Reservations

Reservations can be made between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Mondays thru Fridays. Reservations may be made up to seven (7) days in advance, but no later than the previous day before 5:00 p.m. There are no transportation services on weekends.

If you are traveling to an appointment, be sure to tell the Customer Service Representative what time you must arrive at your destination. Then a correct pick-up time can be determined. All service is “shared ride”; your total travel time will allow time for others to board and ride in the same vehicle. Your Paratransit ride will take approximately the same amount of time a similar trip on the fixed route bus would take, and may not follow a direct route between your pick up and drop off locations.

If you have multiple trips on the same day , they need to be scheduled at least ninety minutes apart . This will allow for travel time and the utilization of the 30-minute window. This policy is in place to prevent the return trip from arriving before the original trip has been completed.

Occasionally we may need to ask a customer to change the requested pick up time in order to accommodate their request for a reservation. The ADA allows the transit to negotiate a revised pick up with you that may be up to one hour before or after your requested pick up time.

Example: If you request a pick-up time of 9:00 a.m., the negotiated time would be one hour before or after that time. Negotiating pick-up times with customers gives a better estimated arrival time.

Be sure to phone The BUS office if you need to change your pick-up time.

Curb-to-Curb Service

“The Bus” provides curb-to-curb service comparable to the fixed route; customers must be ready and waiting at the nearest curb of their pick-up or drop-off location. Lift drivers are not allowed to enter the customer's home or drop-off locations, nor are they allowed to take wheelchairs up, down stairs, or to/through doors.

“The Bus” operates within a 30-minute pick-up window. The window begins fifteen (15) minutes prior to the scheduled pick-up time and ends fifteen (15) minutes after. Drivers are allowed to wait only 5 minutes for the customer to board the service vehicle, so it is very important for the customer to be ready and waiting at the beginning of the pick-up window.

“THE WINDOW” Example: If a customer has a 12:00 p.m. pick-up, the driver can arrive as early as 11:45 a.m. and as late as 12:15 p.m. and be considered on time. If the driver arrives at 11:45, they will wait until 11:50, if they arrive at 12:15, they will wait until 12:20 p.m. If the customer does not board the service vehicle within five (5) minutes, the driver will call in a no-show and proceed to the next destination. The driver would be on time and this would be considered a valid no-show.

In order for the driver to easily locate them, customers must be waiting at the sidewalk or at another safe waiting area in front of or as close as possible to the entrance of the pick-up location. Please tell the Customer Service Representative exactly where you will be waiting for the vehicle when scheduling your transportation. We do not advocate unsafe practices such as backing up and our drivers have been directed to avoid these types of situations. Due to the weight of our lift vehicles, drivers are not allowed to pull into the private drives of our customers.

Customers who cannot travel independently, or enter/exit a facility need to be accompanied by a Personal Care Attendant (PCA.) This service is not provided by OSU-Stillwater Community Transit and is the responsibility of the customer. Escorts travel free with the customer but must be picked up and dropped off at the same location as the customer. If the customer intends to have a PCA accompany them, they must inform the Customer Service Representative when the transportation is scheduled to guarantee space on the vehicle.