Transit gaps hinder health
care access, study says
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| Fri Oct 25, 2002 |
Concord's
Monument Corridor has the worst transportation miseries
in
Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties
By Sandy Kleffman
Contra Costa Times
Most Bay Area residents take it for granted that they
can get to a
doctor's office, a hospital or a grocery store that
sells fresh fruit
and vegetables.
But for many low-income residents without cars, getting
access to
health care and healthful food can be a frustrating,
time-consuming
experience.
It can require a five-hour-plus bus trip with several
transfers, if a
bus route exists.
A new study released Thursday details the lack of
transit options in
several Bay Area neighborhoods and urges elected
officials to make
improvements.
The study examined 15 low-income communities in Contra
Costa, Alameda
and Santa Clara counties and concluded that the Monument
Corridor
neighborhood in Concord has the worst transportation
problems.
The area has no transit access to hospitals, and only 1
percent of
residents have transit access to a health clinic, the
study found.
"Ironically, this poor access persists despite the
presence of health
clinics and a hospital only a mile or two away,"
said Jeff Hobson,
policy director of the Transportation and Land Use
Coalition.
The report's authors maintain that when leaders dole out
transportation dollars, they often overlook the needs of
working-
class neighborhoods.
"Elected officials continue to propose new
transportation investments
that primarily benefit long-distance, white-collar
commuters, leaving
the needs of low-income communities of color
unmet," the report said.
Jeanne Krieg, general manager of Tri-Delta Transit,
praised the
report and agreed with its call for improvements.
"We need more buses, more frequently, more
reliably," she said. "...
The problem, however, as we all know is funding."
Nearly two years in the making, the study was conducted
by the
Transportation and Land Use Coalition, People United for
a Better
Oakland and the Center for Third World Organizing.
The groups released their report during a rally attended
by 40
residents and elected officials at the Concord Health
Center on
Willow Pass Road.
Carmenelena Rodas, who has lived along the Monument
Corridor for 14
years, said it would often take two to four hours to get
her daughter
to a doctor's appointment before she got a car.
"If the bus was late one minute, I would miss my
connection, and then
I'd have to wait half an hour or so," she said.
Many of her neighbors prefer to walk for an hour or
longer rather
than take a bus, which can require several transfers,
she added.
"It's very hard, especially when it's too hot or
it's too cold or
it's raining," she said.
Contra Costa County Supervisors Mark DeSaulnier and John
Gioia
attended the rally. They offered hope for improvements
in the
Monument Corridor.
DeSaulnier said he and Gioia will recommend that
$500,000 in transit
occupancy taxes that will be generated by a new hotel at
the Pleasant
Hill BART station be used as seed money for moving the
Concord Health
Center on Willow Pass Road into the Monument Corridor
neighborhood.
The two supervisors noted that Contra Costa leaders are
expected to
place a measure on the 2004 ballot seeking approval to
extend a
transportation sales tax. Low-income advocates should be
involved in
policy decisions about how such money will be spent,
they said.
"You've given us more ammunition and more tools to
help us in
advocating for this funding," Gioia told the group.
The researchers surveyed 700 residents and used
computer-assisted
mapping to identify the number of people in each
neighborhood who
lack transit or pedestrian access to health care
facilities and
supermarkets.
They concluded that Contra Costa County's disadvantaged
neighborhoods
had the worst access of the three counties.
Other Contra Costa neighborhoods examined included Bay
Point,
Pittsburg, the Iron Triangle in Richmond and the
southern and
northern sections of Richmond.
The study found that only 20 percent of residents in
these
neighborhoods have transit access to a hospital and only
33 percent
have access to a community clinic.
In Alameda County, several neighborhoods in Oakland and
West Berkeley
were studied. More than 160,000 residents of these
low-income
communities lack transit access to a hospital, the study
found.
Irene Moreno, who has been a licensed vocational nurse
for 30 years,
said she often saw the results of poor access while
working at Kaiser
Permanente Medical Center in Walnut Creek.
Mothers who wanted to bring their children to the doctor
couldn't
take a 9 a.m. appointment because they would have to get
their babies
up at 4 a.m. to make the three-hour trip, she said.
They couldn't take a 5 p.m. appointment because it would
be past
their child's bedtime before they got home, she said.
Some parents
take their children out of school because they won't be
home when
they get out.
She added that others would arrive an hour and half late
and plead to
be seen -- only to find out that the doctor had left.
Jennifer Martinez, a 20-year-old youth advocate with
C-Beyond in
Concord, said it recently took her five hours to take
public transit
to pick up a prescription.
"I was really late for work," she said,
"and this is what pays me to
buy my bus passes."
Reach Sandy Kleffman at 925-943-8249 or skleffman@c...
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