Aging and Mobility | Kelly Stoddard
Kelly Stoddard, the associate state director from AARP, discusses how aging well in Burlington connects with sustainable transit options. Discover how sidewalk maintenance, slower speed limits, and protected bike lanes create a safer environment for everyone. We explore the impact of local bus service reductions and how electric bikes help seniors stay active. Learn about Burlington Electric Department point of sale rebates that make clean transportation affordable. Join us to build social capital and support Burlington’s Net Zero Energy future.
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Kelly Stoddard, the associate state director from AARP, discusses how aging well in Burlington connects with sustainable transit options. Discover how sidewalk maintenance, slower speed limits, and protected bike lanes create a safer environment for everyone. We explore the impact of local bus service reductions and how electric bikes help seniors stay active. Learn about Burlington Electric Department point of sale rebates that make clean transportation affordable. Join us to build social capital and support Burlington’s Net Zero Energy future.
transcript
Jennifer Green (00:00): Hello, Burlington and welcome to Net Zero Energy. I’m Jennifer Green, director of sustainability for the City of Burlington, where our goal is to reduce and eventually eliminate fossil fuel usage. On today’s Net Zero Energy podcast, we have Kelly Stoddard with us. Kelly is the associate state director from AARP and is here to talk about aging well in Burlington and beyond. Kelly, it’s a pleasure to have you.
Kelly Stoddard (00:34): Thank you so much, Jen.
Jennifer Green (00:35): So we were talking before the recording about Burlington’s Net Zero Energy strategy and this transition away from fossil fuels in buildings and transportation. How does that fit with your work at AARP?
Kelly Stoddard (00:46): Great question. Well, transportation and mobility are really important to our members. We hear over and over from older adults across the state and here in Burlington as well, that they want to be able to age in their community. And one of the biggest things that are preventing them from doing that is being able to move around easily in their community. And we know that transportation is a growing concern amongst those forty five and older. The reason being is that we look around our built environment, and it hasn’t been created to be able to support people being able to get around without the use of a vehicle. And as we get older, sometimes we have to reduce our driving years. Sometimes we have to hang up the keys entirely. Sometimes we experience a disability and we can’t drive. And so we want to make sure that there’s other ways for people to get around in their community. We need a robust transit system. We need walkable, accessible sidewalks that are cleared in the winter, and we need protected bike lanes.
Jennifer Green (01:45): Yeah, this is important because this is all part—it does tie back into sort of the carbon footprint of a city. And Burlington’s commitment to reduce vehicle miles traveled by fifteen percent as part of our Net Zero Energy strategy. Can you talk a little bit about sort of pedestrian safety and maybe even biking, and how you see that filling a need or a niche?
Kelly Stoddard (02:04): Absolutely. So we know that people want to be able to walk more, right? Every trip begins with walking or rolling. And so we want to make sure that we have a good network of sidewalks and good connection. And what I mean by connection is that we want to make sure that people can safely cross the street, and we want to make sure that there’s amenities and services along that way as well. So it’s important that we see a concentration of amenities and services within neighborhoods that people can be able to access. And we want to make sure that the biggest piece to safety for people who are walking and biking is making sure that we can get cars to slow down. It’s that potential conflict with a vehicle on the street. And Burlington’s done a great job reducing the speed limit here in Burlington, and we want to make sure that that gets enforced and perhaps even expanded beyond just the core of the downtown so that people can be able to walk and move around easily.
And then the other piece is just the maintenance, right? The maintenance of the sidewalks throughout all the seasons, making sure that leaves are removed. And then in the winter, making sure that the snow is removed quickly. That is really, really important, especially after a big storm. Right now it’s nice and sunny and it’s hard for us to remember what it was like back in February. And so we want to make sure that the maintenance is year round for our sidewalks.
And then from the crossing perspective, where there is a timed signal, we want to make sure that there’s enough time for people to cross. And also, Burlington has done a really good job of introducing the rapid flashing beacons, especially along Pine Street, so that people can hit that at a crosswalk and be able to get those flashing lights so that they can safely cross the road. So infrastructure like that really helps improve the walking experience.
And then from a biking experience and what we hear over and over also from older adults, is that they want to see protected bike lanes that are separate from a sidewalk. If you have any type of disability or visual impairment and you’re sharing that sidewalk with a cyclist, it feels really unsafe. And so we want to make sure that our streets have a dedicated place for people to be able to bike safely as well. And we know also that older adults will bike more if they have that protected bike lane.
Jennifer Green (04:31): Yeah, I really love this because hearing you talk makes me think about targeted universalism. So if it’s serving an older person, it’s serving a younger person and everybody in between, like who doesn’t want protected bike lanes and who doesn’t want to be able to walk outside their house and not worry about slipping and falling. So I really love the way we can use older adults almost as a litmus test that we’re serving everybody.
Kelly Stoddard (04:56): Absolutely, absolutely. And, you know, we come at that perspective through the walk and bike lens is that we want to make sure that our communities are truly age friendly, right? And so we want to make sure that we’re focused obviously on older adults from AARP perspective. But what will work for a young child and then an older adult and everybody in between benefits.
Jennifer Green (05:18): If people want to get involved in making those things happen here in Burlington specifically or beyond, how would you suggest that folks get involved?
Kelly Stoddard (05:25): Yeah, there’s a couple of ways that people can get involved. One, Burlington has an excellent walk bike council. We also have an aging council as well here in Burlington that just got restarted as well. And that is in the RIB department within the city. And then the other way is that you could come and volunteer with AARP so you could find us on Facebook at facebook.com/AARPVermont and also online at aarp.org/vermont. And you can reach out to us directly.
Jennifer Green (05:57): And speaking of healthier and safer, Kelly, you’re involved in some of the livable communities work, including some of the grants that were recently distributed around the state and Burlington specific. Tell us about the grant we just won.
Kelly Stoddard (06:11): I’m actually thrilled to talk about the grant that was submitted. So it was our only biking specific grant that was submitted. We received close to seventy grants across the state, and so we were really excited to read the application from BED that focused specifically on e-bikes and then partnering up with our volunteer group that goes out on these monthly bike rides in Burlington, which is a great social activity. And I really think that e-bikes provide such an important piece for older adults to be able to extend their biking years, be able to tackle some of the tougher geography that we have and topography here in Burlington and across the state, and they can be really fun. Yeah. So it’s really fantastic.
Jennifer Green (06:56): Well, great. Yeah, we are looking forward to it. So for folks that don’t know, we will be joining AARP and others on community bike rides with electric bikes to try. We’re partnering with Local Motion. Everybody knows Local Motion and the great work they do in the advocacy space.
Kelly Stoddard (07:12): And I love that BED provides rebates for e-bikes, which is really essential. E-bikes can be really expensive, and it can be a real barrier for people even to go out and try them. And to think about owning one is out of reach for many. And so the rebates can really help that. And I am just thrilled to see that BED has been able to continue that, because the state has stopped providing any type of incentive for e-bikes, which is really unfortunate.
Jennifer Green (07:40): So that essentially means you’re getting that bike at a cheaper price, right at the cash register. So we make it as simple as we possibly can.
Kelly Stoddard (07:49): That is really terrific. And I’ve heard only good things about the process because it is at the point of sale, which makes it the easiest for people to be able to access. So kudos to BED.
Jennifer Green (07:59): So of course, we do recommend that folks buy locally for several reasons, including if you needed any maintenance or repair. Super easy to make it happen that way. Go online and look at the website to make sure that you’re familiar and aware of where you can get the rebate and how to process it. If you’re not buying it directly from the shop. What are we missing in Burlington and what more should we be aiming for? If there’s anything in particular that folks want to advocate for or speak to their city councilor about?
Kelly Stoddard (08:25): So I would say one of the biggest pieces that’s making it more challenging for people to get around in Burlington, if they don’t drive or they want to drive less, is the reduction in transit. So Green Mountain Transit has experienced some budget shortfalls. They have had to reduce some of their routes in times of day, etc. This has also impacted paratransit. So the services that are offered through PSTA, they’ve had to also cut back as well. And I think that that makes it really difficult for people to get to where they need to go, especially for essential services. And we have advocated with the state legislature to be able to maintain funding for transit across the state and support for the older adults and people with disabilities program, and all of the transit services have seen a reduction in budget. And I think that that will have long term consequences for people’s mobility.
When we think about amenities, it’s really important that when people do go out for a walk or for a bike or they’re picking up the bus is to think about the lighting that’s available, the ability to sit down and take a break on a bench. So the Main Streets project is really fantastic and exciting. My office is right downtown, and so I’ve been able to see the progress over the years, and it’s so exciting to see these very wide sidewalks. Main Street was extremely wide, and the intersection at Main and South Winooski was really scary to cross. I felt scared crossing it and would avoid that intersection. And now we’re seeing cars really slowing down because the built environment is changing that, and it’s really fantastic to be able to see our speed limit.
Jennifer Green (10:17): Downtown is less than the sort of outskirts of the downtown. Can you talk about that?
Kelly Stoddard (10:21): Sure. So Burlington, I want to say it was probably about a year and a half ago, reduced the speed limit down to twenty miles per hour in the core of the downtown. And what we know from facts is that if you experience a crash, if you’re hit by a car and the car is going over twenty five miles per hour, and particularly if you’re a child or if you’re an older adult, your ability to be able to sustain the injuries are far less. If the car is going that much faster, you’re more likely to survive a crash or a hit if the car is driving twenty miles per hour or less. So there’s a real safety piece. And also, if we’re driving slower, we’re able to see more and we’re able to see if somebody comes out into the road, we’re able to stop quicker. And it creates just a better atmosphere all around if you’re walking and biking alongside that.
Jennifer Green (11:17): Kelly, it’s been such a pleasure to speak with you. There’s a lot more to talk about, but I want to put it to you. Is there anything else you think the listeners should know that you haven’t had a chance to share?
Kelly Stoddard (11:27): Thank you, Jen, so much for having me here as well. And the one more thing that I’d like to add is the opportunity to be able to meet our neighbors. And when we’re out walking and biking or taking a bus, there’s so much more opportunity for interaction with our community that you might not even think about when you decide to make that walk or bike. Sometimes it’s for physical activity, sometimes it’s for climate change. But then there’s all these other benefits that you run into people that you know, and you learn more things about that are happening in your neighborhood. So I really encourage people to walk more, bike more, take public transit. It can be a really good experience.
Jennifer Green (12:10): Thanks, Kelly. Really building social capital through walking, biking, public transit. Thank you so much. Thank you again for listening to Net Zero Energy from Burlington Electric Department. If you have any questions about this show or what BED offers regarding rebates or technical support, look for us at burlingtonelectric.com or call us at 802-865-7300. We’re here to help you on our mutual path to Net Zero Energy.