Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Rural Transportation Initiative

Lack of transportation is one of the main obstacles for rural children, youth and families to accessing services, attending social events, participating in sports and leisure activities and to feeling a sense of inclusion in their community.

The Goals of this Project are to:

Review what is currently available to rural residents of KFL&A who require transportation services
Identify gaps in service
Identify needs and wants in the community
Identify and consider opportunities to increase access and expand services
Make recommendations to decision-makers and the community on how to increase access and participation across the region.

The Project began in December 2019 and will conclude in June 2020 with a Community Dialogue and Workshop on June 12th in Central Frontenac. Watch this space for more details and to register for the Community Event.

Have your say, give your opinions, share your ideas, tell your stories!

We are interested in hearing from anyone who lives or accesses services in rural KFL&A.

what are your experiences, your stories (good and bad)
what ideas do you have
any information you would like to share that you think might help us improve rural transportation

Please email your ideas, opinions, stories to cyspc@baingroup.ca

Background:

This project is the result of 5 years of community dialogues, where rural transportation was identified as an issue at every event
At a workshop in November 2018, with a combination of CYSPC members and community partners (approx. 65 in attendance) the topic was raised again as an issue needing action
Social isolation was identified in the Wellesley Report ‘Supports for Success’ as a priority issue for KFL&A
Most agencies in KFL&A have a small transportation budget or program. However, when asked, all agencies indicated that their transportation program, in whatever form it took, was not adequate to ensure all their clients can access their services
There are no sustained transportation options for rural children, youth and families to access social or sports activities in KFL&A
At present there is very little coordination, or sharing of resources, between transportation programs
Organizing a volunteer to drive one client to an appointment, wait and then drive them home is not the most efficient use of transportation resources, a coordinated service could provide more rides to more people
This project will take a systemic view of rural transportation by supporting a dialogue among agencies to see how transportation services can be coordinated so that more children, youth and families can not only access the services they need, but also participate in community activities
The results of the project will be a county-wide mobilization of effort to coordinate and expand rural transportation options for children, youth and families, by discovering new and better ways to utilize existing resources and embed these discoveries into the regular business practices of agencies across the region