Ellen Oettinger specializes in designing and planning public transportation services for special populations, including transportation for older adults and disadvantaged populations. Much of Ellen’s current work involves human service transportation planning, coordinating taxi programs, and tailoring transit policies to accommodate a community’s specific needs. Other projects include pedestrian analyses and safety assessments, particularly in creating safe and convenient access to transit.

Richard Weiner is a Principal with Nelson\Nygaard. Richard has devoted the majority of his 28 years in transportation planning to accessible transportation for people with disabilities and older adults, human service transportation coordination, and small- to medium- sized transit planning. Prior to joining the private sector in California in 1992, Richard was the Deputy Director of New York City’s ADA paratransit program, where he was responsible for operational policy and service development as the program moved from the planning through implementation stages. Since that time he has worked with dozens of transit agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada, leading studies primarily targeting seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income communities. Richard’s practice has focused on the ways in which the ADA minimum paratransit requirements do not necessarily meet the mobility needs of older adults, and has developed plans for filling these gaps through a variety of strategies that go beyond ADA paratransit. Richard has also conducted research in the areas of accessibility and senior mobility for the National Transit Institute, the AARP, the Transportation Research Board, and Easter Seals Project ACTION.