Oceanside to launch free senior shuttle program
North County Times – Escondido,CA,USA
Encinitas also pairs volunteer drivers with seniors, but doesn’t have a
shuttle service, said Christie Goodsell, manager of the city’s senior
center. …

OCEANSIDE — Seniors living in Oceanside will soon have a new way to get to the store or doctor’s office, city officials said Tuesday.

The city is designing a free senior transportation program much like one in Vista that uses shuttle buses to take seniors from their homes to shopping centers or medical appointments.

Oceanside plans to begin the program in late spring or early summer, said Eileen Turk, a division manager with the parks and recreation department.

“We want to get the program running as quickly as possible,” said Turk, who added that Oceanside staffers are still trying to work out the details.

She said the goal is to pick up seniors and take them to doctor visits or shopping trips within the city or the Tri-City Medical Center area. Turk said the city hasn’t yet decided the age requirements for free transportation program, but she doesn’t plan to have residents pay for the rides.

The program will be started with a $115,000 grant from Genentech Inc., which manufactures cancer-fighting medicine at a plant in Oceanside’s Ocean Ranch Business Park.

The donation from Genentech will be used to buy a bus that seats 20 to 25 passengers and pay for a driver and program coordinator, said Turk.

“We can’t thank Genentech enough for the donation,” said Turk. “We are thrilled about the program.”

After the grant from Genentech runs out, Turk said, Oceanside will have to look for more grants or consider spending city money to run the program.

Turk said the Oceanside program will be similar, but not identical, to Vista’s Out and About program that began eight years ago.

Vista residents 60 years and older pay $2 to receive door-to-door shuttle service to doctor’s offices, supermarkets and stores within the city area. The program has about 250 regular participants, and the fee that riders pay helps offset the cost of the program, Vista officials said.

The city offers shuttles to medical appointments on Monday, and a trip to Wal-Mart, Target and lunch on Friday.

The Vista program provides trips on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning to grocery stores, the post office, the bank or even haircut appointments.

Each of the shopping and errand trips on the three middle days of the week goes to a different part of the city so that the shuttle doesn’t have to pick up residents living on the opposite ends of town.

Six Vista residents from the Shadowridge area took the shuttle Tuesday to Frazier Farms.

“It’s a really wonderful program,” said Edie Lindsay, who added that she has lived in Vista since 1988 and uses the program a couple of times a month because she can’t drive. “It’s a piece of cake to use the program, and they’re very wonderful people.”

Frank Wilkerson, who has lived in Vista for 21 years, said all that residents have to do is call to make a reservation and then “get on and off the bus.”

Wilkerson said he can’t drive and the program allows him to pick up food and go to the doctor’s office.

“I’d be in real trouble without the program,” Wilkerson said. “I’d be lost.”

The Vista program costs about $55,000 a year, said Mary Dreibelbis, the manager of the Vista Senior Center. She said the city pays about $25,000, federal community grants contribute about $25,000 and the rest comes from sponsorships and donations.

In addition to the shuttle, Vista has about 20 volunteers who drive seniors to and from errands. The city pairs volunteers with seniors who need a ride.

Encinitas also pairs volunteer drivers with seniors, but doesn’t have a shuttle service, said Christie Goodsell, manager of the city’s senior center.

She said Encinitas has about 36 volunteers who drive about 80 seniors each year. Encinitas spends about $18,000 a year on reimbursing drivers and paying for a part-time program coordinator, according to Goodsell.

“Providing individualized and customized transportation for seniors is really important,” Goodsell said. “It’s all about giving seniors options.”

Turk said Oceanside officials are hoping to have several different transportation programs available to seniors. The city currently offers discounted taxi vouchers to seniors, and Turk said the program that began in June will continue for the next couple of months.

Residents 65 years and older pay $3.50 for a one-way vouchers for Yellow Cab to go to the Tri-City medical offices, the Vista Transit Center or anywhere in Oceanside.

The city spent $32,000 on the program for the last six months, and has an additional $28,000 available for taxi vouchers. Before the money runs out, the city will decide whether to spend more money on the program, Turk said.

“I’m hoping to continue the program and that the City Council will be supportive of it down the road,” Turk said.

She said the city is also looking into the possibility of recruiting volunteer drivers to help get seniors around town.

Vista officials said having well-organized programs are the key to providing transportation options for seniors. They also said cities need to continue to refine programs so they best suit residents.

“I’m sure the program will work for Oceanside,” Dreibelbis said. “They will have to start it slow and grow it.”