Enhancing Youth Mobility and Transportation Options

"I feel like I am independent. I don’t need to depend on my parents to take me places and now I can ride the bus to get to my job and to the movies
with my friends" …A Students Voice.

Watch a video of Aurora, a Student from Chautauqua School, Bay District Schools, Florida, sharing her experiences about using the trolley. Bay District is working with ESPA on an Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Project.

Access to a continuum of transportation services is important for students to gain community experiences while they are still in school and plays an even larger role in supporting student attainment of post school employment, higher education, and independent living goals. Students and their families, administrators, and, educators, seek transportation resources to support secondary transition services as part of a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Easter Seals Project ACTION offers resources specifically designed to facilitate the use of transportation for students and young adults with and without disabilities, and build the resource capacity and knowledge of school and district personnel around coordinated inclusive transportation planning.

ESPA Resources
Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Program Particpants
District-based pilot program to provide students with and without disabilities opportunities to engage in service-learning projects that enhance their understanding and use of accessible transportation.

Initial Impact Evaluation of the Easter Seals Project ACTION Inclusive Transportation Service-Learning Program
The evaluation of this project was designed to measure the initial impact of the service-learning projects on participating students’ understanding and behavior.

ESPA Accessible Transportation for Students (ATS) Online Community
Developed by Easter Seals Project ACTION and the IDEA Partnership, a national project funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, the Accessible Transportation for Students Online Community allows students, their families, educators, human service providers, and transit professionals to learn from one another. Current discussion topics include connections across education and mobility management and collaborations across education and transportation. Join this free online forum

GET Going! Guiding Everyday Travel
This new personal pocket guide provides transit riders with tips on what to do if they find themselves unsure of how to proceed with their trip. The guide includes spaces for writing destination, fare amount, contact numbers and contains suggestions on what travelers can do if they lose their fare; miss their stop, bus, or train; get lost; or feel unsafe.

Student Transportation Services: A Review of Data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2
This brief was developed in coordination with the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota examines and analyzes data from the NLTS2 related to students with disabilities’ use of the transportation services provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as a “related service.”

Products and Tools
Materials to support a continuum of transportation options for students in school, and as they transition to post-school settings including higher education, employment, and independent living.

ESPA Presentations
ESPA staff participate in a diverse range of national and local forums and events. Our work seeks to make connections across education and transportation sectors.