Our Story
Older adults urgently need reliable and affordable transportation.
Every Independent Transportation Network® starts out differently. The movement to establish a dignified transportation solution for seniors might be spurred by a tragedy or by a fortuitous influx of funding.
In the case of ITNQuadCities, a group of remarkable individuals got together to solve a problem and improve the quality of life in their communities. It is a truly grassroots story that started as a leadership project hosted by the Bettendorf Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with St. Ambrose University.
The Chamber believes that to build an effective community, one must first build effective leaders. The following people formed a team, and they eventually became the leaders behind ITNQuadCities: Mike McClure of the Quad City Times; John Rushton, Scott County Community Services; Jerry Brundies, Scott County Sheriff's Office; Jerri Leinen Moeller, former CEO of CASI (Center for Active Seniors Inc.); and Tim Thompson of Lamar Inc.
As a group, they spoke with people to determine community needs, and they came up with several possibilities, including housing for the disabled, beautification of parts of the community along interstate ramps, a return of passenger railway from the Quad Cities to Chicago, transportation for seniors, and more.
Meanwhile, an article from the Pew Research Center had been circulating around the State of Iowa, and the Community Services Director, Lori Elam, forwarded it to the group. The subject line was, "an interesting article about rides for seniors." (www.stateline.org)
"As a group, we decided we wanted to take on a meaningful and manageable issue," Rushton said. "We decided to pursue transportation for the Quad Cities area as a whole, and continuing interaction with community leaders solidified our resolve. ITN provided a meaningful resolution as described in the article, which included a link to the ITNAmerica web site."
Jerry Brundies interviewed over 100 seniors and determined that they felt transportation was a need in the community, despite quality fixed route options and the diligent efforts of River Bend Transit, Project Now, and private providers. It was important to the group to confirm that they were not looking to provide an unnecessary duplication of services, and to solidify community support of their efforts and their fundraising.
The group phoned ITNAmerica and set up a conference call so everyone could talk and learn together. Excitement grew and they decided to pursue establishing an ITN affiliate in Quad Cities.
And they got right down to work! They raised money, wrote grants, secured CASI as the sponsoring agency, and solicited corporate sponsors. Katherine Freund, founder and CEO of ITNAmerica, went to the Quad Cities to address a public forum and generate more support and enthusiasm.
Around the same time, the ITNAmerica office in Maine received a phone call from Illinois Lt. Governor Pat Quinn's office. A representative there had read the same article about ITN and expressed interest in starting an affiliate.
Katherine recommended they work together with the group in the Quad Cities, and the first funds to start up the project came from the Lt. Governor's office.
The Lt. Governor's office has since offered funding to other Illinois communities that want to start an ITN affiliate, and also proposed legislation to protect volunteer drivers in the State of Illinois.
Input and direction was provided by a steering committee comprising community members working in the area and representatives of River Bend Transit, Quad City Metro Link, and Bi-State Regional Commission among others.
ITNQuadCities hopes to begin augmenting current transportation options and providing rides in early 2010. The initial service area includes Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline. In time, they plan to serve all of Scott and Rock Island counties.