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Transportation to Support Rural Healthcare – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Transportation to Support Rural Healthcare.

NADTC Best Practices Compendium
Highlights innovative programs, best practices, and lessons learned by 16 programs funded by the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) between 2017-2019. Identifies common themes across the programs that serve as key considerations for communities that want to expand accessible transportation options for older adults and people with disabilities. Includes a section focused on rural transportation programs.
Date: 09/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Aging and Disability Transportation Center
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Rural-Urban Variations in Travel Burdens for Care: Findings from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey
Provides estimates of the distance traveled and time spent on one-way trips for medical and dental care, examines how rural residents' travel behaviors vary by sociodemographic and geographic characteristics, and evaluates factors associated with a high travel burden for medical and dental care among rural residents. Features statistics with breakdowns by time and distance traveled, age, sex, race/ethnicity, household income, and rural or urban residence.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Marvellous Akinlotan, Kristin Primm, Nima Khodakarami, Jane Bolin, Alva O. Ferdinand
Date: 07/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
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Understanding the Value of the Medicaid Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Benefit
Presents findings from a focus group of 41 Medicaid enrollees in six states who have either used the non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit or are caring for a Medicaid beneficiary who has used the benefit. Describes the transportation barriers focus group participants face, their health care needs and the services they use NEMT to access, their experiences using NEMT, and suggestions for improving the benefit. Includes perspectives from rural beneficiaries.
Date: 06/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, PerryUndem
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National RTAP/FTA Webinar: Rural Transportation Planning and the COVID-19 Response
Webinar recording discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected rural and tribal transit, their communities, and the providers responding to the pandemic. Features speakers from the Federal Transit Administration, the National Rural Transit Assistance Program, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Crawford Area Transit Authority, and Nevada County Transit Services.
Date: 06/2021
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Transit Assistance Program
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An Analysis of the Costs and Benefits of Providing Increased Mobility to Reduce Social Isolation Among America's Aging Population
Quantifies the cost of providing greater mobility to aging adults through public transportation in small urban and rural communities, using data from 10 states representing different regions of the country with large rural populations or a large percentage of rural residents. Features statistics on population with breakdowns by percentage of rural residents, and operating costs compared with increased Medicare costs due to isolation, with breakdowns by state.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Del Peterson, Antonio Molina
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
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RideSheet: A Transportation Technology Solution for Rural America
Explores how two non-emergency medical transportation providers in a rural county in Oregon used the open-sourced software, RideSheet, to improve scheduling and data collection. Discusses how scheduling software can make non-emergency transportation more efficient and effective.
Author(s): Jana Lynott
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: AARP
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Tribal Transit Study: Demographic Needs Indicators, Funding Needs and Livability
Explores the demographic characteristics that correlate with transportation needs among American Indian and discusses the transit options available in several reservations in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington. Breaks down data by demographics such as senior citizen status, disability status, and income, among other factors.
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
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RideSheet: Rural Transportation Benefits from New Coordination Technology
Discusses the transportation challenges rural human services providers face, specifically regarding demand-responsive transportation. Profiles RideSheet, a tool that supports scheduling requirements of rural and frontier communities with small transit providers. Describes two transportation agencies in rural Lake County, Oregon, and their experiences before and after utilizing RideSheet.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: AARP Public Policy Institute, Full Path Transit Technology
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America at a Glance: 5310 & 5311 Transportation Funding in Rural Counties
Examines how much funding is received by rural counties from the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (section 5310) and Formula Grants for Rural Areas (section 5311) programs. Discusses the type of agencies that receive section 5310 and 5311 funding in rural counties. Includes a map to highlight geographic differences in funding distribution.
Author(s): Andrew Myers, Ari Lissau
Date: 02/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities, University of Montana: Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities
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Older Adults, New Mobility, and Automated Vehicles
Discusses how the use of automated vehicles (AVs) and shared mobility options, like carsharing, ridehailing, and others, in public transportation may benefit and harm older adults. Identifies key factors related to older adults' mobility and describes transportation challenges in rural communities.
Author(s): Laura Fraade-Blanar, Nico Larco, Ryan Best, Tiffany Swift, Marjory Blumenthal
Date: 02/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: AARP Public Policy Institute, RAND Corporation, Urbanism Next Center
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Last Updated: 3/22/2024