Missouri's aging population will need Complete Streets

Ann Gowans, writing in the Columbia Tribune, supports the idea of making cities safer for transportation users who walk, bicycle, drive, and use transit. One of the fastest-growing segments of our population is those of retirement age and older:

You can bet on it that in the future, more older people will be licensed drivers, and they will drive more than the present generation of elders. It is a fact that as we age we become more fragile, and when involved in accidents, those older than 80 are more than four times as likely to die as those younger than 60. The fatality rate is growing for elder drivers, passengers and pedestrians and now exceeds that of all other age groups, which have been decreasing for the last 20 years.

Unless folks plan far ahead for possible changes in transportation needs, they might find themselves stranded in their homes, located far from public transport or services and unfamiliar or incapable of using alternatives to the private car. Using a computer to order food, medicine and other goods is a real boon, but the elders’ social isolation could increase as they are trapped at home, which can add to declines in health and quality of life.

We must design better alternative transportation services, driver rehabilitation and regulation. Action must be taken now by Congress, states, counties, cities and the private sector to help with this initiative. All sectors of society must be included, not just the disabled, which are now the focus of most transportation studies and fixes. Those of us who are healthy but unable to get around should be the focus of an immediate plan to help us get out of our homes when we wish and to go where we wish - because we are legion and growing.

MoBikeFed's Complete Streets petition is here.