AARP Hearing Center
An EZ Ryde4Life dispatcher (top left) and a passenger approaches her ride (above right)
Images courtesy Lifelong Montclair and EZ Ryde4Life
The Challenge: “A person can live in a great city, great town, beautiful place, but if they don't have transportation to get anywhere, they’re stuck.”
That comment cromes from Judy Hurley, director of Senior Services/Lifelong Montclair, an aging-in-place initiative housed in the township’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Montclair joined the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities in 2016. A New York City suburb, the community is served by New Jersey Transit trains and buses. But within the town itself, there is no public transit.
Lifelong Montclair set out to fill that gap with a free, on-demand, door-to-door ride-hailing program.
The Response: EZ Ryde4Life is a New Jersey-based discount ride program that enables older adults and people with disabilities to schedule a ride and do so in real time rather than requiring an advanced reservation.
Essex County and the Lifelong Montclair initiative contracted with EZRide4Life in 2022. Qualifying residents receive 20 free Uber or Lyft rides a month anywhere in the township. In a game changing enhancement for many residents, the boundary extends to the county for medical appointments or rides to work
Jerry, 62, says that before EZRide4Life, he couldn’t afford transportation to his doctor. He credits being able to get to his needed doctor visits as the reason he's been able to get off of diabetes medication.
April, 67, uses the program to commute to her job at a childcare center.
Through August 2025, EZ Ryde4Life provided more than 30,000 free rides, with more than 1,000 seniors using the service. “As an age-friendly community, we have a commitment to provide transportation services for seniors,” says Hurley, who intends to age-in-place in Montclair herself.
Lessons Learned and Advice
To address transportation needs, Judy Hurley, director of Senior Services/Lifelong Montclair, advises that communities:
Develop Partnerships: “The county was providing transportation services already. By taking the program in house and administering the intake process, we saved them money in personnel costs.
Allocate the Funding: Montclair spends $175,000 a year providing older residents with up to 20 free rides per month.
Stay Flexible: Piloting a program enables organizers to evaluate and improve it. Once fully implemented, the program will continue to evolve.
Document the Data: “We learned a lot from our data,” says Hurley. “We were able to find lots of important information to help us make better decisions. For example, we were able to reduce fraud by now requiring proof of residency.”
Reporting by Amy Lennard Goehner | Page October 2025
