
The Road Ahead, Winter 2012

Donate to ITNAmerica

The Liberty Mutual and ITNAmerica Partnership. ITNAmerica is excited to announce our partnership with Liberty Mutual, one of the nation's leading auto, home and life insurers. As the National Insurance Partner to ITNAmerica and our affiliate communities, Liberty Mutual has embraced ITN's mission to support safe, senior mobility and developed resources for seniors and their families to make good, safe transportation decisions found at www.libertymutual.com/seniordriving.

ITN Facts
The Independent Transportation Network has delivered over 375,000 rides. ITN Affiliates now deliver over 4,000 rides a month.

What is the Independent Transportation Network and how does it work?
How to start the ITN in your community.
Meet ITN founders from affiliate communities across the country—how did they do it?
ITNAmerica information technology, including the enterprise software that connects ITNAmerica's national network.

Affiliate Profile: ITNGreaterCincinnati

ITNGreaterCincinnati offered its 1000th ride just seven months after its first. What is the secret of this kind of success? Nancy Schuster, ITNGreaterCincinnati's executive director, plays down her role. Nancy nonchalantly describes her decision to take the reins of a non-profit start-up as something between a "whim" and an honest attempt to answer the question of "what I want to be when I grow up." Read more.

Member Profile: Dr. Paul Spiekermann, ITNCoastalCT

Dr. Paul Spiekermann worked as a senior vice president for medical affairs at Bayer USA and as a physician in Thailand and Indonesia. He continues to develop humanitarian projects in those countries through his involvement in the Westport Rotary Club and Rotary International. He is certified in tropical medicine and dermatology and has helped to originate 17 global projects, including the first Humanitarian Grant approved under the Rotary's Future Vision Pilot. Read more

ITN in Europe

Anyone who has stood in a graceful gare centrale has probably gotten a sense that, as far as transportation goes, Europe is a world away from the United States. But, we have one problem in common. A shrinking pool of young workers in Europe, coupled with an explosion of growth among senior citizens, means that fewer resources are available for public transport when more people than ever are depending on others to get around. Read more.

Welcome New Advisor, Joe Coughlin

Joseph F. Coughlin was one of ITN's first advisors when it started up in Portland in the late 1990s. In the time since, he has become the founding director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AgeLab, a world-class research center where academic knowledge about aging gets converted into innovative ideas with market potential. Read more.

New National Car Donation Program

Now, anyone anyplace can donate a vehicle to ITN through our new national car donation program. Learn more or donate now.

Planning to Attend ASA?
Sign up for Katherine's Session

If you are attending ASA's Aging in America Conference this March in Washington, DC, and you are interested in sustainable senior transportation, you will want to register for Boot Camp 3, "The Dollars and Sense of Sustainable Senior Transportation." Read more and register.

TRB: 91st Annual Meeting on January 23rd

The Committee on the Safe Mobility for Older Persons meets in Washington, DC in January at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board. The Committee is sponsoring a two-part session entitled Anticipating Cuts in Publicly Funded Transportation. The first part, Impact on Transportation for All, is followed by a second part entitled Senior Mobility Solutions through Innovation in the Non-Public Sector. ITN founder, Katherine Freund, will be presenting at the second session. Learn more and register.

2011 All Affiliates Retreat Highlights

Affiliates from all over the country gathered in Maine for the 2011 All Affiliates Retreat in late October. The theme this year was "Telling Our Story," with fabulous speakers and events to illustrate how very important it is to portray the ITN experience for older people, their families, and the volunteers who drive them. Read more.

Special thanks to Elliot Boutin and Justine Gussen for their writing skills and cheerful contributions to this issue of The Road Ahead.

The Road Ahead, Winter 2012