Senior transportation services: every option, from free to private

The talk about giving up the car keys gets all the dread. The harder question usually comes a week later: who is taking Dad to the cardiologist on Thursday, and to physical therapy twice a week after that. For most families the answer is a daughter or son. In AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving's Caregiving in the US 2025 study, 79 percent of the country's 63 million family caregivers said they provide transportation.

There are more options than most families find on their own, and most of them cost little or nothing. None of them covers every trip, so the goal is a short list: one or two cheap options for routine trips, and one dependable paid option for the appointments that can't be missed. Here is each option, who it suits, and what it costs, with details for New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The options at a glance

Option	Best for	Cost to your parent
Public transit	Daytime trips along a bus or train line	Half fare or less in NJ at 62; free on SEPTA and LANTA buses at 65
County senior transportation	Appointments, shopping, the senior center	Free or low cost; varies by county
Volunteer drivers	Regular trips where the driver can wait	Free, a donation, or a modest fee
ADA paratransit	Riders whose disability keeps them off the bus	No more than twice the full bus fare
Medicaid rides	Medical appointments for Medicaid members	Free
Medicare Advantage rides	Medical trips, if the plan includes them	Free, up to the plan's limit
Rideshare	Short-notice, evening and weekend trips	The fare, plus fees if booked through a phone service
Private door-through-door driver	Long appointments and hospital discharges	Set by the company; ask for a quote
A caregiver who drives	Trips where help is needed before, during and after	The agency's hourly rate

Public transit at the senior fare

Families often overlook the bus, and it's cheaper than many people realize. NJ TRANSIT's Reduced Fare Program lets riders 62 and older travel at half the regular one-way fare or less, at any time, on every bus, train and light rail line. A Medicare card, driver's license or other government ID with a birth date works as proof of age.

Pennsylvania goes further, paid for by the state lottery. Riders 65 and older with a SEPTA Senior Fare card ride free on SEPTA buses, trolleys and Metro, and on Regional Rail between stations in Pennsylvania. In the Lehigh Valley, LANTA buses are free at 65 with a Pennsylvania senior transit ID.

Cost is rarely what stops someone. A parent who hasn't ridden a bus in decades may not know the routes or how to pay, and some counties and local transportation management associations offer travel training, in which a guide rides the route with your parent until it feels familiar. Transit works best for daytime trips by someone who can walk a few blocks, climb onto the bus and wait at the stop. It stops working when the walk to the stop is icy, the destination is off the route, or the groceries are too heavy to carry home.

County senior transportation

Every New Jersey county runs its own transportation program for older residents and people with disabilities, usually starting at age 60: Middlesex County RIDE, Ride in Monmouth (formerly SCAT), Ocean Ride and Union County Paratransit, among others. Rides are shared, booked a day or more ahead, and free or low cost. Some give priority to dialysis and chemotherapy trips, and many also go to the grocery store or the senior center. When a shared ride doesn't fit the day, our caregivers can drive your loved one to appointments and errands and stay with them until it's time to head home.

In Pennsylvania, the state's Shared-Ride Program lets anyone 65 and older ride the county's shared-ride service for 15 percent of the fare, with the lottery paying the other 85 percent. Rides are usually booked by the day before. In Lehigh and Northampton counties, the service is LANtaVan. In Florida, each county has a Community Transportation Coordinator who arranges rides for people who can't drive because of age, income or disability.

Volunteer driver programs

Volunteer drivers, often retirees using their own cars, take older adults to appointments and errands. Many walk your parent to and from the door, and some wait through the appointment. They're run by county aging offices, churches, transportation management associations and independent nonprofits. In New Jersey that includes the Greater Mercer TMA's RideProvide, which serves Mercer County and Plainsboro. In the Lehigh Valley, ITNLehighValley gives arm-through-arm, door-through-door rides to adults 60 and older in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and surrounding towns.

The trip is unhurried, and the driver has time to help. That suits a monthly cardiology visit that runs long. The limits are just as real: coverage is uneven from one town to the next, many programs have waiting lists or limited hours, and few can take a wheelchair that doesn't fold. To find what exists near your parent, call the Eldercare Locator at (800) 677-1116, or search ITNAmerica's Rides in Sight directory by ZIP code.

ADA paratransit

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, every transit agency that runs fixed-route buses must also run paratransit for people whose disability keeps them from using the bus. In New Jersey it's NJ TRANSIT Access Link; in the Lehigh Valley it's LANtaVan. The federal rules are the same everywhere. Paratransit serves trips that start and end within three-quarters of a mile of a bus route, runs the same hours as the buses, and may charge no more than twice the full bus fare. Your parent can book the day before, and the agency can't require a pickup more than an hour from the time they asked for.

Eligibility is the hurdle. Your parent applies to the transit agency, often with a form completed by a doctor and sometimes an in-person assessment. The agency must decide within 21 days of a complete application, or treat your parent as eligible until it does. Apply before you need it; a hospital discharge is a bad week to start.

Rides are shared, so a 15-minute errand can take an hour on the van, and the driver doesn't come inside the house. Paratransit suits a parent who can get to the curb and manage the appointment once there.

Medicaid rides to medical care

Medicaid is required by federal rule to make sure members can get to covered medical care when they have no other way to get there. The rides are free. In New Jersey, the state's broker, Modivcare, books them for NJ FamilyCare members at (866) 527-9933. Call at least two business days before the appointment, with the Medicaid ID, the appointment time, and the provider's name and address. In Pennsylvania, the Medical Assistance Transportation Program is run county by county.

Medicaid rides cover medical trips only: doctor visits, dialysis, therapy and tests, but not the grocery store or church. And don't assume the doctor's office will book them. A family member or care manager usually has to schedule every trip. People enrolled in PACE, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, get transportation as part of the program.

Medicare and Medicare Advantage rides

Original Medicare doesn't pay for routine rides to appointments. It covers ambulance transportation when any other vehicle could endanger your parent's health, and in some cases scheduled non-emergency ambulance trips with a doctor's written order. Medigap policies don't add rides.

Medicare Advantage plans can offer rides to medical appointments as an extra benefit, usually a set number of one-way trips a year through an approved ride company. Fewer plans do than a year ago. In KFF's analysis of 2026 plans, 22 percent of people in individual Medicare Advantage plans had a transportation benefit, down from 28 percent in 2025. Special Needs Plans, including plans for people with both Medicare and Medicaid, were far more likely to include rides: 73 percent of their members had the benefit, down from 80 percent.

If your parent relies on plan rides, read the transportation section of the Annual Notice of Change, which plans send by September 30. Open Enrollment, when your parent can switch plans for the next year, runs October 15 to December 7.

Rideshare for older riders

Uber and Lyft both have versions built for older riders. Uber's senior accounts link to a family member's account, so you can book rides for your parent and follow the trip, and Uber's Simple mode gives anyone larger text and fewer buttons. Lyft Silver uses larger type and matches older riders with cars that are easier to get into. For a parent without a smartphone, GoGoGrandparent takes ride requests by phone call or text and books an Uber or Lyft, for a monthly membership plus a per-minute fee on each ride. In parts of New Jersey, EZ Ride's Ryde4Life program books Uber and Lyft rides for older adults, with many trips paid for or discounted by a county, town or senior center.

Rideshare is good for short-notice trips, evenings, weekends, and places the bus doesn't go. It's a poor fit for a parent who needs help getting to the car, uses a wheelchair that doesn't fold, or might get confused at the pickup spot. The driver stays at the curb, and nobody goes inside with your parent.

Private door-through-door drivers

Most of the options above end at the curb. A private door-through-door service comes to the front door, helps your parent to the car, drives, walks them into the appointment and, if you pay for it, waits. Some companies run wheelchair vans that can secure a power chair. Prices vary by company, distance and waiting time, so ask for a quote that includes the wait.

This is the option for trips that can't go wrong: a surgical consult, an infusion that runs long, a ride home from the hospital. Paratransit won't wait, rideshare drivers won't come inside, and Medicaid rides need two business days' notice. Find one company you trust before the first emergency, and keep the number in your phone.

A caregiver who drives

A home care aide can help with everything on either side of the drive. Our caregivers take clients to appointments, the pharmacy, the grocery store and the hairdresser. The caregiver helps your parent get ready, drives, sits with them in the waiting room, listens to what the doctor says, picks up the new prescription, and helps them settle at home. If the same caregiver goes every time, they learn which entrance has the elevator and what makes your parent nervous.

Home care is booked by the hour, usually in shifts of four hours or more. A typical range for a caregiver is $32 to $55 per hour, depending on where you live. Ask any agency whose car is used and how mileage is billed. For a parent who also needs help at home, the appointments can become part of a weekly hourly care visit rather than a separate cost. That might be companion care for someone who mostly needs company and errands, or personal care when bathing and dressing are hard too. A registered nurse writes every client's care plan, and appointments and errands go into it like any other part of the week.

How to build the plan

1. Make one call to find what's local. Call the county office on aging or the Eldercare Locator at (800) 677-1116. Ask about the county's senior transportation program, volunteer drivers, and travel training. Write down names and numbers.
2. Check your parent's coverage. If they have Medicaid, save the transportation broker's number. If they have a Medicare Advantage plan, find the transportation section of the plan's Evidence of Coverage and note how many rides it allows and how far ahead to book.
3. Apply before you need it. Paratransit and county programs take time to approve. Apply now, while nothing is urgent.
4. Set up rideshare on a calm day. Create the Uber senior account or GoGoGrandparent membership with your parent, and take one practice ride together.
5. Keep one paid option for the trips that matter. A private driver or a caregiver for surgery consults, infusions and hospital discharges.
6. Match each trip to the right option. Paratransit or the county van for routine therapy, a volunteer driver for the monthly specialist, family or rideshare for visits with friends, and the paid option when your parent needs help from door to door.

Keep the trips that aren't appointments

Most of this guide is about getting to the doctor, but the trips that keep a life going matter as much. A review for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that stopping driving nearly doubled older adults' risk of worsening depression, and a six-year study in the Journal of Aging and Health found that social isolation rose when older adults stopped driving. Put lunch with a friend, church, the hairdresser and the grandchild's school play into the plan alongside the appointments.

If getting your parent to appointments has started to fill your week, talk with us about a caregiver who can take some of the trips. We have offices across New Jersey, the Lehigh Valley and Florida.