Grants for Senior Transportation Programs 2026: Funders

How Grants for Senior Transportation Programs Fit a Ride Budget

Under 49 U.S.C. 5310, at least 55% of the funds apportioned to a recipient must go to capital projects that meet the special needs of seniors and people with disabilities where public transportation is insufficient, inappropriate or unavailable. That's the federal program written for your work, and the statute says the recipient may pass that capital money to a private nonprofit organization. According to the Section 5310 program text in the statute, the federal share of a capital project is 80% of net capital costs, and operating help can't top 50% of net operating costs.

So most ride programs build a budget from several layers:

Grantsights' honest view: a foundation grant rarely carries a ride program on its own. The best use of foundation money is to fill the gaps public money won't cover, especially the local match for a 5310 vehicle and the volunteer costs that keep drivers on the road.

Who Gave to Senior Ride Programs: What 990-PF Filings Show

Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 31, 2026 found 90 foundations that made 145 grants to 89 senior transportation recipients, totaling $3,894,277, about $26,900 per grant. According to IRS guidance on Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), private foundations list the grants they paid on that return, so each gift below traces to a public filing.

For example, Senior Ride Nashville received $70,000 from the West End Home Foundation in 2023 and again in 2024, plus $50,000 from the HCA Healthcare Foundation in 2023 and $40,000 in 2024 for operations. One organization in Maine, Neighbors Driving Neighbors in Mount Vernon, drew $10,000 from the John T Gorman Foundation in 2023 and $12,000 in 2024 for general operations, plus $4,000 from the Elsie and William Viles Foundation in 2024 to recruit, onboard and train an executive director and new drivers. That's how a volunteer driver group in a rural county stacks small gifts.

Senior transportation funders by state

Each ride program is counted in its own state, across every cause tag in the October 31, 2026 pull. Those 10 are the only states with 3 or more funders.

Reading the state table

Maine's $858,449 is mostly one national recipient: ITNAmerica in Westbrook drew $250,000 from the NextFifty Initiative in 2023, $150,000 from it in both 2024 and 2025, $150,000 from the Carequest Foundation in 2024 for a study of transportation and health, and $100,000 from the CVS Foundation in 2023. Local Maine groups worked with far smaller gifts. Arkansas isn't in the table, since it had 1 funder, but that funder's $750,000 paratransit pilot is the largest single gift in the data.

Tennessee's lead comes from Nashville and its suburbs. Most of its 10 foundations backed Senior Ride Nashville, Senior Ride Wilson or Wilson Rides, from the Memorial Foundation's $30,000 to Senior Ride Nashville in 2023 down to the Evelyn S. and Jim Horne Hankins Foundation's $5,000 to Wilson Rides in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025 for low cost rides for seniors.

California's 9 funders spread their gifts across the state. Besides the KT Foundation van, the Honda USA Foundation gave the Los Angeles Urban League $100,000 in 2025 to improve transportation access for older adults, the Joseph and Vera Long Foundation gave $30,000 in 2025 for Cloverdale senior transportation and $20,000 to the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, and the June G. Outhwaite Charitable Trust gave Easy Lift Transportation in Goleta $10,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for its dial-a-ride paratransit service.

Why the Health List, Not the Human Services List

Health led the tagged gifts: in the October 31, 2026 pull, 14 foundations put a health tag on their senior transportation grants (19 grants, $451,550), against 4 with a human services tag (10 grants, $318,250). Most gifts, from 77 foundations, carried no cause tag at all. According to our review of the purposes, the health-tagged ones paid for medical rides, mobility management and hospital-run transportation. The Knowlton Foundation for the Elderly gave Gardner Community Action Committee $16,500 in 2023 for medical transportation for the elderly, and Athol Memorial Hospital received $16,000 in 2023 and $18,000 in 2024 from the F S Parmenter trust for free senior transportation.

The 6 state rows above count every health grant on 990-PF returns in Grantsights analysis of filings pulled October 29, 2026, not just ride grants. The free preview on the Grantsights health funder list shows health funders in your state broadly, not ones picked for ride programs, so check each funder's past gifts before you write. A single state's list is $29, every cause for a year is $99, and both come with a 30-day refund window. Programs that mostly drive people to senior centers and meal sites should also read grants for senior services, which covers the aging funders who give under a human services label.

What the Federal Transit Administration Doesn't Tell You About Section 5310

Section 5310 splits its money 60%, 20% and 20%: 60% goes to large urbanized areas of 200,000 or more people, 20% to states for small urbanized areas and 20% to states for rural areas, in each case by the number of seniors and people with disabilities. That's per the statute's subsection (c)(1), and it decides whether your application goes to a big-city transit agency or your state department of transportation.

Here's what the statute says that program summaries often skip:

1. You need to be in the coordinated plan. Under 5310(e)(2), each recipient must certify that the projects it selects are included in a locally developed, coordinated public transit-human services transportation plan. If your program isn't in that plan, you probably won't be funded. The Nord Family Foundation gave the United Way of Greater Lorain County $2,500 in 2023 for a Lorain County coordinated transportation plan for 2024 to 2029, which shows how local groups get into the plan.
2. Local match can come from social service contracts. Section 5310(d)(3) lets the non-federal share come from a service agreement with a state or local social service agency or a private social service organization, or from other federal agencies' transportation-eligible money.
3. Foundations pay match too. The Nord Family Foundation gave P2R Training and Resource Center $5,000 in 2024, filed as an Ohio Department of Transportation 5310 vehicle grant.
4. Meal delivery is allowed. Under 5310(b)(7), a transit provider funded by 5310 may help deliver meals to homebound people if it doesn't reduce service to riders.
5. Admin money is capped. A recipient can use no more than 10% of its apportionment to administer, plan and give technical help.

What most guides don't mention is that a nonprofit never applies to Washington for 5310 money; a state or transit agency runs the local selection. Ask your state or transit agency when its next call for projects opens, what vehicle types it buys, and whether it lets nonprofits use the money for volunteer driver mileage.

The Older Americans Act and Medicaid Routes

The Older Americans Act pays for rides through Title III-B supportive services, and 42 U.S.C. 3030d(a)(2) names transportation services that help older people reach supportive services, nutrition services and area agency services. According to the ACL page on area agencies on aging, an area agency is a public or private nonprofit agency designated by a state to address the needs of older people in a city, a county or a multi-county area. Find yours through the Eldercare Locator (opens in a new tab) or at 1-800-677-1116, and ask how it contracts for rides.

Medicaid is the third route. Under 42 CFR 440.170(a)(4), a state may run a non-emergency medical transportation brokerage program for Medicaid members who need medical care and have no other way to get there, covering wheelchair vans, taxis, stretcher cars, bus passes and other covered transport. A ride program that wants that business usually contracts with the state's broker, not with Medicaid directly.

Costing a Ride Program for a Grant Request

Many programs underestimate what a ride costs once insurance, scheduling and vehicle upkeep are counted. This table is illustrative, not data: costs vary by region, vehicle type and the share of rides given by volunteers.

Small funders back these lines. The Ethel and Raymond F. Rice Foundation gave the Senior Resource Center in Lawrence, Kansas $14,000 in 2023 toward routine maintenance on the 7 vehicles that carry seniors, and the Medallion Foundation gave Volunteer Interfaith Caregivers' Senior Rides and More program in Texas $15,000 in 2024 for 2 laptops and software.

6 Senior Ride Projects Foundations Have Paid For

All 6 of these ride projects trace to a named grant in the Grantsights pull of October 31, 2026.

1. Paratransit vans. The Rasmuson Foundation gave Access Alaska $23,215 in 2023 for a paratransit vehicle for Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough.
2. Volunteer mileage. The SL Moore Charity Foundation gave Heart of Transit in Urbandale, Iowa $5,000 in 2023 to reimburse volunteer drivers' mileage and support the volunteer coordinator.
3. Dial-a-ride in rural areas. The NextFifty Initiative gave Montrose County Senior Transportation in Colorado $40,000 in 2023 for pre-scheduled rides for adults 50 and older.
4. Mobility management. The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation gave the Mid-Ohio Valley Rural Health Alliance in West Virginia $50,900 in 2023 for a mobility management program to coordinate transportation services.
5. Volunteer recruitment. The American Savings Foundation gave Senior Transportation Services in New Britain, Connecticut $10,000 in 2023 and again in 2024 for volunteer recruitment and senior support.
6. County aging office vehicles. The HRBT Foundation gave the Columbia County Office for the Aging in New York $10,000 in 2024 for a senior transportation vehicle.

If your drivers also deliver meals, grants for home-delivered meal programs covers the funders and federal rules behind meal routes.

Common Mistakes in Senior Transportation Grant Requests

These 5 mistakes show up when a ride program writes about cars instead of the people in them.

• Skipping the public money. A red flag for foundations is a budget with no 5310, area agency or county line. Show what you asked for, even if the answer was no.
• Missing the coordinated plan. A common mistake is applying for 5310 without being named in the local coordinated plan. Get in it first.
• Counting miles instead of trips. Report rides given, unique riders, medical appointments reached and wait times, not just odometer miles.
• Underestimating volunteer costs. Mileage, background checks and training add up, and a free driver isn't a free ride.
• Sizing asks blindly. Match your ask to the van or mileage gifts a funder already makes, which how to read a 990-PF helps you find.

A Senior Ride Program's Funding Calendar

This 12-month plan pairs public deadlines with foundation asks. Your state's 5310 call for projects sets the real calendar, so check its date first.

The Grantsights grant database tracks open federal and state notices, including transit and aging programs where a ride program may be a subrecipient.

Related Guides for Senior Ride Programs

These 6 guides cover partners that share your riders or your funders over the next 12 months.

Many ride programs run out of a senior center, and grants for senior centers lists the funders behind those buildings and programs. Riders often head to day programs, and grants for adult day centers covers who funds them. Programs built on volunteers can find recruiting partners through grants for volunteer centers. Rural programs that drive people to clinics should read grants for rural health nonprofits, and programs that carry riders with memory loss will find related funders in grants for dementia care programs. Peer support nonprofits make the same choice of list, and grants for eating disorder support groups explains why they ask health funders too.

FAQ: Common Questions

How many foundations fund senior transportation programs? 90 in Grantsights' search of 990-PF filings pulled October 31, 2026.

Can a nonprofit get Section 5310 money? Yes, usually as a subrecipient through a state or transit agency.

How much match does Section 5310 require? 20% of net capital costs; operating help is capped at 50%.

Does the Older Americans Act pay for senior rides? Yes, through Title III-B supportive services and area agencies on aging.

Why does Grantsights point ride programs to the health list? Health led the tagged gifts, and many rides are medical trips.

What do foundations usually pay for in a senior ride program? Vehicles, volunteer mileage, recruitment and software.

Sources

• GovInfo: 49 U.S.C. 5310, Formula grants for the enhanced mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities (opens in a new tab)
• GovInfo: 42 U.S.C. 3030d, Grants for supportive services (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 42 CFR 440.170, Any other medical care or remedial care (opens in a new tab)
• ACL: Area Agencies on Aging (opens in a new tab)
• ACL: Eldercare Locator (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)