Making Changes > Ideas > Transportation Ideas

Transportation looms large for people living in rural areas. Having to drive farther for everything can really affect activity choices.

Here are some tips for overcoming the transportation barrier to help people be active outside their home or farm.

Some transportation ideas:

• Arrange school buses’ morning routes so that they can also pick up older adults who want to go swimming or to other activities in town.

• Organize a regional van for sport or fitness days at the community hall. Rotate the location of the fitness day among various halls in an area.

• Start a neighbour network. Encourage people to invite their neighbours if they are going for a walk or bike ride or driving into town for an activity. Car pooling is not just for urban commuters.

Find Out More

• Age Friendly Rural and Remote Communities: A Guide (Public Health Agency of Canada): This guide includes information on transportation for older adults.

• Community Planning Grants (British Columbia Healthy Living Alliance Physical Activity Strategy): This webpage provides links to samples of active transportation plans in various communities.

• Toolkit for Rural Community Coordinated Transportation Services (Transportation Research Board of the National Academies): This U.S. project includes a toolkit for transportation planners in rural communities. The executive summary gives an overview of the toolkit contents.
  
  Executive Summary
  Full Report (pdf, 434 pp.)