Frequently Asked Questions about ITN Programs
What is Transportation Social Security™?
ITN volunteer drivers store transportation credits for their volunteer efforts. These credits may be used to plan for their own future transit needs or they may use these credits to help pay for rides for members of their family or for low income seniors through the Road Scholarship Program™. ITN transportation credits are honored at any ITN in the country.
What is the Road Scholarship Program™?
This is a program to help low income seniors pay for their ITN rides.
What is the Community Road Scholarship Program™?
Municipalities, non-profit organizations or other groups recruit volunteers and those volunteers put their credits into their group's community account to help pay for rides for low income seniors in that community.
What is Ride & Shop™?
Merchants such as super markets and shopping malls help to pay for rides. The payment is electronically integrated into ITNRides technology so there are no stamps or stickers for consumers to collect. It is a consumer-friendly paperless system.
What is Healthy Miles™?
Health providers help to pay for rides. It is similar to Ride & Shop.
What is CarTrade™?
Automobiles depreciate in value and when an older person has a vehicle they can no longer drive, the ITN CarTrade program helps them convert this depreciating capital asset into a fund to pay for their rides. In a way, CarTrade allows people to continue to benefit from their automobiles. Participation in CarTrade is a benefit of ITN membership, and there is no charge.
What are ITN Gift Certificates?
Adult children, family members and friends may give the gift of independence by purchasing an ITN gift certificate for the seniors they love.
What is the Walk for Rides™?
This walk-a-thon is an annual spring fundraising event for ITN affiliate communities across the country.
What are the benefits of ITN membership?
For people 60 years of age and older, and for people of any age with visual impairments, membership brings with it an opportunity to use the service in any ITN affiliate community across the country, a quarterly newsletter, an annual birthday credit of $5.00, free participation in the CarTrade program, as well as the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting a community based and dignified transportation solution for older people in your community.
What are Ride Services?
Community organizations such as churches, assisted living facilities, and libraries may contract with ITN to provide transportation services for their members. Once a month, ITN sends a statement to the organization to pay for the rides that the members take. This is a way for community organizations to supplement the transportation services they already provide. Community organizations that participate in Ride Services also help to support the ITN affiliate organization.
What is Car Donation?
Members of the community may donate vehicles to ITN. Car Donation and CarTrade are the primary ways ITN acquires vehicles for service.
What is a Personal Transportation Account™?
ITN is a cashless system. Seniors who ride establish prepaid personal accounts and receive a statement once a month detailing the rides they have taken. When they patronize Ride & Shop and Healthy Miles destinations, their transportation credits from these co-payments appear on their monthly statement. Volunteer drivers also have personal transportation accounts to store their credits and receive statements detailing their accumulated balances.
What is the Family Membership Campaign?
This is an annual outreach event to the families of those who need or use ITN service. ITN asks the adult children or families of those who use the service to support the program by becoming members.
Why doesn't the ITN use public funds for operating expenses?
ITN affiliate communities may use up to 50 percent public funds in the first 5 years or service. Because ITN does not want to compete with public transportation for scarce tax payer dollars, we seek to supplement public transportation by working directly with seniors, their families, and their communities to access private resources.