Rising costs of transportation mean fewer job opportunities and fewer trips to the doctor, according to a county report released Friday.
The report, issued by Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action and the Athens County Department of Jobs and Family Services, called for more public and private efforts to improve countywide transportation.
The report said lack of transportation is a “symptom of poverty and a cause of poverty.”
Athens County residents struggle to pay for transportation because the department doesn’t have the funds to support their needs, said Nick Claussen, community relations coordinator for Athens County Jobs and Family Services.
“We could use more funding through the cash assistance program,” Claussen said. “We used to have programs that would fund car repairs, but that was cut, so now if people’s cars break down, they’re out of luck.”
In 2012, the department provided direct transportation for 298 county residents and gasoline vouchers for 1,985 residents — but this represents a small segment of the county’s total need, according to the report.
About one-third of Athens County residents live below the poverty line, meaning they have an annual income at or below $11,490 — about half of which would be spent to maintain transportation, according to the report.
Lack of transportation is a statewide problem but is compounded in rural areas such as Athens County, said Jessica Stroh, HAPCAP community services director.
Stroh said she expects more direct funding from the state and federal government to help alleviate transportation problems in the county.
“There are more than 80 sources of federal funding that go into transportation programs,” she said. “The state and federal government realize that we need to be working toward a comprehensive plan for transportation.”
Until minimum wages rise and better jobs become available, though, lack of transportation will persist, Claussen said.
“More public transportation efforts would certainly help a lot of people,” he said. “Jobs that pay more would help, though, because it’s just the overall poverty problem in the county.”
Claussen said that lack of transportation is a forgotten cause of poverty.
“It’s something that most people don’t realize,” he said. “You’re just concerned with filling up your own tank, and so you don’t really think about it.”
sh335311@ohiou.edu
