Katherine Freund | |
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Born | Katherine Freund May 5, 1950 |
Alma mater | University at Buffalo (B.A.) University of Southern Maine (M.A.) |
Occupation | President of ITNAmerica |
Children | 2 |
Website | Official website |
Katherine Freund (born May 5, 1950) is an American activist for community based non-profit transportation for older adults and people with special needs. She founded the Independent Transportation Network (ITN) in 1995, which in 2005 grew into ITNAmerica, which leads a national network for sustainable community-based transportation grounded in policy, research, education and technology. ITNAmerica promotes lifelong mobility for seniors.
Freund was born on Mitchel Field Air Force Base, Long Island, New York. She attended Levittown Memorial High School and completed her degree in English Literature at The State University of New York at Buffalo in 1972. She studied English literature at the University of Washington from 1972-1974. After working in horticulture and free-lance journalism, hosting gardening programs on Television and radio show, she received a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.
In 1988 Freund's three-year-old son, Ryan, was run over by an 84-year-old driver who claimed to have mistaken him for a dog. Ryan survived a traumatic brain injury from the accident and he ultimately made a full recovery from his injuries. Freund drew inspiration from the incident to seek alternative means of transportation for older adults who limit or stop driving because of age related changes. The ITN model operates on a system of rides in private automobiles, with the comfort, independence and dignity riders experienced when they drove their own cars. Freund later added services for people with special transportation needs. She chaired the Task Force to Study the Safe Mobility of Maine's Aging Population, created by the Maine Legislature in 1993. In 1995 she founded the Independent Transportation Network (ITN), initially funded by AARP, the Federal Transit Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Transportation Research Board and numerous private philanthropies.
In 2005 Freund was appointed by former President George W. Bush to the Advisory Committee for the White House Conference on Aging. At the same time, with a business planning grant from the Federal Transit Administration and the Atlantic Philanthropies, Freund founded ITNAmerica . The following year, the Atlantic Philanthropies helped fund the creation of a nationwide ITNAmerica transportation network. Freund served for twelve years on the Transportation Research Board's Committee on the Safe Mobility of Seniors, and Chaired the Joint Subcommittee on Transportation Options for Seniors.
Freund created ITNAmerica with a goal to focus on research, policy, and education to improve the safety and mobility of older people.
As a recognized expert in the field of transportation for older adults, Katherine Freund has spent three decades offering her services as a public speaker to educate the public on the problems associated with senior transportation and mobility. Katherine is a 2012 Askoka 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. In 2013, Katherine testified about ITNAmerica and sustainable senior transportation before the US Senate Special Committee on Aging. She has received the AARP 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 adults and people with special transportation needs. She has spoken in Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, England, Switzerland, South Korea, Taiwan, India and the United Arab Emirates. Her speaking engagements are a key part of ITN’s educational efforts.
Freund lives in Portland, Maine. She has one daughter, one son, and three grandchildren.
Freund has conducted 14 National Transit Institute Workshops, and participated in more than 150 national and international panels, conference sessions, and speaking engagements on alternative transportation for seniors. Among other places, she has presented on her organization's work in Australia, Canada, Ireland, England, Germany, Switzerland, South Korea and Taiwan.
Bicycle-friendly policies and practices help some people feel more comfortable about traveling by bicycle with other traffic. The level of bicycle-friendliness of an environment can be influenced by many factors including town planning and cycling infrastructure decisions. A stigma towards people who ride bicycles and fear of cycling is a social construct that needs to be fully understood when promoting a bicycle friendly culture.
AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., said it had more than 38 million members as of 2018. The magazine and bulletin it sends to its members are the two largest-circulation publications in the United States.
Sustainable transport refers to ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; the source of energy; and the infrastructure used to accommodate the transport. Transport operations and logistics as well as transit-oriented development are also involved in evaluation. Transportation sustainability is largely being measured by transportation system effectiveness and efficiency as well as the environmental and climate impacts of the system. Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment, accounting for between 20% and 25% of world energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The majority of the emissions, almost 97%, came from direct burning of fossil fuels. In 2019, about 95% of the fuel came from fossil sources. The main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union is transportation. In 2019 it contributes to about 31% of global emissions and 24% of emissions in the EU. In addition, up to the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions have only increased in this one sector. Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing at a faster rate than any other energy using sector. Road transport is also a major contributor to local air pollution and smog.
In economics, the life-cycle hypothesis (LCH) is a model that strives to explain the consumption patterns of individuals.
A motorized scooter is a stand-up scooter powered by either a small internal combustion engine or electric hub motor in its front and/or rear wheel. Classified as a form of micromobility, they are generally designed with a large center deck on which the rider stands. The first motorized scooter was manufactured by Autoped in 1915.
The Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization and nonpartisan organization of retired trade union members affiliated with the AFL-CIO, which founded it in 2001. The group's membership also includes non-union, community-based activists. Its predecessor organization was known as the National Council of Senior Citizens (NCSC).
William H. Thomas, also known as Bill Thomas, is an American author, performer and authority on geriatric medicine and eldercare from New York State. In 2014, Thomas organized a 25-city "non-fiction" theatrical tour to launch his book and to promote the documentary film Alive Inside. He is the founder of The Eden Alternative, a philosophy and program that de-institutionalized nursing homes in all 50 states and worldwide over the past 20 years. A self-described “Nursing Home Abolitionist,” he is also creator of Green House Project, a long-term care approach where nursing homes are torn down and replaced with small, home-like environments. In 2005, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced a five-year $10 million grant that would result in the creation of Green House projects in all fifty states. As a professor at The Erickson School at UMBC, Thomas led development of the nation's first emergency department designed for older adults.
Concord Coach Lines, Inc., formerly known as Concord Trailways, and often referred to as Concord Coach, is an inter-city bus company based in Concord, New Hampshire. It serves parts of Maine, New Hampshire and eastern Massachusetts, and has a route to New York City.
Katherine "Kate" L. O'Brien is a Canadian American pediatric infectious disease physician, epidemiologist, and vaccinologist who specializes in the areas of pneumococcal epidemiology, pneumococcal vaccine trials and impact studies, and surveillance for pneumococcal disease. She is also known as an expert in infectious diseases in American Indian populations. O’Brien is currently the Director of the World Health Organization's Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals.
Shared transport or shared mobility is a transportation system where travelers share a vehicle either simultaneously as a group or over time as personal rental, and in the process share the cost of the journey, thus purportedly creating a hybrid between private vehicle use and mass or public transport. It is a transportation strategy that allows users to access transportation services on an as-needed basis. Shared mobility is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of transportation modes including carsharing, Bicycle-sharing systems, ridesharing companies, carpools, and microtransit.
The correlation between old age and driving has been a notable topic for many years. In 2018, there were over 45 million licensed drivers in the United States over the age of 65—a 60% increase from 2000. Driving is said to help older adults stay mobile and independent, but as their age increases the risk of potentially injuring themselves or others significantly increases as well. In 2019, drivers 65 years and older accounted for 8,760 motor vehicle traffic deaths, and 205,691 non-fatal accidents. Due to their physical frailty, older drivers are more likely to be injured in an accident and more likely to die of that injury. When frailty is accounted for and older drivers are compared to younger persons driving the same amount the over-representation disappears. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a senior citizen is more likely than a younger driver to be at fault in an accident in which they are involved. The most common violations include: failure to obey traffic signals, unsafe turns and passing, and failure to yield.
The Fall Prevention Center of Excellence (FPCE) is a source of fall prevention information for older adults, families, caregivers, professionals, service providers, researchers, and policymakers. FPCE's aim is to provide leadership, create new knowledge, improve practices, and develop fall prevention programs.
A reduced fare program refers to special programs providing particular passengers with a discounted fare option for travel on a public transport system. In the United States, public transportation systems that receive federal funding are required to offer, at minimum, half fares to the elderly and handicapped persons during off peak travel. Some transportation systems also extend reduced fare options to youth, students, military personnel, and low-income passengers.
The Independent Transportation Network of America (ITNAmerica) is a nonprofit transportation network for seniors and people with visual impairments in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Katherine Freund, the organization's current President.
Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a type of service that enables users to plan, book, and pay for multiple types of mobility services through a combined platform. Transportation services from public and private transportation providers are combined through a unified gateway, usually via an app or website, that creates and manages the trip and payments, including subscriptions, with a single account. The key concept behind MaaS is to offer travelers flexible mobility solutions based on their travel needs, thus "mobility as a service" also refers to the broader concept of a shift away from personally-owned modes of transportation and towards mobility provided as a service.
Katherine L. Ogilvie Musgrave was an American academic, registered dietitian, and nutritional consultant. She taught food science and nutrition at the University of Maine from 1969 to 1986, and after her official retirement continued teaching for close to three decades on the university's online continuing education website, educating thousands of students. During this time she also worked as a dietitian for three Bangor physicians, conducted nutrition workshops and corporate wellness programs across the state, and appeared on a weekly radio show speaking about healthy living.
A scooter-sharing system is a shared transport service in which electric motorized scooters are made available to use for short-term rentals. E-scooters are typically "dockless", meaning that they do not have a fixed home location and are dropped off and picked up from certain locations in the service area.
Transport divide refers to unequal access to transportation. It can result in the social exclusion of disadvantaged groups.
Stephanie Pollack is an American government official who served as the deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Pollack also served as acting administrator pending Senate confirmation of administrator nominee Shailen Bhatt. From 2015 to 2021 Pollack served as the secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Pollack previously worked for the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), the Greater Boston Institute, BlueWave Strategies, and Northeastern University before starting her position at MassDOT. Pollack was the first female secretary of transportation in Massachusetts.
Autonomous mobility on demand (AMoD) is a service consisting of a fleet of autonomous vehicles used for one-way passenger mobility. An AMoD fleet operates in a specific and limited environment, such as a city or a rural area.