Panel 1: Access and Mobility for All: An Interagency Mission

Transportation and holistic healthcare needs

On the ground, it is evident that there is often a big overlap between transportation needs and mental health care needs for seniors and individuals with disabilities. FTA programs, like the Section 5310 program, provide funding that helps meet the transportation needs of these populations, but many of these folks still go unserved because transportation providers are not trained as mental health care providers. Holistic needs extend beyond getting from point A to point B, yet they can't be effectively addressed without ways to get people from point A to point B. Considering the skyrocketing rates of non-emergency 911 calls across many cities—which are very often tied to social isolation, mental health issues, and transportation needs—what can be done at the federal level to promote and support efforts to meaningfully connect folks to services they rely on, recognizing that many underlying healthcare needs are exacerbated by a lack of adequate and accessible transportation?


3 votes
4 up votes
1 down votes
Idea No. 249