Gary D. Thomas, Executive Director of SAINT Volunteer Transportation for seven years, discusses seniors’ transportation needs and challenges. Mr. Thomas, who has a bachelor of business administration degree from The University of Texas and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification from the Society of Human Resource Managements, also addresses ways in which these needs can be met as more elderly people require alternatives to driving and public transportation.

Mr. Thomas directly supervises three employees, with whom he recruits and coordinates the activities of approximately 160 volunteers who donate their time and use their own cars to provide transportation for seniors and people with disabilities in Fort Collins and Loveland.  SAINT’s mission is to support independence by providing the necessary transportation so clients can access the goods and services they need to maintain a reasonable quality of life. SAINT provides over 20,000 rides each year to approximately 500 clients.

Mr. Thomas’s positions as chair of the Fort Collins Transportation Board, chair of the Loveland Transportation Advisory Board, and member in the regional Transit Advisory Group and the Larimer County Mobility Council give him an opportunity to advocate for improved transportation of all kinds in the community.

In terms of your area of service, what would you say are the most critical needs of seniors in our community?

Securing adequate transportation is a problem for all seniors once they reach the point at which they no longer drive.  Unless one lives near a bus route, there are few options for mobility and the towns are laid out for automobile access.

In particular, transportation between Loveland and Fort Collins is very difficult for people who cannot drive. However, more and more, medical appointments require traveling between the two towns. In addition, people who live outside the cities have limited access into the towns for all kinds of needs.

Within the towns, there are working transit systems. However, more routes and more convenience (less wait time) are needed to make the system more user-friendly to seniors as well as everyone else.

Of those needs (or others), are there aging issues for which there is little (or no) adequate means of support?

For someone who cannot drive or withstand a trip involving two to three hours on several buses, there is no reasonable support for traveling between Fort Collins and Loveland.  The same can be said for anyone who lives outside the city and/or needs after-hours access to work, medical treatments, social activities, etc.

Do you have any examples of these "unmet needs" (e.g., a brief anecdote or story about an elderly person)?

We have had several calls that involve a spouse living in Fort Collins who has a major medical emergency and is taken to the new Medical Center of the Rockies in east Loveland, and the other spouse being unable to drive.  Depending on where they live, the visiting spouse may need to take five buses and over three hours to get to the hospital.

What is your perception of how these needs now affect our community at large?

Increasing numbers of people have to travel between the two towns. As the population continues to age past the point of driving, this will be a significant problem. The possibility exists that some people simply will forgo needed treatments because of their inaccessibility.

What are your thoughts about the potential impact of seniors’ growing needs in five to ten years?

If we are not able to provide better transit connections within and between the towns, the problem is only going to get much worse. Already the census data tell us that the cohort of people aged 75 or older is among the fastest-growing groups.

What approaches/solutions have been tried in attempting to deal with these needs?

A couple of years ago, an attempt was made to establish a regional transportation authority (RTA), with a provision for transit between the towns. This attempt failed when design committee members pushed for more roads at the cost of transit.

However, this year the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland both have adopted strategic transit plans that include an evaluation of combining the two transit organizations. The plans also call for increased service between the towns and other nearby communities. Demand for transit and economics will dictate if and when the plans are put into motion.

Which approaches/solutions have succeeded, and why?

Continued public education about the need for successful transit options helped the above strategic plans to pass. The high gasoline prices last year provided something of a wake-up call in terms of the need for alternative transportation options.

Which approaches/solutions have failed, and why?

Attempting to craft a two-county proposal for higher taxes for both roads and transit did not work—mostly because rural communities, primarily in Weld County, saw more value in building their road networks than did the larger cities in Larimer County that have and value transit services. Focusing on just Larimer County needs seems to work better.

What steps can the community take to help with solutions to current and potential unmet needs of the elderly?

The strategic plans are all there now to provide adequate public transit service. They lack only the funding. Public communication to elected officials and other community leaders is needed to raise the awareness and political will to dedicate the necessary resources.

What steps can business leaders take to help?

Employers can encourage employees to use more transit in their daily commutes. The more riders on the existing system, the easier finding funding for expansion will be. Very large employers may want to consider entering into contracts with the city bus agencies to subsidize special bus routes that service their facilities. Having a working bus system in place is the best insurance against the next time fuel prices run up.

Business leaders should also take the time to familiarize themselves with the pending impacts of the aging baby boomer cohort. In 15 to 20 years, the 78 million members of that group will overwhelm all existing transit systems when they reach the point at which they stop driving.  Land-use planning and development must anticipate the need to marry transit and housing to accommodate that many non-drivers.

Do you have any other comments, observations, or key messages you wish to communicate to members of the public, government representatives and employees, and business leaders of Larimer County?

I think three significant trends will cause most people to reconsider the balance between private automobiles and public transportation: the rising cost of fuel, the desire to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases, and the baby boomers’ move into their senior years. The timing and impact of any one of these are still somewhat unknown. But taken together, along with the existing shortfall in services discussed above, these factors form a “perfect storm” of demand for more transit to more locations. Communities that anticipate and prepare for the changes will likely do much better than those that wait.