Drive to Keep Going

Many older people do not use mass transit, often because of real and perceived obstacles, Ginzler said. The multitude of services can frustrate senior citizens -- and others -- who struggle with bus schedules and multiple transfers. Such obstacles help explain why nearly 90 percent of older residents use private vehicles. Even when an older person decides he can no longer drive, he slides over to the passenger seat, and studies show that older residents will walk before taking public transit, Ginzler said.

In Fairfax, for example, low-income seniors can sign up for Seniors-on-the-Go, which lets riders buy subsidized coupons to pay for taxi fares. Others may qualify for MetroAccess, a paratransit (door-to-door) service sponsored by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for disabled passengers, or FASTRAN, the county-run paratransit. The county also offers a volunteer driving service similar to the Annandale Christian Community for Action's. And there are senior citizen discount rates on almost all public transportation, including Metro and Metrobus.

Grace Starbird, director of Fairfax County's Area Agency on Aging, said one of many initiatives undertaken by the county to enhance transportation for seniors is a proposal for a "one-stop shop" that would coordinate transit services for older residents.

Other governments and nonprofit organizations across the nation have explored strategies to help seniors get around, including implementing new approaches to volunteer driving services, revamping bus lines to make them more flexible and redesigning streets and highways to accommodate older motorists and pedestrians.

In Maine, for example, Katherine Freund, whose 3-year-old son Ryan was hit by an older driver nearly 20 years ago, started a nonprofit organization to help seniors get around. (Her son recovered and now attends the University of Oregon.)

Through Independent Transportation Network and ITNAmerica, which is working to replicate her model across the country, younger volunteer drivers can get credits to receive rides later or donate them to others. Residents who stop driving can donate their cars for credits, and merchants can help pay for rides for older customers.

A similar time-banking program operates in Annapolis, where the city's Transportation Department teamed with Partners in Care, a Pasadena, Md.-based nonprofit that helps seniors stay in their homes.

Partners in Care, which also operates in Frederick, administers a time-banking system so that a person who volunteers to transport an older resident will earn credits that could be used for home repairs.

"There are a whole host of seniors who need help getting out the front door," said Barbara Huston, the organization's co-founder and president. "Our niche is to provide people with arm-to-arm, door-to-door transportation."

Partners in Care started with 125 enrollees; today, there are 4,800. The city promotes the service and pays for background checks of a volunteer's driving record.

Prince William County offers "flex-routing" on its OmniLink bus service, said Christine Rodrigo, spokeswoman for the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission.

The service allows any resident in Manassas, Manassas Park and some parts of the county to schedule a deviation from the regular route of up to 3/4 of a mile. There is a $1 extra charge for riders using the flexible service unless they are older than 60 or disabled.