More information
Description
Exclusion in transport is one of the causes of poorer quality of life of residents of rural areas, mainly in two groups: lower secondary school and elderly people. This is because they have no transport of their own or no access to public transport, or a driving license. The Government Bus Transport Development Fund has not resolved this problem, and municipal authorities have used only 6% of the allocated funds.The aim of this project is to reduce transport exclusion of the elderly, ill, and people who are alone, in small towns and villages in two rural municipalities: Żary in the Lubuskie voivodship, and Postomino in the Zachodniopomorskie voivodship.We will create a transport services center in these two municipalities. We will develop a model for operation of an elderly transport coordination office (needs diagnosis, eligibility policies, recruitment, placing orders for services, reimbursement of fares, and the responsibilities of the center operator). We will conduct a broad awareness and recruitment campaign, and provide training on voluntary work and safe transport for persons to provide those services as volunteers. We will start transport services (three routes are envisaged for each person in need in a month at each center).We will invite elderly persons who are excluded from transport to training on self-advocacy (forms of social participation, a civic resolution initiative, meetings with authorities) and, working with them, devise a strategy for self-advocacy activities.Due to this innovative service, we will reduce exclusion from transport for 60 elderly persons in two rural municipalities: Żary and Postomino. 30 elderly people will receive self-advocacy training, and 60 will be included in community activity. The partner, Postomino Association Better Together, will be in charge of conducting the activities in the Postomino municipality.
Summary of project results
The project addresses the problem of transport exclusion of people living in rural areas in two voivodships: West Pomerania (rural commune of Postomino) and Lubuskie (rural commune of Żary). Groups particularly vulnerable to this type of exclusion include secondary school students and older people, especially women, but also people with disabilities, illnesses and dependents. This is due to their lack of access to public transport, their lack of a car or their lack of a driving licence. The government''s Bus Transport Development Fund has not alleviated this problem - municipalities have only benefited from 6% of the funds made available to improve the accessibility of transport infrastructure. Despite the widespread belief that transport exclusion mainly affects eastern Poland, the situation is no better in western Poland (more people live in towns and villages are further apart). For years, the rural municipality of Żary has been subsidising unprofitable lines connecting villages with a few dozen or a few hundred inhabitants. The situation is similar in Postomino - only two bus routes have been reinstated as part of a government programme.
As part of the project, transport service centres were set up in two rural communities: Żary and Postomino. A model for the operation of a transport coordination centre for senior citizens was developed. The model included needs assessment, recruitment rules, ordering of services, reimbursement of travel costs and responsibilities of the centre operator. An extensive information and recruitment campaign was carried out. Volunteers were trained in safe transport and a transport service was set up, with trained staff providing the service. Two residential training sessions were organised for a group of 27 senior citizens from the municipality of Żary and a group of 22 people from the municipality of Postomino on various tools of social participation, including planning of civic initiatives. A consultation meeting with senior citizens was also held in Sieniawa Żarska on the resolution concerning the implementation of the Mobile Senior Model in the municipality of Żary and further steps related to the preparation of the draft resolution and its implementation were discussed.
The project was an important step towards reducing transport exclusion in two rural communes - Żary and Postomino. A model for a centre coordinating transport services for senior citizens was developed. A total of 88 elderly, often ill and lonely people - 54 from the municipality of Postomino and 34 from the municipality of Żary - received concrete assistance. The project benefited elderly people who do not have their own means of transport, who have difficulty accessing social services and who find it difficult to get to a doctor or pharmacy. The Project Promoter completed a total of 700 routes covering 29396 km. Two groups of senior citizens were also trained in self-advocacy.