TAPS has seen great success for such employers as Boeing Aircraft, Peterbilt Trucks, Tyson Foods, Trailblazer Industries, and Texas Instruments. The Tex Express Route which feeds into the DART Parker Road station will complete its 6th year in 2011, boasting 6 trips a day, Monday through Friday. Through this route, TAPS is connecting Grayson County with DART light rail.

Brad Underwood, TAPS CEO

Under the current executive director and CEO, Brad Underwood, TAPS began the first two fixed routes in Grayson County in the fall of 2009. Through strategic planning and execution, the Roo and Viking Routes will transport over 60,000 individuals in 2011. “Sherman-Denison have a demand for more public transportation and the overwhelming success of the Roo and Viking Routes demonstrate this demand. As an organization, TAPS will be there in coming years continuing to expand and explore better options for its riders,” said Underwood.

The TAPS JARC programs speak for themselves. Peterbilt in May of 2011 created a new B shift. TAPS was quick to respond to the needs of the Peterbilt employees by creating a 2nd route departing Sherman at 3:00 pm and returning at 1:00 am Monday through Friday. TAPS began with a smaller 20 passenger bus, but the demand grew within 30 days to its current 43 passenger bus and now has a waiting list. Underwood commented, “The second Peterbilt shift is a perfect example of what we do. The employees are working all night and would begin to drive themselves home at 1:00 am. TAPS stepped in to provide safe, reliable transportation for less than a week’s cost of gas. It’s a win for the employer, employee, and TAPS.”

Author’s Note: Texoma Area Paratransit System, Inc. (TAPS) was incorporated in 1986. TAPS is a Non- profit Corporation, under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act and Political Subdivision of the State of Texas. TAPS annual budget is just over $5.5 million and 2011 ridership of over 300,000. Under the direction of First Transit Management Services and the leadership of TAPS Board Chairman, and now Executive Director Brad Underwood, TAPS is seeing massive growth and winning over the public through hard work and an emphasis on service. In 2011 TAPS was recognized in the TOP 200 transit fleets in the US. Underwood has been named as 2010’s TOP 40 Under 40 and 2011 State of Texas General Manager of the Year. TAPS is active in PTAC, TTA, SWTA, and APTA.

Keep in mind that different countries and cultures have varying ideas about what’s funny or how to communicate a message.

Selle Cassell is Grayson County College’s director of public information. “GCC was one of the first to be on a TAPS bus,” said Cassell. “We see it as an opportunity to be exposed to the market in a alternative way and make tens of thousands of impressions efficiently.”

Specific TAPS buses are assigned to set routes that service the students and school’s staff that use the buses to commute.