Who can ride?
Each program decides its own policies around who is eligible to ride and who can volunteer. While many programs focus on providing rides for older adults, some serve other populations, such as veterans or clinic patients.
Find a ride with a volunteer driver
To find a volunteer driver program near you, try these steps:
- Search Ride Match for transportation options, including volunteer driver programs
- Contact your local Council on Aging to see if they offer a volunteer driver program
- Contact MassOptions to connect with your region's Aging Service Access Point to see if they offer a volunteer driver program
- Some Villages offer transportation as one of the volunteer services they provide
- Explore whether local community-based organizations in your area offer volunteer driver programs
Start a volunteer driver program
Example programs
Local Volunteer Driver Programs
Many Councils on Aging (COAs) offer volunteer driver programs. For example, the Millbury Council on Aging runs a transportation program that takes seniors and individuals with disabilities anywhere in Millbury or surrounding towns. Contact your COA to learn if your city or town operates a volunteer driver program.
Regional Volunteer Driver Programs
Some regional organizations also operate volunteer driver programs. Here are some examples from around Massachusetts.
Volunteers provide rides to medical appointments and other wellness-related destinations in Berkshire County.
Volunteers provide door-through-door, assisted medical transportation to LifePath consumers. Consumers can also request a volunteer to accompany them on public transit.
Rides for older adults in Franklin County to travel to out-of-county medical appointments.
Hosted by Mystic Valley Elder Services, TRIP is a program where people ride with a friend or neighbor who drives them where they need to go.
Northern Essex Elder Transport (NEET)
NEET is an aging services provider offering transportation for seniors through the generosity of volunteer drivers and the collaboration of 13 local Councils on Aging in Essex County.
SeniorCare Inc. Volunteer Medical Transportation Program
RSVP Volunteers provide local and long distance medical transportation to self-mobile individuals age 60+. This door-to-door service is available to residents of Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield, and Wenham.
Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC)
OCPC runs a volunteer driver program through their Area Agency on Aging. Any Council on Aging in the region can opt in. Participating Councils on Aging handle volunteer recruitment and scheduling, while OCPC handles reimbursement. Based in Brockton.
RSVP Rides for Veterans, Norfolk County Commissioners’ Office
Volunteers provide free rides for Norfolk County residents who are veterans to medical appointments and other important destinations, using the volunteers’ own vehicles.
This all-volunteer Village - serving the Cape Cod towns of Brewster, Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, Orleans, and Wellfleet - offers a range of services to help older Cape Cod residents stay in their homes. Enrolled members can request volunteer-provided services including transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping, exercise, and other purposes.
Statewide/National Programs
American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery - service was suspended and is gradually resuming operations
The Road to Recovery Program operates statewide and matches cancer patients with drivers to take them to their cancer-related appointments. The program is not meant to fulfill every transportation need that cancer patients might have, but is meant to supplement what their family and friends can provide. If the program receives a request it cannot fill, staff members try to connect the patient with other transportation providers.