Impact Feature Issue on Meeting Transportation Needs of Youth and Adults with Developmental Disabilities

The following resources may be of interest to readers of this Impact issue:

• Accessible Transportation: A Key to Independence for Youth with Disabilities  (2005). A transcript of the May 2005 national teleconference sponsored by the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET), University of Minnesota. In the teleconference, Dr. Alan Abeson and Karen Wolf-Branigin of Project ACTION emphasized the fundamental lifelong importance of transportation to independent living outcomes for people with disabilities, applicable public policy, typical transportation alternatives, transportation limitations for people with disabilities and how to overcome them, and resources for helping young people with disabilities access public transportation.
• The Current State of Transportation for People with Disabilities in the United States  (June, 2005). A report from the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency making recommendations to the President and Congress. The report highlights numerous best practices and successful initiatives that can serve as models for enhancing transportation and mobility for people with disabilities. It also presents recommendations for service improvements and additional research.
• Making Transportation Work for People with Disabilities in Rural America: The Supported Volunteer Rural Transportation Voucher Program (1996). A how-to manual on implementing a Supported Volunteer Rural Transportation Voucher Program, in which consumers who cannot drive and who live in areas with limited public transportation control who provides their rides, when they get rides, and where they go. Published by the University of Montana Rural Institute.
• Great Plains Rural Initiative on Transportation . The Web site of this program at the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities, Minot State University, features information, assessment tools, and training materials for implementing transportation voucher systems. Voucher systems assist people with disabilities in rural communities to obtain and pay for transportation. On the site are tools to assess the ability of agencies to manage voucher systems, as well as an online course teaching agencies to use an Internet-based Business Support System (IBUSSS), which allows multiple partners to coordinate and manage voucher programs.