AARP Hearing Center
AARP Livable Communities Map
DC Office of Planning (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Transportation
└ Public or private transit access
└ Public or private transit access
While Washington, D.C. has a robust public transit system, rider amenities are not consistent throughout the city and the Pennsylvania Avenue East Corridor is particularly underserved. The city's Office of Planning hoped to use creative placemaking techniques to make waiting for the bus safer and more comfortable. Project organizers worked with local artists to design and build an Imagination Bench, which they placed on a well-used bus route. The bench has solar-powered illumination and a QR code on its side directs viewers to information about the bench and local planning efforts. Originally installed near Fort Dupont Park, planning staff intend to feature the brightly colored bench at the city's farmers markets, pop-up shops and other community events.
Photo Gallery
Image:
Click on a photo to learn more
See More Projects Like This One
Elsa, TX
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public or private transit access
Description: People using the local bus service in Elsa had no designated bus stop facilities. To catch a bus, residents could stand on the side the highway and wave -- an unsafe situation on the area's busy roads. To make waiting for public transit safer and more comfortable, the City set out to add bus shelters along State Highway 107.
Carson City, NV
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public or private transit access
Description: Organizers at the Brewery Art Center hoped to improve accessibility at a nearby bus stop. So they installed new lighting and benches at the site, allowing more residents to take advantage of public transportation to get them to the Center's events, classes and galleries. Project organizers also worked with the local transportation department to increase transit service hours during the Center's events. These accessibility improvements enabled the Center to offer new programming for older adults, including a rock choir called School of Rock, Senior Years. Additionally, grant funding allowed for the restoration of a mural painted in the 1990s, which depicts the family who ran the Carson Brewery Company.
Louisville, KY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public or private transit access
Description: To provide a safe, comfortable space for older residents who are waiting for transportation, ElderServe set out to install a bus stop shelter near a popular Senior Center. Work involved pouring a new concrete slab for the shelter to level out the site.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Washington, DC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Expansion and enhancement of transportation options
Description: Many older adults with limited mobility struggle to reach affordable food, health services and social activities without reliable transportation. Seabury Resources for Aging expanded shuttle service focused on food access, offering regular group trips to community food markets and affordable grocery stores. The predictable rides allowed older adults to shop for foods they prefer while traveling with peers. Partner sites described the shuttle as essential, noting that these outings are the only way some older adults are able to leave their homes. By restoring routes and strengthening partnerships, the project reduced isolation and laid groundwork for sustained, older-adult-focused transportation that supports independence over time.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Washington, DC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2026
Project Category: Expansion and enhancement of transportation options
Description: Targeted outreach will expand awareness of a coordinated senior transportation service across Washington neighborhoods. Better connections will help more older adults reach food, services and activities.
LEARN MORE AND STAY INFORMED
Find articles and resources about making communities more livable for people of all ages
Download or order free publications from AARP Livable Communities
Sign up for the free, weekly, award-winning AARP Livable Communities eNewsletter
Don't see your community listed?
LEARN HOW IT CAN JOIN THE NETWORKConnect with your AARP State Office
AARP has offices in all 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
AARP District of Columbia State Office
100 M Street SE
Suite 650
Washington, DC 20003
United States