1. Introduction
This chapter points out that members of the disadvantaged population have many barriers to a normal life style that the non-disadvantaged do not struggle with. One of these barriers is transportation. North Dakota's disadvantaged have some issues with their transportation opportunities. This chapter will identify the research problem, the objectives of the study, and how the balance of the report is organized.
Whether disabled from birth, from an accident, or deterioration from age, the disabled often require some specialized transportation.1 In North Dakota, there are differences between a resident with and without disadvantages in areas of income, employment, health care, life satisfaction, and transportation. A large percent of the disadvantaged population is made up of the elderly, over 65, and that segment of the population continues to grow.
Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) conducted a survey to identify the extent to which transit service providers serve the needs of the disadvantaged living in North Dakota. This survey was conducted to measure the service from the clients/customers point of view.
Four independent living centers serve all the counties in the state with the exception of Sheridan County. Centers for Independent Living are run and operated by people with disabilities for people with disabilities regardless of age, race, or any other discriminatory category.
The UGPTI provided the surveys to the four centers and they selected a random sample of clients served who live throughout North Dakota and distributed the surveys. There are 25 different transit system operations covering the state of North Dakota and the four tribal nations located in the state. The clients served by the four centers for independent living are using these transit systems for their mobility.
A low percentage of the disadvantaged are in the labor force. According to the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), 46 percent of North Dakota's non-urban population are not in the working age group (30 percent are 18 years and younger, and 16 percent are 54 years and older). This has an impact on their income level and standard of living.
This survey report will show that more than one-half of the disadvantaged population earn $15,000 or less each year. Many of these disadvantaged are living in rural areas where the cost of living is lower and there is a lower tax base to fund public services. This forces public services to serve larger geographic areas. The counties with lower population densities have a higher concentration of disadvantaged.2 Many of these people have lived in the rural area most of their lives and do not have a history of riding any public transportation; they prefer their own personal vehicle or to ride with a family member or friend.
This report will show in detail results of the transportation survey of North Dakota's disadvantaged. It reveals that not all disadvantaged have adequate transportation services. North Dakota is striving to improve transit services around the state through efficient utilization of federal transit appropriations, coordination, and state planning. These appropriations are made available to more than one type of service for individuals to use, such as taxis, senior citizen buses, paratransit, fixed route, and city transit systems, to name a few. However, funding is still short in the extreme rural areas of the state.
1.1 Characteristics of North Dakota Disadvantaged
This section has some facts about the North Dakota disadvantaged population, including the state's ranking with the rest of the nation, their distribution throughout the state, and the male and female proportions.
North Dakota has a disadvantaged population of about 98,718 citizens, or about 15.4 percent of the total population; the United States has 49,746,248 disadvantaged citizens or 17.4 percent of total population.3 North Dakota ranks 47th in the nation for the total number of disabled above the age of five years old, and ranks 43rd for disabled as a percent of the total population. This may increase because North Dakota's population older than 65 is 14.7 percent and ranks fifth in the nation.
The disadvantaged live in all 53 counties of the state. Their personal needs may be similar to non-disadvantaged citizens, yet some may have more barriers to overcome to enjoy the same quality of life and freedom of mobility as their non-disadvantaged neighbor. North Dakota has 64 percent4 of the disabled ages 21 to 64 in the labor force, while the general population, ages 20 to 64, has 77.6 percent5 employed. Many of the counties with a high percentage of disadvantaged also have low population densities. The counties with the 10 largest North Dakota cities have a relatively low percentage of disadvantaged populations. According to census data, counties with lower population totals have a higher percentage of disabled individuals. For example, Slope County, in southwestern North Dakota, has the lowest total population (729) and the highest percent disabled population (28.3 percent) of any county in the state. Cass (113,993) and Grand Forks (59,045) counties, the two highest populated counties in the state, have a disadvantaged population under 15 percent of their total (Figure 1.1).
The North Dakota disadvantaged are distributed among all ages of the population. For this report, the disadvantaged are divided into three age groups: the "young" (ages five to 20 years), the "working" class (ages 21 to 64 years) and "seniors" (ages 65 and older). The number of males exceeded females in the young and working age groups within the state population. However, that ratio reverses for the senior age group, where the number of females exceeded the males (Figure 1.2). North Dakota's disadvantaged population older than 64 at 34 percent is higher than the nation's average of 28 percent older than 64.
1.2 The Research Problem
Mobility is an all important and necessary condition for successful participation in the U.S. socioeconomic system, including employment, health care, and life satisfaction. As the United States has advanced socially, politically, and economically, so has the need for mobility by its citizens. Whether it is the ability to commute to work, go shopping, attend medical appointments, socialize with friends and family, participate in the political process, attend entertainment events, or worship, mobility is fundamental to taking part in any of these life enhancing activities, which make the difference between existing and truly living.
Life for those individuals without the transportation necessary to join in these life activities is severely degraded at best; at worst, it can be a miserable existence. The two primary types of transportation services available to the disadvantaged are fixed route and demand response. The type utilized is dictated by the type and severity of the individual's disability. The disadvantaged need the right service at the right time. They need service during business hours, and also may need assistance after business hours, such as evenings, on weekends, or on holidays.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are two fold:
- Identify the primary transportation needs of the disabled residents of North Dakota, and
- To determine the degree to which their needs are being met or not being met by measuring quality of service and availability of service.
1.4 Report Organization
This report contains three more chapters. In chapter two we describe the methodology of the report, chapter three contains the results of the survey, and chapter four contains the conclusions and recommendations.