HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

59

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE ON AGING TO COLLABORATE ON PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION TO SENIORS AND TO VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS, AND EXPRESSING THE LEGISLATURE'S SUPPORT FOR FEDERAL LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR ITNAMERICA FOR A FIVE-YEAR NATIONAL ROLL-OUT AND GRANTS.

 

WHEREAS, the Independent Transportation Network is a private, nonprofit community organization in the greater Portland, Maine area that uses passenger automobiles to transport seniors and visually impaired persons; and

WHEREAS, the program operates with a combination of volunteers and paid drivers, and obtains operating funds through memberships in the organization, rider fares, and support from individuals, community businesses, and private foundations; and

WHEREAS, one of the goals of the program is to provide an economically sustainable transportation service to people who can no longer drive safely; and

WHEREAS, in Hawaii, a person can renew a drivers license until the person exhibits a physical condition that the examiner of drivers reasonably believes has impaired the driver's ability to drive, unless the licensee obtains a physician's certificate or corrects the physical impairment; and

WHEREAS, the Independent Transportation Network provides riders with "door-through-door" service, assisting them in getting in and out of vehicles, helping them with their packages, and putting their wheelchairs in the car trunk; and

WHEREAS, volunteers use their own cars to drive people, although the program has its own small fleet of three donated cars driven by paid drivers; and

WHEREAS, drivers also receive a small mileage reimbursement and can build up credits to be used for their own transportation later if they cannot drive; and

WHEREAS, with an example in place in Portland, Maine, a related national nonprofit organization, ITNAmerica, is now planning a national roll-out to replicate the model in other locations and has obtained grants from the Federal Transit Administration and private foundation funding; and

WHEREAS, ITNAmerica is working with groups in Orlando, Florida; Santa Monica, California; Lincoln, Nebraska; the New Jersey Foundation for Aging; and New Jersey state transportation officials; and

WHEREAS, with Hawaii's aging population, an Independent Transportation Network program would be ideal; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Transportation and the Executive Office on Aging are requested to collaborate to formulate and implement a program similar to the Independent Transportation Network to provide transportation to seniors who can no longer drive safely and to visually impaired persons of any age, through a public and private partnership; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii State Legislature expresses its support for federal legislation to provide funding for ITNAmerica for a five-year national roll-out and grants; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Executive Office on Aging report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007 on the progress of establishing a program similar to the Independent Transportation Network to provide an economically sustainable transportation service through a public and private partnership to provide transportation to seniors who can no longer drive safely and to visually impaired persons of any age; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation, Director of the Executive Office on Aging, Governor, Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Minority Leader of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and the Governor.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Independent Transportation Network