Project Description
2. Transport
The percentage of older people driving in Carlow is high at 73%. Despite this 31% reported difficulty some or most of the time accessing social activities and 28% reported difficulties some or most of the time doing essential tasks and attending health appointments. Nearly 20% of those surveyed said they used a taxi in the last week, while nearly 5% said they used a tractor to access services. Over 40% of older drivers said they drive less than they did 5 years ago.
In Carlow .31%. .of. older adults rated local public transport as good or excellent, this is lower than reported by TILDA (The Irish longitudinal Study on Ageing, 2014) who found 50% of people rated their local access to transport as good or excellent. On investigation only 14% of those living in rural areas of County Carlow or outside the county town rated public transport as good or excellent. Overall 35% of all older adults’ surveyed were dissatisfied with the quality of public transport and considered it very poor.
Issues raised by older adults
“There is no taxi rank at Carlow Bus Stop it’s too far to walk”
“Rural areas have no access to transport, Borris, Myshall, younger people have the same problem”.
“There is not enough disability taxis, people with a disability are really disadvantaged”.
“Information and timetables about routes is very difficult to access”
“Bus stops are not suitable with wind and rain blowing in and no seating”
“Bridge at train station in Carlow is a real issue for anyone with a buggy, wheelchair or an older person”.
“Publicity needed in relation to Ring-A Link bus service”
“We have nothing out in Rathoe, I cannot get to the shops anymore, I am house bound”
Short-Term Actions ( 2017 )
Short-Term Actions ( 2017 )
Short Term Actions ( 2017 )
Dog fouling on public pathways was identified as an area of major concern for older people. The Environment Department of Carlow County Council will try to tackle /improve this situation through the provision of an awareness campaign in Carlow Town. Older people will be invited to participate as well as the Carlow Older Persons Forum.
Carlow Older Persons Forum aim to increase the number of age-friendly parking spaces in the centre of Carlow town and investigate the possibility of having free Age Friendly parking spaces for a number of hours on Thursday/Friday mornings to allow older people to collect their pensions. Carlow Older Persons Forum aim to identify and increase awareness of all public toilets, and encourage local businesses to provide free and welcoming toilet facilities to the older people of County Carlow, with the aim of creating a ‘toilet trail’ which will be readily available.
The Transport section of the Carlow Local Authority will consult, prepare and adopt a street furniture policy to ensure consistency and suitability of all street furniture including seating, bins, and signage.
Carlow Volunteer Centre will work with other agencies to support older adults use of Outdoor Spaces and Buildings. Currently, Carlow Volunteer Centre refers volunteers to a variety of organisations that are working towards the improvement or utilisation of outdoor spaces. These include but are not limited to An Gáirdín Beo, Carlow Sports Partnership, Delta Garden Centre and Environmental Clean Up Days.
Carlow Library Services will ensure all four branches are accessible, user-friendly and welcoming. This will be achieved by:-
Conducting age-friendly audits and risk assessments of each library building.
Providing age-friendly areas in each library with appropriate seating, signage and materials.
Ensuring all libraries are clean, pleasant and well maintained.
They will also ensure all libraries allow freedom of movement with non-slip floors and unobstructed passageways
Carlow County Development Partnership will aim to ensure that all of their events and training for older persons are held in accessible, security conscious buildings and community centres over the lifetime of this strategy.
Local Authority Engineers and Planners will ensure, when assessing planning applications that all new residential and commercial developments have adequate lighting to ensure public safety. They will also ensure when assessing applications for signage that being age-friendly is a consideration.
County Carlow Museum will continue to provide their services in an age-friendly way as outlined in their Age Friendly Charter including providing visitor chairs with fixed arms in each of the four display galleries and ensuring that staff will accompany visitors in the Museum lift for ease of movement between galleries.
The Community Section of Carlow County Council will ensure that Carlow County Council embeds Carlow Age Friendly principles in all its strategic plans, services and programme of works
The Corporate Service section of the Local Authority will aim to mainstream consciousness of age-friendly design into all urban planning and design, including the public realm, transportation, open spaces, housing and other elements of Local Authority services. The section will deliver these changes through training of staff and ensuring that age-friendliness remains foremost in designers mind working in conjunction with the Age-Friendly Committee.
Medium Term Actions ( 2017 )
Carlow Older Persons Forum, (supported by Carlow County Council) will carry out Age Friendly Walkability audits and continue to identify issues with uneven footpaths, signage, unsafe public spaces and environments.
Local Authority Engineers and Planners will incorporate relevant policies and objectives into Development and Local Area Plans to ensure future public amenities are age-friendly. They will also ensure that the relevant policies and objectives are imported to ensure public spaces and buildings, lighting and signage is more age-friendly.
The Health Service Executive at St. Luke’s General Hospital will continue with its Age-Friendly development plan and aim to conduct a dementia-friendly audit.
The Health Service Executive will continue to work with the Carlow Hospice Group in 2017 to complete the refurbishment of the Palliative Care Suites at the Carlow District Hospital.
Medium Term Actions ( 2017 )
Long Term Actions ( 2017 )
Long Term Actions ( 2017 )
Carlow Older Persons Forum will endeavour to work closely with planners and Carlow County Council to ensure that new builds and schemes are ‘age proofed’.
Area Engineers, Transport and Planning sections of the Local Authority will also review policies during the lifetime of each Local Area Development Plan to ensure that age friendly spaces, buildings and public amenities are being imposed.
Carlow Older Persons Forum in partnership with Bank of Ireland Carlow aim to collaborate through its county-wide branches to make them more age-friendly and inclusive by providing ‘go-slow’ lanes, access to machine training for older customers, and age-friendly days with the particular focus on customer service, more seating facilities inside and parking facilities outside etc.
