The conversations surrounding “traffic” around Boulder County tend to be dominated by the able-bodied workforce and those living in residential areas who feel besieged by traffic jams as those able-bodied workers travel to and fro.
That conversation may be missing the mark, demographically speaking.
It’s true that East County and the outskirts of Boulder County on the Weld County side are rapidly growing in population, while the heart of the cities of Longmont and Boulder are mostly built out. That puts considerable strain on transportation infrastructure as people drive from their homes to commercial and civic centers. The 2015 TRENDS report will show that 65 percent of those of us in Boulder County continue to drive, solo in cars, to work.
But getting from A to B is not just about able-bodied workers driving from their homes to their jobs. We have a growing aging population. Today, those 65 and older are about 10 percent of our population. By 2030, those 65 and older will be 20 percent of our population. Some seniors, particularly much older seniors, will eventually stop driving. Do we have the infrastructure and the transportation flexibility to accommodate our neighbors, especially when they stop driving solo in cars?
Along with those future trends, we have a current trend of a single-car culture that makes it very difficult for seniors today, lower-income residents and the disabled to move around Boulder County.
A March 5, 2015 event in Longmont and a historic celebration to be marked next week on March 12, 2015, are useful in trying to move the conversation from able-bodied drivers occasionally stuck in rush-hour traffic to a serious, systemic problem for seniors, the poor, and the disabled.
The Longmont Community Foundation, Longmont United Hospital and Via Mobility Services hosted a forum March 5 that highlighted the complexity facing vulnerable populations in Boulder County.
Edwina Salazar, OUR Center’s executive director, pointed out that while the poverty level for a family of four is $23,050, the cost of living (or the level to be self-sufficient for a family of four in Boulder County is much, much higher: $60,850.
The most recent U.S. Census numbers show that 7 percent of families — and 28 percent of female-headed families with children — are in poverty. Getting those neighbors to work, to school, to health care facilities, and even to the grocery store is a significant, current challenge.
The silver lining: It’s a most-worthy challenge to meet. Via rider and Longmont resident Steve DePlato, who has been blind since age 16, spoke about how much the transportation service for people with disabilities means to him.
“Today is a totally different day for me, a completely different world,” DePlato said. With Via, he can get to a job, collecting a paycheck that makes him self-sufficient economically. But more importantly, he says, he gets satisfaction and joy out of life from being productive and being able to move around the county to live a free life.
It’s not like that for everyone in our community, though.
To put it succinctly: “We have a supply and demand issue, and it’s going to get worse,” said Peter Powers, a Via board member and vice president at Longmont United Hospital. Community discussions and policy work that will focus on transporting vulnerable populations are critical now, and will become more so.
It’s an important time to discuss mobility and self-determination. The 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities act is this year. The ADA Legacy Tour traveling bus celebration will be marked in Boulder County on March 12. The Center for People with Disabilities will be marking the occasion at their locations: from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. March 12 at 615 Main St., Longmont, and from noon-6 p.m. 1675 Range St. in Boulder.
