Media

A Trusted Voice in Community-Based Transportation

ITNAmerica is a national leader in transportation solutions for older adults and people with mobility challenges. Our work is regularly featured in local and national media outlets. ITNAmerica welcomes inquiries from reporters, editors, producers, and other media professionals seeking data, insights, or background on this important topic.

Media Inquiries
To request information or connect with ITNAmerica’s staff and leadership, please contact us here or call:
Tel: (207) 857-9001

A member of our team will respond promptly and can help coordinate to meet your needs.

Recent Activity

Expert Commentary

ITNAmerica’s leadership is available to provide insight on topics related to transportation and older adults.

Katherine Freund – ITNAmerica Founder and President

Katherine Freund is the founder and President of Independent Transportation Network of America. Katherine has a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy from the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She Chaired the Task Force to Study the Safe Mobility of Maine’s Aging Population, served on the Advisory Committee for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging and as a National Transit Institute Fellow. She currently serves on the Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committee on Mobility of Older Persons and Individuals with Disabilities and served for twelve years on TRB’s Committee on the Safe Mobility of Seniors where she Co-chaired the Joint Subcommittee on Transportation Options for Seniors. In 2013, Katherine testified about ITNAmerica and sustainable senior transportation before the US Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Katherine is a 2012 Ashoka Fellow. She was featured in the Wall Street Journal as one of the “12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement,” and on CNN’s “Breakthrough Women” series. She has received AARP’s Inspire Award, the Maxwell Pollack Award from the Gerontological Society of America, and the Social Enterprise Alliance award for Leadership in Innovative Enterprise Ideas. Katherine is also the recipient of the Access Award from the American Foundation for the Blind, the Archstone Award for Excellence in Program Innovation from the American Public Health Association, and the Giraffe Award for sticking her neck out for the common good.

Katherine has participated in more than 150 national and international panels and conference sessions on alternative transportation for older people. Katherine has been an invited speaker in Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, England, Switzerland, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, India and Taiwan. She lives in Portland, Maine, and has two adult children and three grandchildren.

Honors and Awards

2018 Senate Resolution 491 Honored ITNAmerica for delivering 1,000,000 rides
2016 Access Award, American Foundation for the Blind
2012 Ashoka Fellowship
2011 CNN Breakthrough Women
2009 AARP Inspire Award Honoree
2006 Maxwell Pollack Award, Gerontological Society of America
2006 Social Enterprise Alliance Award for Leadership in Innovative Enterprise Ideas
2005 Excellence Award, Northeast Transportation Safety Conference
2004 Archstone Award for Excellence in Program Innovation, Gerontological Health Section, American Public Health Association
2004 Geriatric Best Practices, South Carolina Hospital Association and the Duke Endowment
2000-2002 Fellow, National Transit Institute, Rutgers University
1998 Giraffe Project Award, Sticking Your Neck Out for the Common Good
1996 Nationwide Insurance, On Your Side Highway Safety Award
1992 Greater Portland Landmarks Award for Citizen Activism in Historic Preservation

Select Publications

“Driving Self-Regulation and Ride Service Utilization in a Multi-Community, Multi-State Sample of U.S. Older Adults” Traffic Injury Prevention, April 2017. Bird DC. Freund K. Fortinsky RH. Staplin L. West BA. Bergen G.

“How do older adults transition to driving cessation? Characteristics of transition stages defined by latent class analysis” Journal of Safety Research 2017. Bergen G. West BA. Luo F. Bird DC. Freund K. Fortinsky RH. Staplin L.

“Getting from Here to There: Maine’s Elder Transportation Challenge” Maine Policy Review, Freund, Summer/Fall, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2015.

“Policy Prescriptions to Preserve Mobility for Seniors—A Dose of Realism” Accident Analysis and Prevention, Staplin and Freund, December 2013.

“Aging, Mobility and the Model T: Approaches to Smart Community Transportation” Generations, 34(3): 76-81. Freund and Vine, Fall 2010.

“Dignified Transportation for Seniors” CCQ Capital Commons Quarterly, pp.13-16, July 2008.

“Public and Private Policy Initiatives to Move Seniors Forward” Public Policy and Aging Report, pp.1-5, Staplin and Freund, Spring 2005.

“Mobility and Older People” Generations, Journal of the American Society on Aging, pp. 68-69, Summer 2003.

“Independent Transportation Network®: The Next Best Thing to Driving” Generations, Journal of the American Society on Aging, pp. 70-71, Summer 2003.

“Surviving Without Driving: Policy Options for Safe and Sustainable Transportation for Seniors” Transportation in an Aging Society: A Decade of Experience, Transportation Research Board, pp.114-121, 2004.

“Transportation on the Horizon” Mobility and Transportation in the Elderly, pp.145-155. Schaie, Pietrucha, ed., Societal Impact on Aging, Springer Series, 2000.

“Independent Transportation Network®, Alternative Transportation for the Elderly” TR News, pp. 3 –12, Jan/Feb 2000.

“Transportation Solutions on Horizon” Aging Today, p.10, January/February 1998.

“Build it and They Will Come” Transportation, pp.12-15, September/October 1998.

“How to Deal with Aging Drivers” Eye on Washington, Maine Sunday Telegram, p.1, Section C, August 2, 1998.

In addition to 14 National Transit Institute Workshops, Katherine has participated in more than 150 national and international panels, conference sessions, and speaking engagements on alternative transportation for seniors.