People discuss local public transportation needs

Various organizations gathered at the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center last Thursday to get input from the public and discuss problems with, and possible solutions for, local public transportation.

In addition to members of the community and employees of various organizations were representatives from People For People, who organized the meeting, as well as Grant County Transit, organizations both involved with public transportation in the area.

"The purpose of the meeting is to determine gaps in services and what we can do to close them," said Rosenda Henley, the mobility manager from People For People.

At the meeting, those in attendance seperated into groups and made lists of what they felt were issues and needs with local public transportation systems. The lists were then combined and people voted with colored stickers on which issues were most important to them.

One of the top issues people voted for was "coordination/communication of existing services," referring to the lack of public knowledge about the current bus schedules and pickup locations that already exist.

Another top priority for the voters was "medical appointments," referring to the need for transportation to and from appointments, either locally or in Spokane, for those who don't have their own transportation.

Sahara Suval, a program development specialist at North Central Accountable Community of Health later explained the correlation between health and public transportation.

"Transportation is a huge determinant of population health, especially in rural communities," Suval said. "Health, or wellness, is affected when people have, or don't have, access to things like housing, nutrition, transportation, and education. Residents cannot receive critical care and services if they do not have the resources to access them. We are working collectively to improve the overall health of the region by integrating transportation into our vision of a healthier North Central Washington."

Suval said that people often report needing to travel 100 miles or more to receive basic health, mental health, or substance use services.

Larry Jordan, of the Colville Tribal Employment Rights Office expressed the need for more public transportation to help workers commute to where they need to be, using the example that getting workers to the gas station the Colville Tribes recently constructed in Moses Lake was an issue at times.

"We're going to determine what are the top priorities for this community, and we're going to meet with the people that we need to meet with so that we can make them happen," Henley said.

Henley explained that People For People will discuss possible solutions with other transportation services, such as Grant County Transit. Solutions could include adding more routes, or coordinating for one transportation service's route to coincide with another's so that riders could transfer buses in order to get to where they need to go.

People For People is conducting a survey, which is available at their website: http://www.pfp.org. Hard copies are available at The Star and the senior center. After conducting more community forums, People For People will post a draft of their Human Service Transportation Plan by April 30.

The website also includes information on their services. More information is also available by contacting Rosenda Henley at rhenley@pfp.org or 509-793-1906.

The Grant County Transit website can be found at http://www.gta-ride.com and includes information on schedules and more.