Rath Mhuire and Dolmen Centre Community Car – NTA Community Car Pilot and emerging preferred model

Description

Rath Mhuire, Granard manage a wonderful Day Care service in the village of Aughnacliff, a stone’s throw from the Dolmen that gives their centre its name.
On Wednesdays, older people from throughout the North Longford region gather at the Dolmen Centre to enjoy each other’s company, conversation, a hot lunch and also take part in activities organised by Pamela Martin, the Community Development Officer. This community of older people live in remote, sparsely populated areas, with few opportunities to gather and connect.
This Rath Mhuire Community car scheme was first put in place to support the existing demand-responsive service provided by TFI Local Link LWR. This was two bus services, collecting older people from their homes to bring them to the centre and bringing them home at the end of the day.
During an inspection carried out by Una D’Arcy, TFI Local Link, Pamela identified a cohort of people that could not use the demand responsive service. The reasons for this were varied with no commonality – they included – 1) the policy not to keep older people on the bus for too long, placed a geographical and time limit to the demand responsive service scope- 2) people lived in such remote areas they could not be accessed by a bus 3) even with a low floored bus and lift platform, some older people’s issues were such that a bus was not appropriate.
Una D’Arcy mapped the older person unmet need and made the case to the National Transport Authority for funding to support the operational expenses of a car because the existing service was not sufficient or appropriate and adding a car to the service could be used to address the collection of people the bus could not.
This was supported with a compliance application to exempt the car from the taxi regulations.
Through Clar and fundraising, Rath Mhuire purchased a car, including paying for wheelchair access features. The third part of this triangle was employing a CE scheme to secure a driver that would be available throughout the week, as having the car opened up a whole range of new transport options. Activity now includes
1) When there was an upturn in Covid and older people were advised to once again remain sheltering at home – Rath Mhuire used the car to bring homemade soup, tea and freshly baked scones to everyone missing out on coming into the centre
2) The Men’s Shed offered to build everyone window boxes – so the car was used to bring everyone in small groups into the garden centres to look at different plants they could buy for own boxes. The car was also used to deliver the finished window boxes to each home.
3) Rath Mhuire deployed its community car to all the groups in the area that struggled with their Christmas plans to ensure that anyone struggling with isolation had an opportunity to attend social functions like Mass, tea dances, afternoon bingo, local Christmas markets, carol singing and school p[lays.
4) They used the car to deliver Christmas care packages to 100 older people in Longford, visiting them with and making sure that they had everything they needed. The same was carried out again at Easter.
5) They make sure that it is available to anyone who needs a lift to a local non emergency health or welfare appointment. This data is logged so it can be used to build the case for health community cars.
6) On one occasion it brought a lady to her brother’s wake and funeral when a grieving family contacted Rath Mhuire and explained that none of them had a suitable vehicle.
7) Over lockdown, many of the older people that used the services’s health failed significantly- things like loss of strength in hands – so unable to grip handrails on the bus or put on their own seat belt – and fear of mixing on a bus set in- the car collects these passengers ensuring they are not excluded
It is important to note that the car also supported not displaced the demand responsive services- by identifying outliers in mapping – it allowed TFI Local Link to nudge routes opening up new areas to the service and increasing its geographical scope.
The management of this model is grounded in inclusion and kindness but the excellent record keeping and collaboration between TFI Local Link and Rath Mhuire meant that valuable information was gathered and modelled- and then used to secure NTA funding for a further three projects in the Longford Westmeath Roscommon Area. Rath Mhuire, driver Hugh Reilly and the older people using the car have been generous with their time and feedback, allowing TFI Local Link to build a profile of how micro transit inside a community can be used effectively and how Garden centre visits are as viable a reason for a community car as those put forward for Cancer Care cars and Hospital Links.

Aim of Initiative

To ensure that older people have appropriate transport and are not unable to access their community, community activity and community services because the existing public transport service is unable to connect them

The Rath Mhuire Community Car is a fully demand responsive, accessible, vehicle that is made available across the north Longford area to older people in the community.

Who is it aimed at

Older people that use the services of Rath Mhuire Resource Centre, Granard, and the older community it serves.

The initiative recognises the need for a car to support existing public transport where the specific needs of the individual means they are unable to use the bus.

These needs may be personal, related to wellbeing, geographical location of the home and/or the ability to travel independantly. The need is assessed by the Board of Rath Mhuire Resource Centre.

3 Steps critical to success

1. The community of older people in Dolmen Centre, were really kind and patient. They trusted Una D’Arcy with important private personal information that helped the application. Being lonely and how unwell it makes a person is a challenging thing to describe; the value of connections and community is well known but explaining what happens when your independence diminishes and things slip away is devastating to recall. Gathering information from older people on the impact of Covid and how it harrowed their community was so incredibly sad and hearing how there is a real sense of being left behind and facing unknown new challenges- that they cannot return to the same point they left. It was an important part of the application to secure funding knowing that it needed a wide landscape of functions and that the car’s remit may never have a fixed purpose or routine. The case needed to be made that getting people to Dolmen on Wednesday was a measurable unment need but that the car would also be needed in many ways.
2. Providing a case study, remix mapping and application to the National Transport Authority and Taxi Regulator that an identified unmet need could be addressed by the supporting provision of a community based car.
   Known as demand responsive micro transit – the regulation of this car if successful would fall into the scope of the NTA and public transport.
3. Securing a patchwork of funding for the purchase and operation of the car. The car was bought with Clar Funding topped up by fundraising by the centre. The operational costs were subvented by the a grant from the National Transport Authority and included support on route design, dispatch, operational compliance and transport advice from TFI Local Link LWR. Driver is funded by a CE scheme – all these funds were critical to the cars operation and without any one of these options the car would not be operational.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Saying no
   The initiative requires funding- while it was successful in acquiring the funding it was a single pot with no option to seek an increase – so to be viable and sustainable the group had to be cautious with spending and prioritise items like insurance, tax, rising fuel costs, Also there was only one driver so that limited how often the car could be used. Saying no is a difficult thing but unfortunately it was a crucial part of the strategic thinking that designed the scope. This was managed by the creation of review process for each activity that fell to the board of Rath Mhuire- allowing time to consider effective spending
2. Growing
   This unmet need is not unique to north Longford and ensuring it becomes a consideration in Connecting Ireland (public transport programme) and other associated policy it is really important to gather data correctly and also then build the appropriate narrative using the data.
   Pamela and Una both have a community development practice qualification (NUIG) and this was a significant element at the beginning of the process. This is a community development project in a transportation silo. It was hard to translate the older people’s needs as they described them into the language used in transport.
3. Making sure there is funding- this is a year to year pilot- which always contains the caveat that it may not have funding the following year. There needs to be a way to integrate projects like this into the NTA ecosystem and give values to addressing loneliness the same way we measure decarbonising public transport and multi modal shifts to cycling and walking. In rural areas especially theer is a need to consider private car ownership owned by older people that are not using them but do need to be driven in them.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. The unmet need of older people that could not use TFI Local Link LWR demand responsive services – are now collected from their home by the car and brought to the Dolmen Centre. This applies to a number of public transport services – the car is used and older people with their travel card now have a free public transport option in their area – rather than just having the card but no transport to take.
2. The model designed for Rath Mhuire/Dolmen Centre was used for further applications to secure pilots in other areas and for other functions where there is an unmet need and no existing/appropriate public transport option available.

   TFI Local Link LWR have used the model to design training and advice and help set up a support network between groups operating these piloats to link in with Rath Mhuire to help with sustainability and viability

3. It is also a nudge to our societal culture- the more we consider the idea of shared community cars rather than private cars- the better it will be for the environment and the greater number of people in remote and rural areas will have access to demand responsive micro transit.

   Many older people who spoke to us would show up in data as car owners but do not in fact drive. One reason, for older women is that they spent a lifetime allowing their husbands to do all the driving and when their husbands passed no longer felt confident. For others declining health means they are unable to use their car. These innovative people suggested there was bound to be a way of matching their unmet need and car to the community – so this is also something we are gathering information on.