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2001 HSAC Forum 6 <br /> POSSIBLE STEPS FOR IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION IN ORANGE COUNTY <br /> 1. Expand routes. <br /> 2. Turn all the existing human service routes into public routes based on seat <br /> availability. <br /> 3. Create a regional transit system for para-transit in the community. <br /> 4. Improve non-emergency transportation. <br /> 5. Consider an annual public tax rate or transit tax. <br /> Passmore said that accessibility to the community is the first step <br /> toward personal independence and being able to rise out of poverty. He <br /> pointed out that accessibility was the number one issue for the aging. <br /> Kim Cartron, policy analyst for N.C. Justice and Community <br /> Development Center, made reference to a report written by her non- <br /> profit and non-partisan organization called, "Working Hard is Not <br /> Enough." The Center's research finds that there are 1.1 million (or <br /> about 1/3 of the total) households in North Carolina that are not <br /> meeting a basic needs budget. This number is about 1.5 to 2 times the <br /> poverty level. She said that for Orange County, a family with a parent, <br /> an infant, and a preschooler would have to make $17.25 an hour to meet <br /> the basic needs of the family. She also said that some 29% of the <br /> families in Orange County fall below this living income standard. She <br /> mentioned several reasons for the situation: 1. Due to inflation, the <br /> hourly wage has fallen 69 cents relative to what it was 20 years ago; 2. <br /> Childcare and housing costs have grown drastically relative to inflation; <br /> 3. There is a growing income gap; 4. Seventy percent of people on <br /> minimum wage are family heads of households. Cartron concluded her <br /> talk with two recommendations from the living income report. One was <br /> to mount a local living wage campaign that includes a countywide <br /> standard. She also spoke in favor of raising the minimum wage and <br /> supporting earned income tax credits. <br /> The final panelist, consumer Sonia Merritt, said that she has lived in <br /> poverty every day. She said that the main question was what would be <br /> done for poverty and how we could help each other. <br />