Seniors Trade Cars for Rides in New Chicago Test

INDEPENDENT TRANSPORTATION NETWORK City to test program in May on N.W. Side

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com

Edgewater resident Betty Steinke, 77, was recently forced to give up her driver's license because of the severe visual impairment known as macular degeneration.

That left her 84-year-old husband as her only chauffeur. But it won't be long before Leroy Steinke is off the hook.

After two years of planning, City Hall is ready to roll out a pioneering program that will allow seniors to donate their cars to a new nonprofit agency in exchange for free rides around the clock.

The Independent Transportation Network is the brain child of Katherine Freund, whose 3-year-old son was run over by an elderly motorist in 1988 while playing outside their Maine home.
"When our family recovered, I said, how do I keep this from happening to other people? How do I fix it?" said Freund, whose son is now a healthy 23-year-old.
"Everybody's family has some older person struggling with this issue. People need an escort in and out of the car. They need someone to carry their packages or fold their walker. You cannot rely on adult children to leave their jobs every day to do this."

Before going citywide, Chicago's program is expected to debut in May in a district that starts on the Northwest Side and swings around to include five hospitals in the Illinois Medical District on the Near West Side.
AARP will send out a mass mailing next month to seniors in nine primarily Northwest Side ZIP codes, urging them to donate their cars or join ITN Chicago in exchange for a yet-to-be determined fee similar to a cab fare. A list of the pilot communities can be found at itnchicago.org.

If the Kelley Blue Book value of the donated car is $10,000, the senior will get credit for $10,000 worth of free rides. Donated vehicles will be sold, with the proceeds used to subsidize rides and the program, partially funded by a $125,000 state grant.
Initially, volunteer drivers will use their own cars after passing a road test and undergoing criminal background checks and screening for moving violations. Over time, the Chicago chapter of a network that began in Portland, Maine, and expanded to include Los Angeles, San Diego and Orlando hopes to reach agreement with a car-sharing service.

"Our goal is to fill a niche for seniors who probably should not be driving but don't want to be confined," said former Aging Commissioner Joyce Gallagher, who's spearheading the program and hopes to take it citywide in three to five years.
"I'm not trying to get them off the road. They are off the road. We're just trying to help them through the situation they find themselves in."
The first ride is expected to be provided in May by Leroy Steinke, chairman of the 23-member ITN Chicago board.

"I'm still able to drive. I have friends in their 90s who still drive. But there are people who can't. And they no longer have access to family members who can accommodate their needs," Steinke said.
"This would literally be a door-to-door accommodation."
When now-ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich gave free mass transit rides to seniors, Freund called Gallagher and asked if Chicago wanted to back out.

But an appearance at a Northwest Side senior citizen center put Freund's concerns to rest. She asked an audience of 130 how many people felt their mobility needs were being met by public transportation. Three hands went up.
"What that tells me is that all of our existing systems were not built for people who live to frail old ages," she said.