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- Seattle has a really robust,
and growing transit system.
Unfortunately though, accessing the transit system
is a barrier or a big problem
for a lot of people with limited mobility.
- [Carol] One really important concept
for people with disabilities,
and their sensibility around independence
is around transportation.
- [Kiana] Transportation is meant to serve the community.
If it's not serving the community,
or if it's only serving a small segment
of the community well,
but not serving other folks in the community well,
that's a bigger problem.
If transit agencies are going to do the community justice,
the community has to be involved in that process.
- [Margo] Kiana Parker and I actually partnered up,
and we found the inclusive planning grant
from the Transit Planning for All Project
to inclusively plan and implement
a mobility on demand solution
for and by older adults and people with disabilities.
- [Kiana] It started with the recruitment
of the steering committee members.
The fact that it was a different approach
really helped to bring people into the project.
- [Dr. Ngozi] That's what made it really great
is that you had all these people with lived experiences.
From my perspective, it was seamless.
They listened, they heard,
they used what they heard to plan and implement.
- [Margo] The Ride Now Project
was a ride voucher program for older adults
and people with disabilities.
We use a mix of paper and digital vouchers
with Yellow Cab, Uber, and Lyft,
so it's a multi provider solution
using transportation providers
that are already operating in the area,
and we have been distributing those vouchers
to older adults and people with disabilities
in the Seattle area,
who self-identify as eligible.
- As a community liaison for the unhoused,
we have a disproportionate amount of people,
who suffer disability or are elderly,
and just have trouble with mobility. in general.
Not only did it bring the vouchers
to those who really, really needed it,
but it gave us an opportunity and a chance
to talk about vulnerability, disability, and access needs.
- [Kiana] This program to me was about equity.
It was about putting more tools in the toolbox,
and how people can get around.
- [Carol] The project did pay people for their consultation,
and I think it would be great for us to be meaningful
and cultivating that talent.
- [Margo] Something that's been really special
about this project
is that instead of having engagement
as just a phase of the project,
it has been a through line.
The community steering committee
have been involved from beginning to end.
- [Amanda] The response to the Ride Now program
has been overwhelmingly positive.
They were able to get to medical appointments
in a timely manner without it taking all day long.
They were able to maybe do that shopping trip
that they had put off or didn't do,
because it was was just too much.
- [Kiana] But we had other people who just really wanted
to have more fun and connect with friends,
or go to baseball games.
I think that is just as important
as the grocery store or the doctor's appointment.
- [Carol] Having on demand ride access is emancipation.
- [Margo] Lift experience is out there,
so if you don't actually have staff,
who can speak and plan from their own lift experience,
you can get that from community stakeholders.
and the people who are going to be using your program.
- This was inclusion in action,
and I hope that it will be an example.
- [Carol] Transportation is not just going
from point A to point B,
it's who you're connecting with
once you get to that destination.
So, providing more options so that people can connect
is something that we have to look at as essential.
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