition from driving The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the American Society on Aging have developed the Driving Transitions Education Program, offering tips and tools to provide practitioners the confidence to act as consultants to families or approach the older driver in useful discussion about driving transitions. This free, downloadable resource has prepared scripts for presentations to community groups, staff, older adults and caregivers, as well as exercises and resource lists. Study reveals lack of awareness of driving and medication dangers According to a new study released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 95 percent of respondents 55 and older have one or more medical conditions and 78 percent use one or more medications, yet only 28 percent indicated some awareness of the potential impact on driving performance associated with those medications.