If senior citizens in the United States get discounts when dining in their favorite restaurants and sometimes get healthcare services for free, why can’t they when they need to travel outdoors on a sophisticated ridesharing car?
A rideshare transportation service in Virginia is making this possible, and even taking things up a notch – by offering the rideshare services for free. Yes, for free.
Free ridesharing services for seniors
The New River Valley Community Services in Virginia is back to spreading the word about this free ridesharing service for seniors, which started last year.
Called Community Transit Go, this service provides on-demand transportation to the elderly, from 65 years old and above, as well ad disabled individuals in the Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, and Pulaski counties.
All vans and rides from Community Transit Go are ADA-accessible for those on wheelchairs and using mobility devices.
“It aims to provide options for elderly people who may not have a vehicle or the ability to drive. It is also available to people with disabilities, including substance use disorders,” the media reported. “Drivers can pick up passengers in Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, and Pulaski counties.”
Trevor Zakry, a transportation manager, recognized the limited transportation in rural areas, such as this in Virginia, and is happy for the launch of this project to let seniors and disabled know they are not left out, “no matter what challenges they are facing.”
“Transportation is a major hurdle for a lot of people. Whether it’s getting to appointments, getting to work, getting to shopping areas and just getting out, we want to try and be able to provide an option for everyone to live their lives and be able to have a good quality of life,” Zakry said.
The transportation manager added they are working on even more ways to provide better transport access not just to seniors and disabled people, but also to the rest of the community.
“We do have multiple vehicles out there. We’re continuing to build up the number of driver hours we have and continuing to try and create greater access for those in our community,” said Zakry.
Kudos to that!
Not the first time
The Ridesharing Forum team has found out that it is not the first time for the ridesharing community in the United States to step things up for the seniors.
Almost the same project was launched late last year in Orange County, California. From the $1.5 million grant from the state’s Clean Mobility Options, the city of Costa Mesa was able to kick off a pilot initiative offering on-demand ridesharing services to areas around town that are key destinations for healthcare services, transportation hubs, grocery stores, and senior living communities.
Regarded as the Let’s Go Costa Mesa project, it invested in a car and an ADA-accessible van that can cater to 10 passengers, both electric vehicles and a zero-emission fleet.
“We have pretty good ridership on bus lines throughout the city. We have a lot of protected bike lanes that we’ve put up in the last couple of years,” the then-mayor of the city told the media. “We’re trying to provide different opportunities for people to get around in ways that are environmentally conscious.”