BIG CABIN, Okla. , October 23, 2017 (Veterans' Ride Connect) — What began as a mission to provide safe and reliable transportation to enhance the quality of life of the more than 118,000 veterans living in northeast Oklahoma has now become a ground-breaking agency that is realizing that goal on a daily basis.
Veterans' Ride Connect is a cooperative agency of transit providers working together to get veterans where they need to go. The consortium provides services throughout more than 25 counties, including Adair, Cherokee, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Haskell, Hughes, Kay, Latimer, Le Flore, Mayes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Nowata, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pittsburg, Rogers, part of Seminole, Sequoyah, Tulsa, Wagoner and Washington.
The Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative (VTCLI), a program of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, awards grants to local transportation providers and other groups so they can better coordinate and deliver important transit information through "one-call" or "one-click" centers.
The Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) was awarded two consecutive VTCLI grants to create a 25-county one-call center coordinating transportation in and around the Tulsa and Muskogee Veterans Administration medical clinics, incorporating urban, rural, tribal, Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and VA transportation.
An invitation to participate in the project went out to transit providers across the region, and six well-known and well-established transit services responded.
The six founding transit providers — Pelivan Transit, KI BOIS Area Transit (KATS), Cimarron Public Transit System, Morton Comprehensive Health Services, Muskogee County Transit Authority and Muscogee (Creek) Nation — saw the need for coordinating transportation resources for veterans and understood the importance such a system would be for the veteran community of northeast Oklahoma. These transit agencies now work together as Veterans' Ride Connect.
Today, veterans with transportation needs anywhere in the service area only have to make one call to the Veterans' Ride Connect call center at (855) 735-4826 to learn about transportation options and to schedule a ride.
Veterans' Ride Connects services are provided to all veterans, regardless of age or financial status. Any person who has served in a military force is considered to be a veteran.
There are fees for the transportation services but an ongoing goal of the consortium is to bring veterans' costs down through donations and grants.
All of the Veterans' Ride Connect transit agencies use ADA-compliant vehicles, including mini vans and shuttle buses. And, its drivers are highly trained in wheelchair securement and all other aspects of transit safety.
Veterans answered the call of duty and served their country. Veterans' Ride Connect is now ready to answer the call and be there for them.
For more information about Veterans' Ride Connect, visit its website at www.veteransrideconnect.org or on Facebook at Veterans Ride Connect.