Orange County, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Public or private transit access

Description: Many bus stops in rural Orange County lacked shelters or a place to sit. To address this, the Orange County Department on Aging worked with the county's public transportation department to install new seats at 15 bus stops. Designed to maximize space at stops without enough room for a transit shelter, the seats accommodate two people and are attached to the bus stop sign. Project organizers say the seats increase accessibility in rural parts of the county, where no bus stop sign was in place. Following installation of the seats, the public transportation department committed to building permanent bus shelters in high-traffic, rural areas.

Durham, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Pedestrian Safety

Description: Bike Durham addressed a longstanding safety challenge on a downtown corridor where older adults and other residents faced fast traffic and limited protection while walking or biking. The Move-A-Bull City Open Streets event closed the route to cars and showed people what safer design looks like, including protected intersections and shorter crossings. Seven themed zones offered wellness activities, demonstrations and places to safely try new ways of moving through the city. The event prompted stronger support for traffic calming and protected lanes and helped residents imagine permanent improvements. Many left wanting more frequent Open Streets days, showing how powerful the experience felt.