Easter Seals Project ACTION promotes accessible transportation for people with disabilities through education, technical assistance, and resources. It provides travel training courses, publications on topics like planning transportation after medical appointments, and guides on pedestrian and driver safety. Project ACTION works with local communities to encourage walking and public transit use through wayfinding assessments, infrastructure improvements, and involvement in transportation planning. Its goal is to expand mobility options and support healthy living through accessible transportation.

1. WWW.PROJECTACTION.ORG
The Transportation Connection to Healthy
Living in Small Urban & Rural Communities
Rachel Beyerle
Resources & Publications Manager
Easter Seals Project ACTION
NADO 2013 Rural Transportation Conference
Greenville, S.C. April 25, 2013

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Overview
• Introduction to Project ACTION
•National Focus on Healthier Living through Expanded Transportation
Options
• Transportation Needs for Medical Services & Appointments
• Wayfinding & Community Walking Improvements
◦ Signs, pathways, pedestrian markings
• Getting the community involved
◦ Neighborhood groups, schools, senior centers,
local officials
• Infrastructure improvements for accessibility
• Driver & Pedestrian Safety
• Learning Events

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Easter Seals Project ACTION
A Few Facts…
► Established in 1988
► Funded through a cooperative agreement with the
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration
► Promotes cooperation between transportation industry and the
disability community to increase mobility for all
► Provides education, technical assistance, resources & outreach
► Staffed by Easter Seals staff members in Washington, D.C.

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What We Do
Introduction to Travel Training – San Mateo 2012• Offer in-person & online courses
• Introduction to Travel Training
• Print & online publications for awareness and education
• Videos and online toolkits for education and community
engagement
• One-on-one technical assistance on ADA, transit service
provision, accessible facilities
• Who participates? Transportation Providers, Planners,
Engineers, Advocates, Education Professionals, Service Providers

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 Rooted in livability principles:
 Transportation Choices & Housing
 Economic Competitiveness
 Community Revitalization
 Value Communities & Neighborhoods
Why is this important to ESPA?
 Identify transport options for the 56 million people in
the U.S. with disabilities living in their communities
 Improve both pedestrian AND driver safety for all age
groups (including youth and older adults)
 Involve residents in community decision-making and
taking preventative steps to maintain their own health
National Focus on Healthier Living
& Accessible Transportation Options
Credit: Stephen Davis, T4America

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New Resources to Involve Individuals in Improving
Well-Being through Transportation
• Planning for Transportation After Medical Services
Advisory Committees
• Neighborhood Wayfinding Assessment Pocket Guide
• Driver & Pedestrian Guide to Sharing the Road Safely

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Transportation & Medical Services
Planning for Transportation After Medical Services
• Developed in partnership with the American Medical
Association for physicians and patients
• Patients may not have thought about what to do if they
cannot drive due to health
• Encourages thought process on options, how to find out
about transportation
• Starts conversation with healthcare professionals and
family members
• Decrease in missed appointments, improved recovery
and continued socialization of patients

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How You Can Get Involved
Planning for Transportation After Medical Services
• ESPA plans to release a rural health version
• Adaptable for veterans’ caregivers
• Involve medical services professionals, public health
representatives, patient navigators and mobility
managers in your planning process and advisory
committees
• Share availability of this guide with health professionals
and physician offices in your community

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Neighborhood Involvement
Neighborhood Wayfinding Assessment
Pocket Guide
• Developed in partnership with the CDC Healthy
Aging Research Network
• Includes a built-in assessment tool of signs,
pedestrian features, lighting & walkways
• What is wayfinding & how to conduct an
assessment
• Assessment tool can be modified for rural,
small urban & urban areas

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How You Can Get Involved
Neighborhood Wayfinding Assessment
Pocket Guide
• Organize a neighborhood group to conduct a field
check
• Encourage county/city/MPO or RPO engineers and
planners to participate
• Have a local official or state representative
involved—part of ward meeting, neighborhood
watch, night out, school activity
• Consider how assessment feedback can be used
in asset management

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Pedestrian & Driver Safety (May 2013)
Driver & Pedestrian Guide to Sharing the Road Safely
• Primary audience: drivers (newly licensed),
walking & cycling commuters
• Avoiding dangerous distractions
• Driving, Walking, Bicycling – All have
responsibilities
• Reminders about crosswalks, turns & signals
• Developed in response to requests for drivers to
be more aware of pedestrians with disabilities
• Applies to all age groups

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How You Can Get Involved
Driver & Pedestrian Guide to Sharing
the Road Safely
• Raise awareness among traffic safety officers,
local or campus police, DMVs, Drivers Ed, Schools
• Include recommendations in your own training for
employees who regularly drive
• Consider pathway, signage, obstruction removal,
and signal changes that could improve pedestrian
and driver sightlines

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Learning Events & Technical Assistance
Distance Education, Courses & Webinars
•Accessible Transportation Technical Support (ATTS)
• Experts to help you design a local plan, on-going
technical assistance, peer-to-peer connections
June 5th
Webinar on Local Transit Agency Policy Development
•Archived webinars on accessible communities, pedestrian
crossings & environmental barrier analysis

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Let’s Get Moving!
• 11% of U.S. transportation trips made
by walking; 40-45% will walk to work or
shopping if it’s within a mile
• Physical inactivity costs $177 billion per
year in medical costs; accounts for 16%
of deaths (APHA)
• Reduced rates of heart disease, high blood, Alzheimer’s,
stroke, Type II Diabetes, certain forms of cancer,
depression
• An investment in accessibility encourages movement!Source: A Walking Revolution/Everybodywalk.org

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Contact Us
• Explore our resources at www.projectaction.org
• Sign up for a distance learning event
• Call for technical assistance at (800) 659-6428
Rachel Beyerle, Resources & Publications Manager
Easter Seals Project ACTION
1425 K Street NW, Suite 200 • Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 347-3066 or (800) 659-6428
rbeyerle@easterseals.com
The New Yorker
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