Volunteer Transportation Ideas
- A volunteer transportation service can be used as a carpool service during work hours.carpool sign image by robert mobley from Fotolia.com
A volunteer transportation service can serve the elderly by taking them on routine trips. It can help reduce pollution by serving workers who would like to carpool. The service could also be useful to people who need transportation home after drinking in a bar or nightclub. Organize the system so that paid employees and volunteers can run it. Develop rules on who can use the service and market it. - Take elderly people to run errands. Volunteer to take elderly people to the grocery store, bank, shopping or other errands. Enable the elderly to schedule pick-up times at their home.
- Use the Internet and a call-in system. Needy people who are Internet savvy can schedule pick-up times using a scheduling system on the Internet. Elderly people who do not have Internet access can call in requests. Hire staff to take phone calls or use volunteers.
- Advertise the service in churches and to non-profit organizations in the area. Coordinate your services with organizations that help the elderly. Ask users of the service to tell their friends about the free transportation system.
- Adapt specific guidelines for who can use the service and how often. Make sure that potential users of the service are aware of the rules and guidelines. Give users pamphlets with rules, including hours of operation and a phone number or website for scheduling pick-ups.
- Include specific times for routine trips like grocery stores or shopping areas. These trips can run several times a week. Publicize these times. Allow the users adequate time to shop or conduct business at the venues before picking them up. The routine trips should have posted drop-off and pick-up times.
- Widen your market. Your volunteer transportation service can pick up people from bars and clubs on the weekends. You can pick up children who are involved in extracurricular activities after school. You can also offer free carpooling in the mornings and evenings for middle-income workers.
