Education
Recreation"Is transportation a big issue in this community?" "Yes. We don't have any." - Service Provider
In Warren County there are 1.2 miles of paved road per square mile (NC Department of Commerce, County Profiles). The town is composed of 2.263 square miles of land located at 36.40N, 78.15W. It is 184 miles from Washington, DC and 48 miles from Raleigh (Key to the City, 2001). Henderson, NC and South Hill, VA, where many Warrenton residents work and shop, are each about 16 and 26 miles away respectively.
It was reported that as recently as 20 years ago, Warrenton had a train station, and even an airfield. In 1989, there was still daily bus service to Norlina (Warren Plan, 1989). The only form of public transportation in Warren County today is the Kerr Area Rural Transportation System (KARTS). This state subsidized system of vans, which is based in Henderson, serves the surrounding five counties. Riders subscribe for rides on a regular basis (e.g. to work) or call to schedule individual trips at least 24 hours in advance. Service is available between 6:15 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fees are variable depending on town and county (NC Department of Transportation). For example, a roundtrip fare from Warrenton to Henderson is $8.00. There is a reduced fare for senior citizens.
According to the 1990 census, 30 (0.45%) people in Warren County and no one in the town of Warrenton used public transportation to get to work. Twelve percent of employed Warrenton residents carpooled, compared to 24% in the county. Approximately 70% of Warrenton residents drove to work alone in their cars. Fifteen percent of Warrenton's working population circumvents transportation problems by walking to work or working at home.
Many agencies within the county provide transportation to and from their services. This includes social services, the senior center, and the health department. Other agencies reimburse clients who need to pay for transportation, or contract transportation for participants in their programs (e.g. renting school busses for non-school activities). 4-H volunteers pick up the members for meetings if necessary.
Community members generally agree that you need a car to do anything in the county and that people do not hesitate to ask for rides. "They'll ask in a minute," but asking for a ride does not guarantee transportation. One community member expressed frustration that some people claim they cannot make it to appointments because of a lack of transportation, but later in the day, she sees them at Walmart. As far as she could tell, transportation was just an excuse. Others suggest that people without transportation tend to have neighbors willing to take them to Walmart, but not to counseling services because the neighbors are already going to Walmart. Others feel that people are not motivated enough to utilize services even if there is transportation for them or their children. When 4-H volunteers go to pick up children for activities, some parents do not bother to have them out of bed and ready to go. However, these community members also feel that providing transportation for people who are motivated can be very helpful.
Some focus group participants expressed concerns about Warren County being swallowed up by urban areas. Others were excited about things being more convenient. People mentioned a plan for a train to Raleigh, making it easier for people to work in Raleigh while living in Warren County. Residents also reported that the county does not feel it can create a bus or shuttle service for the town without serving the whole county, but serving the whole county would be expensive and impractical.
Lack of transportation and its impact on access to resources was cited by many health providers and leaders Warrenton. The Warren County Health Educator cited transportation as a problem for access to care in her 2000 Community Action Plan. She proposed that the health care agencies contract or arrange transportation services with KARTS. However, financial issues have kept this from happening. Another provider suggested "that all the different service agencies if they could just pool their money and have one transportation service that's not volunteer dependent that is a paid, salaried transportation person, I think we'd actually do better in getting people to things."
Some service providers were skeptical about the magnitude of the transportation problem, saying such things as, "I hear transportation is a problem. People can usually find a way if they want. Sometimes people can't be there when [they want to]. It's a real problem for some. Maybe agencies don't try to work with people with a lack of transportation." One service provider indicated that transportation is especially problematic for low-income, single-parent families. Others cited transportation as an important reason for people not accessing their services, although many agencies hesitate to provide transportation, thinking that the people will not be home at the arranged pick-up time.
One provider said, "In Warrenton, transportation is easy because we don't have many places." This perspective misses the fact that, as highlighted above, many people cannot get the things they need on a regular basis in Warrenton. "When Lowe's burned down, that was devastating to Warrenton because a lot of people couldn't get to Food Lion."
Generally, service providers agreed that more people would work if they had a way to get there. There are many people with skills such as automotive repair and masonry in Warrenton, but many of them have no way of getting to places where their skills are in demand. "How can they work if they can't prove a way to get there? You can't hold a job if you can't get there, so the people don't want you." One service provider mentioned that KARTS had a bad reputation for reliability, which may keep many people from even considering it as option. Some providers who do not work closely with the poor are surprised to hear that people cannot get to work because of lack of transportation.
The importance of transportation seems to depend almost entirely on the perspective of the person speaking. There is no question that the community does not have a convenient public transportation system. The question seems to be whether or not it needs one. Most people who have cars and associate with people who have cars do not see a need for transportation. People with friends, families or clients who do not have cars tend to be more aware of transportation related issues. The aging population compounds the problem because many of them do not drive at night, and KARTS does not provide rides at night.
The primary difference between service providers and community members is that service providers had some suggestions for improvement while community members felt trapped in a county that probably cannot support a public transportation system. However, most community members did not mention transportation in the focus groups. This discrepancy may be due to several factors. One possibility is that the service provider interview guide explicitly asked about transportation as an issue, which may have led them to focus on it more than focus group participants who were directly asked about transportation. Also, the community members in most of our focus groups were probably people with transportation because they somehow brought themselves to the designated location. Related to the second reason, service providers may be more aware of transportation problems because they hear that people do not utilize their services because they are not able to transport themselves to the agency. This issue is likely to be resolved only through close collaboration between community members who need transportation, county government and service providers.
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