February 2023 - 20

PICK Transportation
services, including older adults
and people with disabilities.
While PICK has an app users can
download and use, there's also a
universal phone number individuals
can call that connects to the
program's call center.
McGeady believes the call center
is vital to the service's success.
" There's one number for the entire
region of Oklahoma, and we
have staff on hand that can assist
individuals with booking rides, "
McGeady points out. " Between
the app and the call center, there's
a number of different ways people
can book trips. "
Corff said she is surprised at
how many riders use the call center
over the PICK app.
" When we first started the
PICK passenger
Kathy Sawyer.
program, I assumed most people
would have used the app to
schedule their rides even though
we had the call center available
as another option, but we've seen
people are used to calling for their
rides, and so they have a level of
comfort, " Croff said. " If there's
a problem with their ride, they
can call the call center back, and
they'll know it's coming because
they have heard the ride has been
accepted. It's definitely a peace of
mind thing for sure. "
PICK driver Larry Wilson
deploying the ramp.
Diona believes PICK is successful
because of the way the agencies
communicate with each other.
" Sometimes, there is an intersection
of service areas because
two areas are so close together, "
Diona noted. " The beauty of this
program is the transit agencies
communicate so well, and they
don't have anything that prevents
the other transit agency from
going into their area to pick up a
rider if necessary. Our goal is to
move people. We want them to
go where they want to go, and if
it is necessary that another transit
agency comes in and picks up that
rider to take him or her to their
destination, they will do it. "
" Since day one, when me and
the other transit agency leaders
started this project, we set the
ground rules, " Diona continued.
" We communicate with each other
and our agency's so well. If there
are any problems, we talk about
them at our monthly meetings.
There's a lot of pilot programs
out there that feature one program
and one transit agency. We
20 Mass Transit | FEBRUARY 2023
have one program and four transit
agencies, so that communication
is what makes PICK successful. "
The current fare for trips is $3
each way, which the program developers
recognize can become expensive,
especially for riders who
use the service multiple times daily.
McGeady says PICK does not
have a specific program in place to
help pay for funds, but the service
does pull from her fare support
experience at Pelivan Transit.
" At Pelvan Transit, we are fortunate
we have a 501 (c) (3) through
the Grand Gateway Economic
Development Association Foundation.
We also have some private
funders who help us kick in
money for our veteran's program,
but we have certain funders who
will just give a certain amount every
month, and we do pull from
our foundation to help people
who can't meet because public
transit is expensive, " McGeady
acknowledged.
While the current program is
operating as a pilot, the leaders
behind the PICK Program are
willing to adjust, expand or add
more partners to ensure the proj
February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2023
