The Accessible Transportation Resource Center (ATRC): Identifying and Promoting Accessibility Innovations

The Accessible Transportation Resource Center (ATRC) is a national technical assistance (TA) center begun in 2022 that follows and builds on the inclusive planning work of Transit Planning 4 All, while working in coordination with other TA Centers like the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC), which promotes the availability and accessibility of transportation options for older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers. With funding from the Administration on Community Living (ACL), its goals are to identify and disseminate accessibility strategies, increase awareness and adoption of assistive technology and MOD transportation systems, and create greater access to transportation for people with disabilities and older adults.

The center is led by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) with support from three partner organizations: USAging, the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, and DJB Evaluation Consulting. Along with guidance and support from ACL, a steering committee comprised of 20 individuals from a diverse set of backgrounds relating to transportation accessibility provides feedback to the ATRC project team on its scope of work and activities.

A major component of the ATRC is the National Accessible Transportation Accelerator Network, or NATAN, which is a virtual network of organizations and individuals interested in advancing accessibility of transportation for people with disabilities and older adults. The goal of NATAN is to increase awareness and adoption of strategies to improve the accessibility of transportation systems and services. The ATRC sends information to NATAN member subscribers on accessibility events, news, and opportunities, and NATAN members are encouraged to support the ATRC by disseminating accessible transportation strategies from ATRC to their networks.

The ATRC promotes awareness of transportation accessibility strategies through its ATRC website, events and trainings and communication with the NATAN. Check out the ATRC website and sign up to become a member of NATAN to receive the latest ATRC news and information.

ATRC distributed a national survey in December 2024 on accessible transportation to learn 1) how accessible is transportation in communities and 2) what works well in community transportation. Results will be compiled in early 2025 and used to inform ATRC’s work.

The ATRC recently established a Community of Practice (CoP) comprised of four organizations with the goal of increasing transportation access and utilization in historically underserved communities. Each organization organized a planning team comprised of transportation providers, people with disabilities, older adults, their caregivers and others in their support network, and organizations that serve them. The ATRC project team provides technical assistance to the COP sites to facilitate their progress. The CoP works separately and together on identifying solutions to community transportation challenges and developing plans to address them. Members of the CoP are organizations from Huntsville, AL; Agana, Guam; Ypsilanti, MI; and Deer River, MN.

This blog was written by David Somers, Senior Research Associate for USAging/NADTC.