01551058

Component

Nationwide, there are more than 21 million veterans in the United States. According to the American Community Survey (ACS), about a quarter of these men and women describe themselves as having a disability. New evidence suggests that these figures may underrepresent the population affected with disability, particularly regarding veterans of recent military conflicts including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These working age veterans with disability face myriad daunting responsibilities when they seek to rejoin civilian life – they must secure housing and employment while coping with health care concerns and one or more disabilities. Access to transportation – particularly public transportation and paratransit options – is truly a lynchpin that impacts their ability to meet these diverse needs successfully. Too often however transportation issues are not adequately considered in veteran reintegration planning. This paper explores the intersection between transportation, housing, and employment to successful veteran reintegration. The authors gained insight through interviews convened with diverse stakeholders from the both the US and New Jersey veteran community – including permanent supportive veteran housing entities – as well as a focus group session with veterans with disability. The authors hypothesize that pursuit of transit-oriented development (TOD) for this population in both suburban and urban locales is an excellent model to consider for further replication throughout the US as one means to help address veteran housing, employment, and other reintegration demands within a context that acknowledges transportation needs and the benefits associated with locational efficiency.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABE60 Accessible Transportation and Mobility.

01550057

15-2167

English

17p

2015

Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Accessibility; Military personnel; Mobility; Needs assessment; Persons with disabilities; Residential location; Transit oriented development; Transportation disadvantaged persons

Veterans

New Jersey

Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2015 Paper #15-2167

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 30 2014 12:46PM