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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Transportation

Highway Safety Behavioral Strategies for Rural and Tribal Areas: A Guide
Discusses the public health concern surrounding roadway fatalities and injuries in rural and tribal areas. Provides guidance on behavioral strategies to improve road safety as well as how to adapt, implement, and evaluate strategies. Includes examples of successful roadway safety countermeasures in rural contexts.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Transportation Research Board
Date: 2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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An Updated Measure of Poverty: (Re)Drawing the Line
Examines the strengths and weaknesses of the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) and makes recommendations to update it to better reflect the resources available to households. Includes discussion of geographic variation in the cost of living in metropolitan versus nonmetro areas and the potential for a finer level of detail to reveal variations for expenses like housing and transportation.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Common Problems, Common Solutions: Looking Across Sectors at Strategies for Supporting Rural Youth and Families Tool-Kit
Provides an overview of barriers faced by rural communities in supporting youth and families, and innovative strategies to improve outcomes for youth, families, and communities. Informed by interviews and listening sessions with practitioners and leaders working in rural areas across the United States.
Author(s): Lisa Pilnik, Christine Humowitz
Date: 2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, U.S. Department of Justice
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Interest of Shared Mobility and Emerging Vehicle Technologies in Rural America
Explores the benefits of technology-enabled shared-use mobility services in rural areas such as ridesourcing, bikesharing, carsharing, and more. Provides a literature review of implemented shared mobility projects in rural/small urban communities and interest in shared-use mobility services in rural areas. Reports on data and statistics from the National Household Travel Survey related to shared-use mobility, including use of different types of services in pre- and post-COVID scenarios.
Author(s): Ranjit Godavarthy, Jill Hough
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
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How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Urban and Rural Spending Habits
A collection of charts showing changes in spending in urban and rural areas in 2019 compared to 2020. Includes data on healthcare expenditures, including medical supplies, medical services, health insurance, and prescription drugs. Also covers spending related to food, transportation, and more.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Labor Statistics
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Social Determinants of Health in the Age of COVID: Effects of Social Isolation Among Adults 62+ in Rural Pennsylvania
Results of a study analyzing the extent of social isolation among rural Pennsylvanians aged 62 or older during the pandemic, evaluating determinants of social isolation, identifying programs and services that minimize social isolation, and assessing potential replicability in Pennsylvania. Includes sections on factors such as mental health access, faith-based organizations, transportation, technology use, and housing options.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Christopher Harris, FangHsun Wei, Mary Rita Weller, Kelly Smith
Date: 11/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Rural Health Research Recap: Travel Burden to Receive Health Care
Summarizes recent research from Rural Health Research Centers examining travel burdens to receive care. Features statistics from 2017 including distance and time spent in travel for care, with breakdowns by urban or rural location, financial burden of travel, public transportation use by race/ethnicity, and motor vehicle fatalities.
Author(s): Per Ostmo, Jessica Rosencrans
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Medicaid: Efforts to Address Fraud in Nonemergency Medical Transportation
Describes state approaches to administering the non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) Medicaid benefit. Highlights how Colorado uses different approaches to serve urban and rural counties. Discusses the outcomes and findings of related fraud investigations and program audits and strategies selected states used to address related fraud.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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The State of the Rural Economy in Indiana
Provides an overview of the rural economy in Indiana and includes data on issues such as population, employment and income, education, housing, agriculture, transportation, broadband, immigration, quality of life, and more. Provides county-level economic and demographic data as well as rural versus urban comparisons. Features information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Author(s): Srikant Devaraj, Dagney Faulk, Michael Hicks, et al.
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Ball State University, Center for Business and Economic Research
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Federal Funding for Transportation Programs Serving Older Adults and People with Disabilities
Discusses the role of federal funding as a primary source of funding to support transportation programs that meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities. Describes funding programs from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Health and Human Services, AmeriCorps, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Highlights programs for rural and tribal communities.
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Aging and Disability Transportation Center
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