Salina, KS – OCCK Transportation is pleased to announce that Rena Bishop, Supervisor at OCCK Transportation, has won the first ever Kansas Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP) Rural General Public Bus Operator Silver Star Award.
The Kansas RTAP Rural General Public Bus Operator Silver Star Award was created to honor men and women who safely transport people in rural Kansas. This award is meant to celebrate the work of rural bus operators and everything they do each and every day for their communities.
Bishop has been with OCCK Transportation for 13 years, first as a Driver before becoming a Supervisor.
“I am thrilled to be the first Silver Award winner,” said Bishop. “It’s an honor to be recognized by KU RTAP for all of my hard work, dedication and commitment to public transportation.”
When asked what she loves most about her job, Bishop says, “I love the people we serve, the drivers, our team, basically, everything around me makes me happy.” Bishop recognizes the importance of transit drivers in her community by stating, “everything you do makes a difference in someone’s life.”
For the first time ever, Kansas RTAP sent out a call for nominations for outstanding transit drivers in the state of Kansas because they believe drivers are heroes in their communities and wanted to properly recognize them for their hard work, especially in the last year.
The mission of the Kansas Rural Transit Assistance Program is to improve the mobility of all rural Kansans through quality training and technical assistance to rural and specialized transit providers. Kansas RTAP is funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). RTAP services are offered in each state, with a national resource center for RTAP training materials housed at National RTAP
OCCK, Inc. provides services in north central Kansas to anyone with any type of long or short-term disability, starting as early as birth and following people through their whole lives. OCCK provides an array of supports for success at home and in the community, including independent living skills and supports, employment and career training, Alzheimer’s supports, autism services, assistive technology, children’s services, transportation, specialized therapies, and home health care.
OCCK is committed to providing transportation services to the general public, seniors, and persons with disabilities, through a variety of programs, including a fixed route service in Salina, CityGo, a regional paratransit service that serves fourteen counties, non emergency medical transportation for people with Medicaid, as well as non emergency medical transportation for clients of Salina Regional Health Center, a regional fixed route service, 81 Connection, KANcycle – the regional bike sharing program, City of Abilene public transportation and the newest program, KanConnect.
For more information about OCCK, Inc., visit www.occk.com. For more information about CityGo and OCCK Transportation, visit www.salinacitygo.com. Or, contact the OCCK Transportation Center at 785-826-1583.