Challenge encourages variety of transportation
May 25—Organizers of a planning program designed to make public transportation more accessible and easier to use challenged Muskogee County residents with a chance to have some fun.
The Connect Muskogee Challenge was created for the purpose of bring awareness to the program.
"Connect Muskogee ... was to do an overall assessment of the community on what the needs were," Julie Ledbetter, director of development for Neighbors Buildings Neighborhoods, said about the collaborative group project. "What do we need transit-wise, what do we need sidewalk-wise, how do we need to mark bike lanes, (and) what could make our community more transportation accessible — not only to food, but to shopping and to jobs?"
The challenge, which ends Saturday, allows residents an opportunity to help assess the program by completing bingo cards with assigned activities and sharing photos. Bingo cards may be downloaded at www.muskogeephoenix.com along with the rules and frequently asked questions.
Once a participant completes an activity on a card, a photograph must be taken and posted to a social media website. Participants will present cards Saturday during the Farmers' Market at the Civic Center for verification and tickets that will be drawn for prizes — participants must be present to win.
Each completed square on a card is worth one ticket, and one completed row — or bingo — is worth seven tickets. Participants must live, work or study in Muskogee County to be eligible.
Connect Muskogee began as an assessment of transit needs based on community input.
"They hired a company with some grant funds they had," Ledbetter said. "There was an assessment that was done that had community input. The community can go on the (Connect Muskogee) website and click and put a dot where they see a problem — my dot is on 11th Street between West Martin Luther King Street to Shawnee Bypass because I think they need a sidewalk there.
Ledbetter said people who use public transit can add comments to identify needs such as covered transit stops at certain locations. This is an opportunity, she said, to further evaluate the needs of the residents as part of what she called a "master plan."
"So what it's going to do is it's going to be a strategic plan that can be incorporated through the city," she said. "The city — public works or transit — gets an opportunity to get funding or write a grant — grants always have to have assessments."
