Meeting The Transportation Needs of Central Florida Seniors
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
By: Matthew Peddie

With more than three million residents over the age of 65, Florida's population has the highest proportion of senior citizens of any state in the US. One challenge facing many of Florida's seniors is how to get out and about once they can no longer drive. Private non-profit companies, public transit and volunteers are all trying to meet a growing need.

More than half a million drivers in Florida are 81 or older, but as drivers age and hang up the car keys for good, they can find themselves stuck at home.  

In Orlando, some 300 seniors subscribe to the Independent Transportation Network private car service.

Bea Chernok uses ITN a couple of times a week, for doctors visits, trips to the hairdresser and social visits. 

"Last week, on a Sunday, they took me down to the Carr Auditorium, I saw an opera, they picked me up, and I wasn’t afraid," she says.

Chernok says ordinarily she wouldn’t go out at night, but she feels safe with ITN drivers, like John McCallister.

McCallister started volunteering after he retired about three years ago, and he now drives for the service five days a week.

"When I signed on I asked them to keep me busy," says McCallister.

"Since then I’ve driven about 30 thousand miles. After three and a half years of picking up the same people every week, boy, you become family.” 

On a typical trip John McCallister might take a passenger to one of the hospitals on Orange Ave.

Hospitals are a major destination for ITN drivers according to executive director Kimber Threet.

"Obviously when you’re offering this type of service and our target market is seniors, they typically have a need for medical services," says Threet. 

"We’ve included all of the medical buildings especially down on Orange Avenue here in Orlando. That’s where all of your main hotspots are.” 

Starting in 2014, seniors will have more transportation options in the medical corridor.

They’ll be able to take advantage of the SunRail commuter train stop at Florida Hospital on North Orange.

Taxis are also part of the transportation mix for seniors, but Threet says ITN’s average trip length of 3 point 5 miles isn’t financially attractive to many cab drivers.

An average ride with ITN costs about nine dollars, and there’s also a 60 dollar annual membership fee.

That’s too expensive for some, but public mass transit does provide an alternative.

Central Florida’s Lynx bus service operates a fleet of minivans and cars for its Access Lynx door to door service.

More than 11 thousand people- not just seniors- use it, but director Bill Hearndon admits Access Lynx isn’t perfect.

“We’re out there travelling in the same congestion as everyone else is. If there’s an accident on I-4, our day’s shot," he says.

"If it rains, traffic tie ups happen through out the service area and our on-time performance is down the drain." 

But, Hearndon says, for some of the Access Lynx customers, the service provides the only social interaction they get.

"We have customers who if it weren’t for our service, would be stuck at home, would be shut in," he says.

Hearndon says there isn’t enough money to meet demand for the door to door service. Access Lynx already turns down 2,000 applicants each year.

"Lynx doesn’t have a dedicated funding source. So every year we literally have to go begging for funding.”

That leaves churches, synagogues, mosques and other community organizations working to fill a growing transportation need.

Pegge Stickel organizes a car service with close to a hundred volunteer drivers at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Winter Park.

Stickel's volunteer model doesn’t require regular commitment from drivers- it’s so successful 13 other faith communities in Orlando have adopted it. But she worries people can rely too much on the work of volunteers.

“When the city can’t, when the county can’t, when the federal government can’t, when the private, non-profits can’t, they turn to the faith communities," says Stickel. 

"And then unfortunately we become overwhelmed with the burden of responsibility.”

Voluntary organizations are under pressure, and public mass transit and private non-profit car services also face a funding squeeze.  

However, advocates for the elderly agree more time and money needs to be invested to help seniors stay mobile.