CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions, My Freedom Transportation Program
CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions is an Area Agency on Aging (AAA) serving eight counties in Central Indiana. It receives the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA’s) Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Formula Program (Section 5310) funding to support ADA accessible vehicle purchases for its Way2Go senior transportation services within Marion County to medical appointments, pharmacy runs or grocery shopping. Way2go also operates a low-cost, cross-county transportation option called My Freedom for older adults and people with any disability in Central Indiana.
CICOA partners with the Central Indiana Regional Transit Authority (CIRTA) and uses a combination of FTA’s Urbanized Area Formula Program (Section 5307), Older Americans Act (OAA) Title IIIB and CIRTA Public Mass Transit Funding (PMTF) to support the program. Section 5307 funds can be used for specialized transportation by urban areas with more than 50,000 residents. My Freedom ensures older adults and people with disabilities have dependable cross-county transportation for such needs as medical appointments and dialysis, pharmacy trips and socialization. CICOA partners with the local cab company, zTrip, to provide the transportation service. One staff position within CICOA manages program operations along with other responsibilities. Without this program, riders would be required to change providers at each county line, which is inefficient for transportation providers and inconvenient for riders.
What makes this innovative?
My Freedom provides cross-county trips for older adults and individuals of any age with any disability. No other program in Central Indiana offers this service. The program is low-cost and, thanks to its partnerships with CIRTA and zTrip, provides cross-county rides 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This service is designed to be flexible and responsive to riders’ needs. For example, one rider’s work shift ends at 3:15 a.m. My Freedom ensures he can get to and from his job at any time.
A key innovation is the program’s use of Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) funds to meet the Section 5307 match requirement, which blends human services funding with transit dollars in a way that is both permissible and replicable.
Current funding allows this program to be offered at a discounted rate. Riders pay only 25 percent of the total roundtrip cost, while the remaining 75 percent is paid by the program. This discounted low-cost program helps make frequent trips more affordable for those with limited incomes.
In 2024, My Freedom provided 1,283 trips to 103 different clients within an eight-county area. Offering various trip purposes from medical appointments to social activities, the provider accommodates both ambulatory and nonambulatory riders.
Funding for this innovation is supported by FTA’s Section 5307 funds. Matching funds and additional support for the program are provided by OAA Title IIIB, CIRTA’s PMTF and SSBG.
Lessons Learned and Replication Advice:
› Identify matching funds. Putting together multiple funding sources, including an SSBG, is key to covering costs and providing match to federal funding. CICOA also asks riders to cover 25 percent of the ride cost.
› Partner with a local cab company to expand transportation options, hours of service the service area, including across county lines.
› Dedicate staff time to manage the program and conduct outreach to raise awareness in the community.