As we age our circumstances change and sometimes our choices become more limited. Travel training can be the bridge that connects older adults with the freedom to travel on their own terms again.
NCST hosted a three part series of two hour audio conferences on travel training for the aging network. The audio conferences were from 12:00 to 2:00 Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday September 28th, Wednesday September 29th, and Thursday September 30th.
Human service, aging administrators, program managers and anyone else who is wondering about travel training and how it can help their clients will want to listen to the recordings of this three day audio conference. Participants gained a better understanding of the different types of travel training services and were able to identify potential partners and funding sources. Attendees also had an opportunity to ask experienced travel trainers from rural and urban regions questions about their programs and training older adults to travel independently.
Guest speakers include:
- Mary Handley, Travel Trainer, Delmarva Community Services, Inc., Cambridge, MD
- Jeanna Muhoro, Outreach Coordinator, Special Populations Transportation Programs, Fairfax Virginia Department of Transportation, Fairfax, VA
- Mike Mullins, RideWise Supervisor, Ride Connection, Portland, OR
- Julie Wilcke, Chief Operating Officer, Ride Connection, Portland, OR
- Barbara A. Gordon, MA, Director of Social Services, Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency, Louisville, KY
Session 1
Program Administration: Travel Training and How it Works
Tuesday September 28, 2010
12:00-2:00 EDT
Read the transcript from the September 28 seesion (PDF).
The first session, of this three part audio conference series, will introduce the family of travel training services and demonstrate the ingredients needed to support travel training. Guest Speakers will provide a short outline of their travel training programs and the services that they provide. This session will cover program structure, financing, startup, community partners and resources for travel training programs.
Session 2
Training Techniques and Experiences from the Field
Wednesday September 29, 2010
12:00-2:00 EDT
Read the transcript from the September 29 session (PDF).
The second session in this three part audio conference series will demonstrate techniques used by travel trainers to help older adults and people with limitations travel independently. The audience will hear examples of how travel training helped older adults recover their independence and travel independently in their communities.
Session 3
Travel Training and the Aging Network
Thursday September 30, 2010
12:00-2:00 EDT
Read the transcript from the September 30 session (PDF).
The final and third session in our three part audio conference series will facilitate a dialogue with Area Agencies on Aging exploring how they are involved with supporting travel training programs throughout the United States.
Resources
Easter Seals Project ACTION
Travel training "portal" page for all things related to travel training on the Easter Seals Project ACTION Web site. This includes ESPA’s Introduction to Travel Training course, the Global Travel Training Community and many other related resources.
Association of Travel Instruction (ATI)
A national professional association which exists to develop the relatively new professions of travel training instructor and travel trainer for seniors and persons with disabilities, other than those with blindness. The goal of ATI is to serve the practitioners who teach persons with disabilities and seniors to use public transit safely and independently.
The Rider's Voice Web Book
The Rider’s Voice is a book featuring the stories of twenty-five new independent travelers and advocates who have shared in the RideWise experience. Each story is a powerful, unique, first-person account of what it means to travel independently; to move about the community with purpose and without harm. Each story is further enhanced by the incredible imagery of world-renowned photographer, Christopher Anderson. Please share this resource with customers and other constituents.
How to ride TARC Video
How to Ride TARC video mentioned by Barbara A. Gordon, Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency.
Mobile Accessible Travel Training (MATT) Bus
An innovative transportation resource is available to Fairfax County senior citizens. In November 2004, Supervisor Hudgins and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) introduced a unique Fairfax Connector bus that has been renovated and designed for training senior citizens to travel safely and independently on regional transit systems.
Meet the Speakers
Barbara A. Gordon is the Director of Social Services (and the Area Agency on Aging) at the Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA). She has been with KIPDA for almost five years. Prior to working with KIPDA, she worked with the Cabinet for Health Services as a Branch Manager for the Elder Rights, Special Initiatives and Supports Branch in the Office of Aging Services and as a Program Administrator for the Division of Mental Health. Her experience serving older adults include working as a Homecare Case Manager serving older persons in the Barren River Region, working with older adults with mental health issues at the Barren River Community Mental Health Center, and as a Senior Citizen Center Director in Franklin County.
She also coordinated volunteer respite services for caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and facilitated an Alzheimer’s Support Group. Ms. Gordon serves on the Board of Directors for Kentucky Association for Gerontology and the Southeast Association for Area Agencies on Aging. She is currently the Chair of the Regional Mobility Council for the KIPDA Region and is a member of the Kentucky Association for Area Agencies on Aging. Ms. Gordon has worked in the field of human services and with older adults for more than thirty years.
Jeanna Muhoro has been the Outreach Coordinator for Senior and Disabled Transportation Programs for the better part of five years. She is responsible for the marketing and outreach of several successful senior and disabled transportation programs in the County of Fairfax, and has travel trained numerous seniors on how to use regional public transit systems, giving them another viable travel option.
Mike Mullins, a Kentucky native, has been working in the field of transportation for nearly 14 years. His broad range of professional experience includes working with parking and transportation services at a large, landlocked university in an urban setting to being the director of a transportation management association. Mike has been with Ride Connection since 2004, when the RideWise program was introduced to the region. In Mike’s current role, he oversees all of the day-to-day activities of the program including the supervision of a travel instructor, three travel trainers, a community outreach specialist, and a travel training liaison who works in a satellite office housed with the ADA eligibility team for the transit district. Mike’s leadership has shaped the way travel training services are delivered and the program has grown from an upstart in 2004 to the nationally recognized program it is today. The RideWise team now produces more than 200 new independent travelers each year which creates an annual cost avoidance of $1M for the transit district.
Although proud of his accomplishments, Mike credits the entire RideWise team, including the more than 50 volunteers who primarily support older adults, for the program’s success. Mike has a real passion for travel training and the independent lifestyle it fosters among those served by RideWise. Mike is also a member of the Association for Travel Instruction.