Jillian Jurica

GIS Modeling in Missoula, Montana

Jillian is a second year graduate student at The University of Montana Rural Institute UCEDD in Missoula, Montana. She has a BA in Psychology with a minor in Human Development and is working towards an MA in Geography with an emphasis on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Cartography.

For her AUCD-ESPA sponsored project, Jillian will be using GIS to map the current transportation service areas in Missoula, MT, and its immediate suroundings, with the purpose of identifying the transportation service areas of faith-based and other community volunteer organizations that provide accessible transportation services to people with disabilities and determining areas where there are no transportation services available. In her project, Jillian will also analyze the "where, why, when, who, and how much" factors of transportation: where (the area covered), why (the need for the transportation), when (times transportation service is available), who (to whom is the service available), and how much (the cost of the service). Jillian's project will provide a GIS-based model for use by other counties or communities might use to evaluate the transportation options for people with disabilities. By using the GIS model which spatially displays information, agencies will be able to easily see where options are limited and where improvements are necessary in the transportation network for people with disabilities, the elderly and others who have unmet transportation needs.