Five County Community Action Partnership

2022 Community Needs Assessment

1. What are the major data changes from baseline? (prior needs assessment)

Workers 16 and older; Public transportation in Washington County

2. What contributed to these changes?

• Decrease in the number of those who are 16+ and employed. This is likely due to COVID19 when many places of employment closed or let people go.
• The decrease in use of public transportation in Washington County could be due to limited routes which mainly serves St. George.  There is an increase in uber and Lyft services that may be accessed more than the bus because of geography. Due to COVID19 there has been a decrease in employment, which may also lead to the decrease.

3. What barriers (specific to income) were made clear by the data?

• Individuals in all counties noted that jobs were offered, but they were unable to accept the employment offered due to lack of transportation, either public or, in some cases, private.
• Some individuals reported that the place of employment offered was not on the bus route or near one. Public transportation also does not run at night, making the evening and graveyard jobs difficult to get to.

4. What gaps in service were noted for this issue?

• Insufficient public transportation for the population and area/distance
• Buses in these areas do not operate late in the evening or over the weekend.  For those who rely on bus services, working nights or weekends, they have a difficult time keeping their job
• There may be a bus, however the routes and stops are limited.  The time between drop off and pick up can be long causing extended waiting time.

5. Are there individual/family/community unmet needs in this area?

• The ability to maintain a job depends on attendance. Attendance is based on the ability to get to work. All five counties have had economic growth and as jobs become available, the lack of public transportation becomes more evident, and jobs are passed up. The ability to maintain a job depends on attendance. Attendance is based on the ability to get to work. All five counties have had economic growth and as jobs become available, the lack of public transportation becomes more evident, and jobs are passed up.
• The Five County area has many state and national parks that require full time employees, however the towns close to these parks have no housing or it is expensive.  Having specific buses or shuttles to transport employees to and from work would be beneficial.

6. What linkages (including partnerships) are needed to address barriers, gaps, and unmet need?

• Suntran and CATS
• CDBG Gas Reimbursements
• Medical Transportation Vouchers through Mobility Management
• Gas Vouchers through Vocational Rehabilitation

7. From reviewing the transportation data, what has your agency learned about the root cause of poverty in your community? 

All the counties in our service area could benefit greatly from more availability of public transportation. As mentioned in many of the previous sections, lack of transportation can be detrimental to many aspects of life in our more rural communities (not able to get to/from work, not able to transport children to childcare for work, getting to and from medical appointments, and even accessing the food pantries during limited hours of operation).