FAQ

CarPal is a community rideshare service for Sydney Hills Seniors who otherwise face becoming Shut-ins in their own homes as their driving days disappear in the “rear view mirror”.

CarPal arranges for volunteer drivers to detour to pick up a Senior and drop them off along the route of a trip the volunteer was taking anyway. Seniors can take a Ride with a CarPal driver anywhere in the Sydney metropolitan area that our volunteers drive to.

Click here for more information on the concept behind CarPal’s Community Rideshare service for Shut-in Seniors.

CarPal Community Rideshare aims to help Seniors overcome the difficulty they have getting around Sydney when they can no longer drive themselves and recognises that this is something that requires a community-led solution.

CarPal helps Shut-in Seniors to overcome their mobility issues and to thus avoid social isolation and loneliness in their later years. CarPal does this by filling the gaps in current Seniors transportation options, as follows:

• Across town taxi fares are expensive and non-local trips are not generally serviced by Community Transport meaning pensioners can’t afford these;
• Attending an evening event using public transport is not attractive for Seniors because of the walk home from the bus at night;
• Even for local trips existing Community Transport is not designed to react to after hours, weekend, public holiday or short-notice requests;
• The NRMA identified that change was needed in its Discussion Paper on Transport for Ageing Australians but change has been slow since it was identified as a serious problem 10 years ago.

CarPal Community Rideshare believes that older Australians can lead a richer life in the community than out of it!

Wanting to keep in touch is not only for the young:

CarPal is there for Seniors who do not drive and are finding it difficult to use public transport to get around.

They may be uncertain of negotiating steps, or worried about being bitten by the dog in their street as they walk home. Or they may not be able to walk 200 metres to the bus stop.

Also, the lack of a trusted, low cost, flexible and convenient transportation option for the Senior Citizens is the chief reason why many elderly drivers are loathe to hand in their driver’s licence as they age.

With CarPal, many Seniors will put their driving days behind them without having to become a recluse, cut off from their community.

Click here for an aggregated service description of the CarPal Community Rideshare Service.

No, that’s fine.

CarPal Community Rideshare is a detour service. So you conduct your day as you would have done if you weren’t volunteering with CarPal.

Just be aware that our Volunteer Accident Insurance policy only covers the volunteer driver NOT any passengers you may have with you.

And one other point worth noting is to carefully read the details in Ride Requests to check if the Client is requesting to travel with a companion e.g. a carer, friend or family member. If this is the case, you may need to consider whether your available seating or boot space will allow you to provide the Ride.

The CarPal Team

You are exactly the sort of driver we are looking for. Someone who can help provide a ride occasionally but cannot commit to a regular time or journey.

We will provide you with information via email and the CarPal App showing the Seniors who want to go somewhere in Sydney and need a Ride to get there. The information will include their pickup and drop off locations and a preferred pickup time. After that it’s just a matter of you checking your schedule to see if their Ride Request matches with your planned trip … and you commit ONLY when you have the time to detour!

So you make the choice to help when you can. There is no obligation on when or how often you will be able to volunteer a ride.

You will regularly receive the details of Ride Requests (RRs) via email which includes a link to the App from which you can offer a Ride.

When the trip-day arrives you detour from your planned trip and pick up the client at the address given and then drop him or her at the nominated destination. You have no obligation to be available for the return journey unless you also made a separate offer for the return.

After completing each ride, you complete the Ride (in the App) providing feedback on the Ride including if you used the MPS permit. This response doubles as a claim for reimbursement of additional vehicle operating costs.

If you claim reimbursement you will receive a monthly payment into a nominated bank account (up to $5.50 for each trip) for any trips you took that month. It’s as simple as that!

Like all volunteer positions, there is a fair bit of admin and some App training to get through before you make you first offer of a ride to a deserving Sydney Hills Senior. And we understand that you will need time to respond as the process goes along and to fit it in with the other things in your life.

We suggest that you think in terms of 5 or 6 weeks (elapsed time) for the admin component of becoming a volunteer with us.

At the end of the process, you sign up to our CarPal Volunteer Driver Agreement and Code of Behaviour and we’ll explain our volunteers’ insurance cover, provide you with a CarPal ID and permission you for signin to the CarPal App.

Then get used to our Shut-in Seniors‘ smiles when you offer rides to clients whose travel needs around Sydney fit with your own busy life and schedule.

Any driver who fits the following profile can become a volunteer driver with CarPal Community Rideshare:

• NSW C Class driving licence or better;
• Car or SUV registered with Greenslip insurance cover;
• Has access to the internet via a PC or smartphone; and
• Makes occasional trips into or around the Sydney Hills region.

First things first:

1. CarPal Facilitators tell Seniors who are feeling ill to cancel any planned CarPal trips; and
2. CarPal does NOT bookings from sick and injured persons for trips to  hospital;

But what to do, if it happens enroute:

• If a client becomes ill during a trip, pull over safely and render what assistance you can; and
• If you deem a client’s illness enroute to be a matter of extreme urgency, call an ambulance by dialling 000 and wait where you are for it to arrive;

In the aftermath:

• As soon as it is possible and practicable to do so, call CarPal Convenor on 0418 229 616 to advise what happened and where things stand;
• We will provide you with feedback on the Client’s condition when we have this information; and
• If you incur any additional expenses in attending to the situation, CarPal will reimburse your claim for reasonable expenses arising from the incident.

Click here for CarPal’s Volunteer Driver Agreement & Guidelines; and

Click here for Hills Community Aid’s Volunteer Program Registration Form

So you have told your Grandmother (or other Senior) about CarPal Community Rideshare and how it helps Sydney Hills Seniors to get out around Sydney. Now you want help her (or him/her) by taking the hassle out of joining up on her (or his) behalf. After you get GrandMa’s (or other Senior’s) agreement to give it a go, follow the steps below:

1. To start off just subscribe at our home page www.hillscarpal.org.au in your own name and email address;
2. Respond to the message you receive – as though you were a potential client – by clicking the link to become a CarPal client;
3. You will also need to tell us the name of your GrandMa (or Senior friend). You may use the same email address that you used to subscribe or one used by GrandMa (or other Senior). Our response will be directed to the email address you provide; and finally
4. Call us on 02 9639 8620 if you need any further explanation. We are there from 9.30am – 3.00pm, Mon to Fri.

GrandMa can now get to anywhere in Sydney at any time and all for just $8.50 a Ride (plus an Annual Membership fee of $40 invoiced on her first Ride each calendar year).

Her busy social calendar may prevent her from seeing you as often after that!

Yes, but here are some things to consider:

1. Some drivers may not be comfortable taking more than one passenger;
2. On occasion, drivers may have other passengers (including children in safety seats) and, therefore there may not be enough seating for more than one person;
3. Only one pickup and drop-off location will be accepted for your Ride;
4. Boot space may be unavailable for more than one walking frame or set of shopping bags; and
5. You will be held responsible for your companions’ conduct during the Ride.

“OK”, I hear you say. “How do I see if I can arrange it?”

The answer is you just provide some more details when you call to make your initial Ride Request(s) with your volunteer Facilitator. We also suggest that  you make your Ride Request(s) as early as possible.

The extra details needed are:

1. The number of extra passengers;
2. Their names and their relationship to you e.g. friend, carer, son, daughter etc; and
3. Anything other than a handbag they will have with them that might need boot space;

There is only one invoice (for $8.50; $17.00 for a return Ride) issued for the Ride; the same as if you were travelling alone.

The key is to let your Facilitator know when you make the initial Ride Request(s). That way there will be no surprises for you or for the driver who offers your Ride(s).

The CarPal Team

It is better that you worry firstly about yourself and your health.

Let CarPal take care of any issues for us that may arise if you are suddenly unwell. And there is no charge for Rides that are cancelled because of illness.

However, we are not an substitute for the ambulance service and do NOT offer a service of taking sick or injured people to hospital.

If you need an ambulance please call one immediately on 000.

But if you are able, call the driver assigned to your Ride to cancel the Ride. We can always take you where you want to go another day when you are feeling better.

You don’t need a PC, just a phone to call us on.

We provide you with the phone number of one of our volunteer Facilitators who you can call when you need a Ride.

The CarPal Team

You make a phone call to your assigned CarPal Volunteer Facilitator and provide the details of your Ride Request(s). They are then published for CarPal volunteer drivers to see and respond to in the CarPal App.

Your Facilitator will call you to advise if your request will be met by one of our drivers.

If a volunteer driver offers you a Ride, he or she will pick you up (in their car) and drop you at your destination.

You will receive a monthly invoice from CarPal to pay $8.50 ($17.00 for a  return journey) for each Ride you have taken that month. And you will also pay an Annual Membership fee of $40 added to your invoice for your 1st Ride of each calendar year. It’s as simple as that!

To join CarPal Community Rideshare you will need to be a Sydney Hills Senior who holds or receives one of the following:

• A current Pensioner Concession Card (PCC), issued by Services Australia or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA);
• A DVA Gold Card endorsed ‘TPI’ (Totally & Permanently Incapacitated);
• A DVA Gold Card endorsed ‘EDA’ (Extreme Disablement Adjustment);
• A letter or statement/determination from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs stating that the person receives a disability pension of 70% or higher, or an Intermediate or Extreme Disablement Adjustment Pension, or who has been assessed under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 at 50 or more impairment points;
• A DVA Gold Card endorsed ‘War Widow’;
• A DVA Gold Card endorsed ‘War Widower’; or
• Any Services Australia Health or Low Income Card.

In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements for CarPal membership, CarPal clients will also:

• be capable of walking short distances with or without a walking aid;

• have a phone on which a message can be left; and

• make payments for Rides online or over the phone by credit/debit card after receiving an invoice.

Each Ride Request made will need to be entered into the CarPal App by Facilitators so that that volunteer drivers are covered by our Volunteer Accident Insurance policy.

Drivers are required to have a full drivers licence. We do not accept drivers who are on provisional licences.

We issue all drivers with a photo ID and only use a secure App to publish Ride Requests to our volunteers.

We carry out Australian Criminal History Checks (aka as a Police Check) on ALL volunteer drivers before permitting them to drive you.

Click here for an aggregated service description of the CarPal Community Rideshare Service.

The more notice you are able to give, the better your chances of matching the travel patterns of one of the CarPal drivers.

On occasion, CarPal has been able to arrange some Rides on as little as a two (2) hour advance notice but this is not the norm in most cases.

Yes. Except for the first Ride each calendar year that attracts an annual membership fee of $40.

So a return trip will cost $17.00 for all Rides after the 1st Ride each calendar year.

A phone call to CarPal (0418 229 616 or 02 9639 8620) will ensure that you will not be left stranded.

Alternative transport will be arranged by CarPal to get you home safely with as little delay as possible.

Click here for CarPal’s Client Agreement & Ride Guidelines.

It’s really very simple but you will need to focus on the details for each Ride Request that a Senior will call you about. The basics of what is involved are:

1. Take a call from the Senior;
2. Get their Ride details; both outgoing & return;
3. Put these details into the CarPal App;
4. Monitor App responses from CarPal drivers;
5. Call the Senior back with the results, supplying them with driver & pickup details.

So, it is something that can be done from anywhere using a PC or smartphone. BUT, while it will be simple for the volunteer Facilitator it will mean a lot in the lives of Shut-in Seniors.

Click here to see the Volunteer Facilitator Agreement & Guidelines that we ask Facilitators sign; and

Click here for Hills Community Aid’s Volunteer Program Registration Form

There are several options that are available to support CarPal Community Rideshare and Sydney Hills Shut-in Seniors even though driving them is not an option for you right now.

Here are some of them:

1. First, don’t overlook the power of Telling someone you know about us. Tell them what Shut-in Syndrome is and how we are trying to overcome it. Give your contacts and, more particularly your friends, the Facebook (facebook.com/CommunityRideshare4Seniors) and website (www.hillscarpal.org.au) addresses and ask them to check us out;
2. Our volunteer drivers are people who drive in or around The Sydney Hills region and have a Class “C” (or better) drivers’ licence. Maybe you know someone who is in this category. If so, urge them to consider Shut-in Seniors and volunteer their car occasionally by subscribing at www.hillscarpal.org.au;
3. Become a Facebook ambassador for us at CarPal and SHARE our Facebook posts with your Friends…. and ask your Friends to share with their Friends.
4. Maybe, you or your family knows a Senior who can use our service. If so, tell them to ring us on 02 9639 8620 to find out if they qualify;
5. Then there’s our Blog www.hillscarpal.org.au/blog. We publish the stories about the situation facing Shut-in Seniors there. Do you know anyone who is ageing and is being (or has been) challenged to stay connected with the family, friends and community by not being able to drive themselves around Sydney? Without using their real names, tell us their story and we’ll publish it on the Blog. Sharing such stories is a powerful way to get others involved in the cause.
6. Another idea that you might consider, is to tell us about any community organisations or sporting bodies you are associated with, who might be willing to tell their members (via their email mailing lists) about us. Ask such bodies, if they would help spread the word about CarPal Community Rideshare to their membership and tell them we would acknowledge their assistance on our website. Then email us with what you have been able to organise and we’ll take it from there.

Whatever you decide to do, your support is very valuable in highlighting the often hidden problem of Shut-in Syndrome, experienced by so many Seniors. So we ask you to please stay engaged with us by subscribing to our website at www.hillscarpal.org.au, if you haven’t already done so.