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The Mobility Crisis
December 28, 2007
Posted by: Carol
Watching an aging parent finally have to give up a car in a city where a car is the only way to get around is a slow-motion horror. (In our case, a timely flood totaled the car, and our excuse to "take the care away" was ready made.)
Now is is finally occuring to planners that North America faces a looming mobility crisis. Aging boomers, especially those in sprawling suburbs, will find it increasingly difficult to get around to meet their daily needs. Even many cities are ill-equipped to accommodate big waves of older adults. (You try pushing a wheelchair over broken sidewalks.)
The retrofits won't be easy, cheap or fast. So we ought to act now. Which city will embrace this opportunity to accommodate boomers, who by all accounts, will be financially well off and able to give much back in the way of volunteer time, late careers, and legacy gifts -- but just won't be able to drive safely?
Stu Nicholson, January 17, 2008
Creating greater mobility will take a lot broader thinking than retro-fitting ramps on sidewalks. We need to be thinking about creating more and greater mobility options to the car. With the cost of owning and maintaining a motor vehicle (or more than one) now second only to the cost of housing, many of us in cities are looking around for an option to the media-generated cliche' of "pain at the pump" and finding our options limited or not there. We need to be expanding our investment in intercity passenger rail, especially in short-haul corridors of under 500 miles. We also need to be pushing for greater investment in rail-based local mass transit such as light rail and streetcars. Ohio is doing so by advancing the Ohio Hub Plan, a statewide/regional plan for fast, frequent passenger rail connecting all of Ohio's major cities and with cities in currounding states. We are also members of the Midwest Regional Rail System, which is a similar plan hubbed out of Chicago and serving nine states. Where CEO's for Cities can have the greatest impact is pushing for what states and cities need most: a federal level funding program for development and expansion of passenger rail. I hope we'll see more from you on this issue. Stu Nicholson Ohio Rail Development Commission
Link: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/