Baby boomers will drive transportation changes

As baby boomers age and become less likely to drive, they will demand new transportation options. Government agencies are working on public transportation solutions, but private industry acknowledges the need as well.

How do we get around?

Gerry Melendez / The Idaho Statesman

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040627/NEWS0106/406270339

The Community Planning Association collected travel data from nearly 2,600 Treasure Valley households in 2002. Respondents reported if they drove, biked, walked or took some other way to such things as work, shopping and social functions. The graphic shows the percentage of trips for each mode, broken out by age group.

Age in 2002

20-36 37-56 57-75 76 plus

Driver 85% 87% 84% 70%

Passenger 10% 8% 13% 24%

Walk 3% 3% 2% 4%

Bike 1% 1% 1% 0%

Bus/Taxi .3% .5% .3% 1%

Source: COMPASS Household Travel Characteristics Study 2002

By Joe Kolman The Idaho Statesman

Baby boomers drive change. And they may change how much we drive. Everybody knows how the boomer generation — those folks now between the ages of 40 and 58 — will tax such social programs as Social Security and Medicare. Less well-known is the boomers’ potential impact on public transit, sidewalks and bikeways.

"As we look at baby boomers and the elderly, it’s a real challenge," says Larry Falkner, a transit planner for the state Transportation Department. Like metropolitan areas across the country, the Treasure Valley must deal with large numbers of boomers who live in the suburbs, where driving is often the sole means of getting around.

But for some, it isn’t the most desirable way to get around.

"I really want to be walking more," says Vincent Muli Kituku of Eagle. The 44-year-old writer and inspirational speaker drives from his home in Eagle to his office on Fairview Avenue. He drives to his kids’ soccer games. Kituku foresees the day when he can’t drive; but he also looks forward to the day when he doesn’t have to drive so much. Sometimes, he walks to the Home Depot near his home, and he’s eager to have more businesses and public transit within walking distance.

Several projects now in the works will shape the valley’s transportation network. Officials say a system that serves baby boomers well also will benefit other generations by providing alternatives to driving.

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Who’s doing what?

WHO: COMPASS and ITD.
WHAT: A $1 million vision of what the transportation network should look like Valleywide. That would include where such things as rail stations might be located, as well as future roads, walkways and bike paths.
WHEN: Public meetings will be held this year and early next year with adoption by local governments set for May 2005.

WHO: Ada County Highway District, Ada County and county cities
WHAT: A countywide land use and transportation plan. If the COMPASS plan is a general vision, these plans would provide instructions. For instance, if the COMPASS plan calls for a train station somewhere along I-84, the land use plan would identify specific measures, such as reduced impact fees, for concentrating commercial and residential development in that area.
WHEN: Leaders are working to reduce the estimated $800,000 cost, including seeking private funding. Once work begins, the plan could be finished in 18 months.

WHO: ACHD, Boise, ValleyRide
WHAT: Improvements to State Street, eventually widening portions of it to seven lanes, with two lanes dedicated at least part time to buses and carpools.
WHEN: The entities will likely hire a project manager this summer. Within the next five years, plans call for better signal timing, message boards and other technical measures to improve traffic flow, expansion of van/car pools and transit incentive programs for employers. Also, a plan will be devised for how intersections should be redeveloped.

WHO: Interim legislative committee
WHAT: The committee this summer will examine options for funding public transportation. Possible proposals include a local option sales tax or a tax on assessed vehicle values.
WHEN: The Legislature would need to change state law so transit agencies, such as ValleyRide, may ask voters to approve such a tax. A proposal could surface during the next session.

WHO: ValleyRide
WHAT: Short-term plan to restructure routes. Six-year plan for expanding services valleywide.
WHEN: Route changes expected sometime next year. The longer-term plan would start after a new source of funding, such as a local transit tax, is approved.

WHO: Idaho Transportation Department
WHAT: A pilot program in Pocatello that coordinates various forms of public transportation, including city buses and vans from state-sponsored programs, to provide rides. Another project in northern Idaho would use school buses to transport Medicaid patients, deliver meals and, eventually, carry the general public.
WHEN: The Pocatello project is under way; details are still being worked on for the other.
Paying for it: Better buses and light rail will cost local taxpayers

The road to mobility is paved with money.
If the Treasure Valley is to become a place where baby boomers and others have numerous options for getting from place to place, officials say money must come from somewhere.
Two agencies facing financial questions are ValleyRide, which runs Boise buses and contracts for other public transit in the valley; and the Ada County Highway District, which oversees local streets and roads.
ValleyRide has annual revenues of just more than $9 million, mostly federal funds and money provided by Boise and other local governments.
A preliminary report on future public transit options puts the "low-end" annual cost of valleywide service at about $21 million. That would include 15-minute bus service in Boise and a bus every 30 minutes between Nampa, Meridian and Boise. Eagle and Meridian, as well as Nampa and Caldwell, would have a network of service. Low-density areas of Boise as well as Kuna and small Canyon County towns would also have some lesser service.
On the high-end — which could include a commuter rail along I-84 — estimates start at $50 million a year. Included in that plan would be more frequent service to more places in the valley.
Transit officials say the way to close that money gap is by asking local taxpayers for funds for public transit. That would take a change in state law.
Lawmakers have been unwilling to change the law, but an interim committee will discuss the issue this summer. A proposal may come before the Legislature next year.
In Ada County, years of growth have brought ACHD to a crossroads.
The road agency spends half its budget maintaining existing roads, which a consultant said is the result of building roads to serve sprawl. Highway District leaders have said they cannot afford to keep building new roads and widening existing ones. Some also say they need to look for additional funding. Most of the agency’s budget comes from taxes on property and fuel as well as "impact fees" charged to new development.
Leaders have said one key to corralling costs is getting more people to use public transit. That’s one reason ACHD is moving ahead with a State Street project to dedicate lanes for buses or carpools and make the drive quicker for people who don’t drive alone.
Edition Date: 06-27-2004

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Boomers affect transportation partly because there are so many of them and partly because so many live in the suburbs. An Idaho Statesman study of Census 2000 data shows boomers make up 30 percent of residents in Treasure Valley suburbs, areas defined as everything outside the city limits of Boise and Nampa. Members of older generations comprise only 17 percent of the suburbs.

As boomers age, they are likely to drive less. In the Treasure Valley, The Statesman found the percentage of residents with driver’s licenses starts dropping after age 61 and falls sharply after age 70. The bottom line: The Treasure Valley must prepare to help this aging population get around.

Transportation options: Baby boomers will need ways to get around town

Getting baby boomers around will take some creative thinking.

"This is a very real change in our population that we’re going to have to accommodate in different ways," says Patti Raino, an Idaho Transportation Department planner.

The agency is spearheading two pilot projects elsewhere in Idaho that could possibly come to the Treasure Valley. In Pocatello, the regional transit agency is coordinating transportation options offered by eight state agencies and funded by more than 60 federal programs. If someone needs a ride, they might be picked up by a city bus, a senior citizen van or a Health and Welfare provider. New software aims to cut the red tape associated with billing across programs and agencies.

"This all becomes very automatic," says Larry Falkner, who oversees public transportation for ITD. "You’ll have one number to call and we’ll get you where you need to go."

Up north in Orofino, Falkner is working on a deal that would allow school buses to transport Medicare patients, deliver meals and eventually carry local residents.

"We’re going to make it a lot more effective and efficient than we ever have before," Falkner says. "This can be replicated across the state."

Treasure Valley residents say they would use public transit if it were more widely available, says Matt Stoll, deputy director of the Community Planning Association, the agency that coordinates valley transportation needs. That doesn’t mean there won’t be new roads, he says. It just means people want roads — and sidewalks and bike lanes and public transportation.

Boomers and others are getting a look at their future as they take care of their own parents, says Stoll, whose own parents are moving to an apartment so they can walk more places.

"As you have the baby boom generation moving toward that situation," Stoll says, "you’re going to have a greater portion of society potentially putting a greater demand on public transportation."

National studies show the elderly drive less, meaning if they want to get around, they need other options. Local statistics support that. Data collected by COMPASS and studied by the Statesman, shows residents older than 57 are more likely to walk, bike or catch a ride to shop or attend social functions than younger residents.

To deal with boomer and overall population growth, COMPASS and ITD are embarking on a plan to steer where funding for transportation projects — including roads, transit, sidewalks and bike paths — should go for the next 20 years. ValleyRide, the Treasure Valley’s transportation agency, also will pound out a long-range plan to look at everything from a downtown trolley to expanding service to places such as Meridian and Eagle.

Private industry also is capitalizing on the transportation needs of aging Idahoans. Meadow Lake Village in Meridian opened last year, geared to the 55-and-older crowd. Located near St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center on Eagle Road, it encourages residents to buy a golf cart or an electric car. The village plans to provide a bus for group trips around the area.

"Mobility to these folks is really critical," says Chuck Faylor, director of sales and marketing. "When they are no longer able to drive, that is a big threat to their independence, even emotionally."

Faylor’s assessment is backed up by the Surface Transportation Policy Project in Washington, D.C., which advocates for money for transportation alternatives.

Its "Aging Americans: Stranded Without Options" study earlier this year found that older people who cannot drive go to the doctor less often, take fewer shopping trips and attend fewer social functions than drivers.

"Life for non-drivers in the United States is just not as nice as it is for drivers," says Linda Bailey, who wrote the report.

Shauna Shaltry is a baby boomer in Eagle who plans on driving for at least another 30 years.

"Most of my family and most of my husband’s family are in their 80s and still driving and still doing fine," says the dental hygienist. But if the day comes when she can’t drive, Shaltry says, she would move closer to transit or to an assisted-living facility.

People in rural areas or suburbs need to know the trade-offs, she says.

"They can’t expect the government to take care of them or provide services to get them where they need to be if they are not independent," Shaltry says.

Moving may be one choice. But leaders say residents should have other options. Lois Bauer likes the idea of choices. At 66, she plans to drive for a long time to come. But as director of the Idaho Commission on Aging, she knows better than most the special needs for transporting the elderly.

"I may retire," Bauer says, "but will I stay at home and sit in a rocking chair?"

She realizes the time may come when she can’t drive. She hopes she’ll have good public transit options.

Boomers, she says, likely will be able to ride bikes and walk more than their parents. But boomers need to think about being close to family and making friends, because they may one day have to rely on them to get around.

"Nothing’s ever going to be perfect," Bauer says. "We can’t solve all the transportation problems. There isn’t enough money."

Land use:

Increased density could cut need to use cars The more elbow room we have, the more likely we are to depend on cars to get around.

Increasing population density — the number of people living on an acre — and clustering businesses are key ways to reduce the miles people drive each day. That would cut down on traffic jams and car-created air pollution.

But suburban life is about spreading out.

Nationwide, many baby boomers were born in the suburbs and continue to live in them, according to a 2003 study of Census data by William Frey, a demographer at the University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center. In the Treasure Valley, almost half the population lives in the suburbs, defined by the Census Bureau as everything outside Boise and Nampa. And, like suburbs around the country, those here are teeming with baby boomers.

As people age, being close to services and having options besides driving becomes more important.

"What concerns me is we have these distances between the hospitals and the doctor offices and shopping and seniors," says Michael Blankenship, dean of Boise State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs. "Through our inability to plan effectively, are we creating some problems for us as this wave of seniors hits us in the next 20 years."

Leaders from Ada County cities and the Ada County Highway District want to embark on a countywide plan that would include goals and specific actions to encourage smart growth. These could include lower impact fees for developments within cities — to discourage sprawl — and encouraging transfers of development rights to preserve farmland. Such measures are designed to increase density and mix business development with a variety of housing — such as houses, condos and apartments.

One 20-year plan already under way would make State Street seven lanes from 23rd Street to Glenwood Street. Two of those lanes would be devoted, at least part-time, to buses, carpools and commuter vans. A big part of the plan includes increasing density of businesses and residents near major intersections, such as Collister Drive. That could mean significant redevelopment of strip malls along the major corridor.

Officials say density in well-designed areas can make for attractive places to live. Some of the densest areas in Boise, such as the North End, fetch the highest housing prices. In addition, density — more potential bus riders — is key to a successful transit system.

"When you spread out, how do you provide public transit?" says Patti Raino, a state transportation planner. "Not as easily, certainly."

That difficulty may leave Janet Meyer stranded in Columbia Village sometime next year.

The 71-year-old woman does not drive. She never has; that was her husband’s duty. So access to public transportation was not much of a concern when the couple bought a home in Columbia Village, a southeast Boise development 11 years ago.

For the past five years, however, Meyer has relied on the bus because her husband is in a nursing home across town near Orchard Street and Overland Road. She takes the bus and a taxi to get groceries at the downtown WinCo once a month.

"I try to do things on my own," Meyer says.

But Route No. 33 — Meyer’s lifeline to independence — is slated for elimination next year because of low ridership. Public transit often struggles in car-oriented suburban areas such as Columbia Village — low densities and longer distances are not cost-effective.

ValleyRide plans to cut some of its least-used service in the farthest reaches of Boise in favor of more frequent buses in densely populated areas.

Where homes and businesses are built makes a big difference in the success of public transit, says ValleyRide Director Kelli Fairless.

"We need to start planning our communities to be able to support these services," Fairless says.