2018 ATCI Community Updates

In 2018, Easterseals Project Action Consulting awarded grants to 10 communities. The grants included the development of a coalition and a transportation action plan to increase and improve transit options in their communities. The grants have now concluded and each community has a success story to share. Join us in hearing these stories. The sessions will highlight community accomplishments and lessons learned along the way. Registration links are below. Archived webinar recordings will be available on this page within 2 weeks of the session.

Dodge County, Wisconsin (To be scheduled)

Dodge County, WI has many businesses that can not get enough workers yet also has many residents who can not reliably get to work. Our use of grant funds will primarily focus on getting residents to employment and secondarily improve access to transportation for others. For more information, please contact Paul Scharfman, paul@specialcheese.com.

Door County, Wisconsin (To be scheduled)

Planning is under way to improve access to transportation for people in Door County, WI. Door-Tran is committed to finding affordable, available, and accessible transportation for Door County residents. “Research has been an intricate and ongoing project of Door-Tran and this opportunity for Easterseal’s to help with a current needs assessment will allow us to keep people moving in Door County”, said Pam Busch, Mobility Manager for Door-Tran. Door-Tran staff and a team of representatives from the City of Sturgeon Bay, County of Door, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and United Way of Door County will develop a plan to strengthen the availability and accessibility of transportation services locally through a cross-agency approach and to move forward with some new or expanded areas of focus following the two-day event. For more information, contact Pam Busch at info@door-tran.org.

Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin (Scheduled for January 30, 2020, 2 p.m. Eastern)

Fort Atkinson applied for an ATCI grant to strengthen transit options for the community-based residential facilities, young people, and one-car families in the community, including expanding the opportunity for residents to get to community and social events in addition to medical appointments and work trips.

Fort Atkinson was successful in implementing 6 projects through the ATCI grant including hiring a mobility manager, pedestrian crossing improvements, increased outreach and sustainability, and more. Join us to hear about all of Fort Atkinson’s successes and lessons learned.

Mille Lacs Counties, Minnesota (To be scheduled)

Kanabec County – Timber Trails Public Transit is very excited to be the recipient of an ACTI grant. We will be considering a broad range of transportation related issues in Kanabec and Mille Lacs Counties: low population densities that make it extremely difficult to sustain rural public transit but the need for transportation to medical appointments, shopping and for socialization still exists; accessibility concerns like safe cross walks, accessible sidewalks and parking; and healthy transportation options like safe biking and walking for all ages. In this region we also have major highways that separate many senior drivers from access to grocery stores and medical facilities. We have a big job ahead of us and it will take the engagement of the whole community to be successful. For more information, please contact Helen Pieper at helen.pieper@co.kanabec.mn.us.

Pierre, South Dakota (To be scheduled)

River Cities Public Transit (RCPT) is an innovative public transit service providing transportation 24hours-a-day, 7 days a week in 11 counties in central South Dakota. Operating a curb-to-curb to serve many populations in the region including people with disabilities, older adults and others needing transportation allows RCPT to provide service to much of the region, but there are still gaps, including in the more rural parts of the 11 counties served. With this grant, RCPT will explore the Pierre community for any unmet transportation needs and develop a plan to bridge the gaps and provide a service that will accommodate the needs of all individuals in need of transportation services. For more information, please contact Chuck Quinn chuck.quinn@midconetwork.com.

Snoqualmie Valley, Washington (Scheduled for January 28, 2020

Hopelink, an organization working to improve mobility for older adults, people with disabilities, persons of low income or limited English proficiency, joined Snoqualmie Valley Transportation, City of Snoqualmie, City of Carnation, and Snoqualmie Tribe to apply for the ATCI grant. The original need and hope was to conduct a needs assessment as part of a planning initiative to strengthen local transportation options. Through the ATCI process, the Snoqualmie Valley Coalition developed 6 major goals.

Snoqualmie Valley achieved all six of these major goals. Join us for this session to hear about these goals, accomplishments, and their lessons learned. The team will focus on coalition building and the development of a 5 year plan.

Southwest Washington Region (To be scheduled)

Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Lewis, Pacific and Grays Harbor counties of Washington State comprise the Southwest Regional Transportation Planning Area Accessible Transportation Community Living Initiative (ATCI). The focus of the ATCI’s 2-Day Planning Event is to build upon the Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan and Regional Transportation Plan, as well as the formation of ongoing ATCI stakeholder meetings to implement the outcomes of the Planning Event and continue the evaluation of transportation needs and development of solutions in the region. For more information, contact Debbie Hale at Debbieh@hsc-wa.org.

Waukesha County, Wisconsin (To be scheduled)

Waukesha County is Wisconsin’s third most populous county, located in the southeastern region of the state. The County is home to the state’s second largest population of older adults numbered at approximately 79,000 individuals age 60 and older. Waukesha County has a combination of rural, urban, and suburban areas, making a centralized transportation system challenging. The current specialized transportation system is fractured, with multiple providers that have limited service areas and hours. The public bus system is available only in the county seat. The Find a Ride Network initiative formed in 2015 to begin researching solutions for Waukesha County’s rapidly growing number of older adults applied for the ATCI project to develop an implementation plan for a coordinated transportation system. For information, contact Kathy Gale at KathyG@ERAsWaukesha.org.

Whatcom County, Washington (To be scheduled)

The team from Whatcom County is comprised of staff from the Whatcom Council of Governments, the Arc of Whatcom, The Whatcom Council on Aging, Whatcom Transportation Authority and the Whatcom Community Foundation. The team will build a stakeholder group comprised of community members who are elderly or have disabilities. We will work first to identify transportation barriers and then we will develop strategies to remove or improve the barriers. For more information contact Mary Anderson at Mary@wcog.org.

Winnebago County, Wisconsin (To be scheduled)

Winnebago County ATCI Team hopes to make the system changes necessary to provided needed mobility options for older adults and disabled population in our rural parts of the county. We feel that providing a comprehensive transportation system that will meet the needs of our vulnerable population will provide a system better for everyone. This includes mobility options crossing county/city boundaries as well as rides for employment. For more information, contact Nickolas Musson at nmusson@ecwrpc.org.