Transportation is a major problem for many older people, especially if they live in the suburbs. They may be quite able to take care of themselves and their spouse at home, but the moment they lose their driver's license, their world contracts.

Suddenly they are under "house arrest": dependent on family or friends, expensive taxis or inconvenient buses. The risk that they will decline increases dramatically. Isolation is a killer. Staying connected to all the pieces of our lives is life-giving.
As we live longer and healthier lives, it's important to have a transportation system that meets our needs as long as possible. One that allows us to "age in place" in our familiar neighborhoods, surrounded by people we've known for decades, who know us, too, and watch out for us.

Riding SkyTran doesn't require quick reaction times or perfect eyesight and hearing. It only requires enough mobility to climb the stairs to a mini-station 8 feet above the sidewalk (or no stairs at all in a wheelchair-accessible station or one I reach from inside a building) and the ability to select where I want to go.

Shopping, working, visiting friends and family; reaching all kinds of recreation and entertainment and educational opportunities; volunteering for causes we care about and pursuing our particular interests as long as mind and body hold out. All of these activities are doors to a better world. All of these doors are opened by SkyTran.
Even when people do need help in their daily lives, SkyTran will make it easier for helpers to reach them. When her daughter can drop in at lunch because the ride from her office is now only 10 minutes; when a visiting nurse can see five or ten more patients in a day; when a poor single mother from the inner-city can reach a distant suburb in 20 minutes to work as a home health aide. Then help is on the way.

SkyTran isn't just an issue for city planners and commuters. It will change lives.