Giving Compass' Take:

• Next Avenue reports on a program in Arizona that gives older adults in rural areas access to free van rides via a technology-based platform developed by the community.

• Nonprofits engaged in the health space (especially those focused on older adults) should look into how innovations across the country like this one are trying to reduce isolation among elderly people living in remote places.

• Read about new ideas in geo-spatial demography could help the older population.

If you’re 60 or older, need a ride and happen to live in the small sunbelt town of Wickenburg, Ariz., you can call the Freedom Express. A van driven by an older adult volunteer will pick you up, for, what the name implies, free.

The town of about 6,000, 60 miles outside Phoenix, has what many rural areas don’t — affordable transportation for older adults. The idea was born at a town hall meeting where Charles Petersen, a program director and manager at the Foundation for Senior Living, asked people what they needed most. The resounding reply: transportation.

“A high proportion of our seniors live alone,” he said, at a recent conference at the University of California-Berkeley called Beyond Here and There: Transforming Mobility in Rural America Through New Technology. “There is isolation, which is worse than smoking.”

Petersen consulted with community groups, town officials and the Salvation Army, which had been raising money for his organization, and cobbled together a service that costs $91,000 a year to operate. In three years, it has provided 21,000 rides.

It is one of a number of innovations aimed at helping older adults in rural America maintain their health. Some are using available technology for ride hailing, car sharing, recruiting volunteers and educating riders. Others are hoping to harness new technology that will allow older motorists to drive safely for more years or will guide drones and driverless vehicles.

Read the full article about making transportation easier for older adults by Katherine Seligman at Next Avenue.