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Summary

In 2019–2020, Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County created and piloted the Safe Routes to Age in Place program to address transportation challenges faced by older adults who may not be interested in/able to drive and require access to a variety of transportation options. Older adult residents from three Franklin County communities (Prairie Township, City of Westerville and the Near Eastside of Columbus) participated in the pilot study, which used the MyAmble app developed by the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work to track details of their daily transportation experiences during a two-week period. The data collected increased knowledge of older adults’ transportation challenges and options and helped identify targeted infrastructure improvements and pilot programs to provide potential solutions. With support from the Ohio Department of Transportation and in partnership with the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work, Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County created a report and toolkit to support other communities seeking Safe Routes to Age in Place. The documents serve as a guide for communities to engage with older adults to find real world solutions to mobility challenges.

Website: https://agefriendlycolumbus.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/SRTAIP-Final-Report.pdf

Key facts

Main target group: Older people in general

Sector(s): Transportation

Desired outcome for older people:
Be mobile

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:
  • Accessibility
  • Ageing in place
  • Inequities
  • Inclusion
  • Participation

Contact details

Name: Marisa Sheldon

Email address: AgeFriendly@osu.edu

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Research institution

How collaboration worked: The transportation and mobility initiatives of AFCFC closely align with the Alternative Transportation Focus Area of the Older Road Users Action Plan from Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). According to the 2012- 2016 SHSP, Franklin County was one of six Ohio counties that had over 5,000 crashes involving drivers 65 and older. Furthermore, older Columbus adults accounted for the highest percentage of serious injuries and fatalities when involved in crashes. The 2016 ODOT SHSP outlined multiple strategies to decrease older adult serious injuries and fatalities on Ohio’s roadways. One such strategy was to create and pilot a “Safe Routes to Age in Place (SRTAIP)” program for older adults in Central Ohio. This was achieved by collaborating with older adults and municipal leaders in Franklin County to identify the transportation-related challenges faced by older people while navigating their communities and those challenges. In consultation with municipal leaders, three geographic areas or “hot spots” in the pilot communities of Westerville, Prairie Township and the Near East Side of Columbus were identified through existing publicly available data. The data used to identify these hot spots included areas of high older adult density; the locations of Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) bus stops; COTA Mainstream routes; sidewalks; and bike, car, pedestrian and intersection crash data. The data was used to create a heat map in each community to pinpoint areas of high older adult density and high incidence of traffic collisions.

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: Recruited older adult residents participated in the study by using an app (MyAmble) to track details of their planned and actual trips on a tablet. They answered a variety of questions related to their daily transportation experiences, travel memories and how transportation affects their social participation, access to resources and quality of life. Participants also engaged in one of three focus groups held in each community to elaborate on their experiences during the study.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: Yes

Was the impact positive or negative:
Positive

Evaluation report: SRTAIP-Final-Report.pdf

Expansion plans:
We are currently conducting the second round of Safe Routes to Age in Place.

Looking back

Challenges:
Navigating technology was a challenge for some participants. We provided support but made sure to enhance more one on one technology supoprt and training for the second round of the study participants. We also worked on improving the app and the manual to be more age-friendly and easy to naviage for participants.