Transportation issues in Chemung County

Yet again, yesterday I spoke with a resident who told me how difficult it is to live in Chemung County if you don't have a car or can't drive yourself. The issue came up a few weeks ago when the county announced the new FQHC -- federally qualified health center -- in Elmira. The center offers health care to any Chemung County resident no matter their health insurance or even if they had no health insurance.

This is a good thing, but the question was asked. How do we get there? Not everyone has means, and the public transportation has been inadequate to get everyone where they need to.

The issue came up again when I visited an elderly lady in my district who told me about how difficult it is getting for her to get the services she needs. The rising costs on a fixed income is part of it, but actually getting to medical appointments and other services is a whole other battle.

Then yesterday, another lady in Horseheads told me she can't drive because of her medical condition. So, she has to work from home. However when she needs to go into Elmira, getting to public transportation and using it is a struggle. Some who use public transportation have to ride the entire bus route the round-about way just to get where they need to. Some have great difficulty getting to work on time with the available bus routes. 

As much as I love Horseheads, I have noticed that it is not an easy place to get around without a car. It is not built for walking. It doesn't always look like the safest place to ride a bike either. 

What we have is a small rural county with a central city. People out in the country do need to get into Elmira to get the services and opportunities they need, and we need to think about how they can do that.

I told the lady yesterday, I can't make promises, but this is becoming a priority for me. I don't know the answer, but maybe we need some version of Zip Cars to come to the area. Zip Cars, available in big cities, can be borrowed short-term for a fee, but it may not be feasible for that company to come here. Chemung County and Elmira does not have the resources of big cities, so we need to put our heads together and figure out some other way to make transportation better for everyone. 

The first step would be to get some facts. We at least need a survey to find out:

• How many people need public transportation
• Where they live
• Where they need to go