13780 Hummingbird Rd., Fayetteville, AR 72701
Office: 479-409-0416
Email: Information@Kopke.net 

Kopke & Associates, Inc. (K&A) provides consulting services for public transportation providers and the agencies, authorities, boards, commissions, local governments and other public and private entities responsible for them.  Since 1996, K&A has completed dozens of projects in the U.S. and Canada.

Core Services

• Transit Scheduling, Call Center, Dispatch & Information Technology
• Routing, Reservations, & Scheduling
• Demand, Productivity & Performance Analysis
• Service Planning, Design & Operation
• Fixed Route, Route Deviation, Zone Route, Paratransit & Demand Response
• ADA Compliance

Skills

• Transit Software & Technology
• Scheduling system implementation, review, & procurement
• Service design, integration, & innovation
• Scheduling system setup decisions & testing
• Rural/Small-Urban Transportation Planning & Funding
• Project management
• ADA review, scheduling & operation
• Demand response transit run performance analysis
• Local bus route performance analysis
• Public policy analysis & legislative priorities
• Stakeholder participation & coalition building
• Coordination planning & implementation
• Non-emergency medical transportation
• Program evaluation and assessment
• Needs identification & demand forecasting
• GIS analysis and mapping

Founder

Kopke & Associates, Inc. (K&A) was founded in 1996 to provide consulting in the area of public transportation.  Its founder, Taunya Kopke, has been working and consulting in public transportation since 1986. 

Ms. Kopke earned her Master’s degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Policy, from the University of Northern Iowa, and her undergraduate degree from Iowa State University.  She worked as a planner, legislative fiscal analyst, executive director, and association manager in Iowa prior to becoming involved in public transportation.

Her career in public transportation began when she became the manager of Ozark Regional Transit in Springdale, AR.  She later designed and started Fort Smith Public Transit, in Fort Smith, AR.  In addition, Ms. Kopke served as Consulting Division Manager for Trapeze Software Group, Inc., located in Mississauga, Canada.  At Trapeze, Ms. Kopke provided on-site consulting for Trapeze customers with difficult problems; worked in transit service design; directed the development of a prototype for an ESRI extension for transit planning; and worked with developers to add functionality to Trapeze PASS.

Projects

• Public transportation fixed route scheduling software deployment; implementation setup and training
  Several reviews of ADA compliance issues, and assessments of the capability of the scheduling systems to support the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Extensive technical support in making needed changes.
• A number of scheduling improvement projects, involving working with transit systems teams to set up, problem-solve, and optimize demand response scheduling systems.
• Managed re-organization of paratransit service for large transit system, contracting operations to multiple providers and scheduling to a single provider; and in procuring advanced trip planning, scheduling and reservations software & hardware.
• Neighborhood Connector Project converting traditional fixed routes to zone-routes
• Project converting traditional demand response service to a system using timetable-based zone-routes
• Evaluating existing demand response runs; preparing demand estimates; conducting focus groups; developing implementation guidelines, budgets, and funding alternatives; and developing software tools to support scheduling trips
• Completing a transportation plan addressing the transportation needs of elderly non-ADA eligible persons:  assessing existing service, assessing needs; developing alternative service areas; and recommending a pilot area
• Demographic GIS analysis and coverage development project as subcontractor
• Developing a plan to provide transit passes for non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) users, including the identification of client subscription trips with both the origin and destination within walking distance of public transit routes
• Developing a plan to integrate transportation for Head Start into the demand response service operated for ADA clients by a transit authority, including schedule development and reassigning students to Head Start locations based on transportation routing efficiency
• Consulting on the design of in-house software applications for Flex Route scheduling
• Development of Microsoft Access applications for transit agencies
• Transit Development Plan (TDP) development and Transportation Disadvantaged Service Plan (TDSP) development for Florida counties
• Developing one of the first five successful Job Access and Reverse Commute Program grant proposals
• Developing a successful plan and application for a Project ACTION funded One-Stop-Shopping Initiative Project for a transit agency that contracted with a local agency providing services for developmentally disabled persons to provide travel training, ADA certification review, and vehicle operator training
• Ongoing consulting services for several transit agencies
• Developing specialized medical return service funded by a regional hospital foundation, complementing paratransit runs by handling medical “will call” trips, traditionally difficult to manage
• Developing a program of local government funding from multiple jurisdictions, to be guided by an advisory board including local government representatives, and driven by a trip-based formula to allocate a total request to each jurisdiction
• Review of a small urban transit system covering service operation, ridership, vehicle needs, ADA service, and the adequacy of maintenance and administration facilities; recommending vehicles and maintenance facilities
• Developing a comprehensive human service and public transportation coordination system; including leveraged funds, expanded service, preventive maintenance, driver orientation, radio communications, trip scheduling, Medicaid billing, and vehicles, for human service agencies working in Mental Health, Sheltered/Supported Work, Homeless Shelter, Employment Training, Case Management, Specialized Daycare, and other human services, working in coordination with Public Transportation.

Clients

• Capital Metro Transit, Austin, Texas
• Central Arkansas Transit Authority, Little Rock, Arkansas
• City of Fort Smith, Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Fort Smith Public Transit
• Community Transportation Association of America, Washington, DC, and New York State Department of Transportation, Public Transportation, Albany, New York, and City of Watertown, New York, and CitiBus, Watertown, New York
• Dyntek Services, Inc., Farmington Hills, Michigan, and Virginia Medicaid contractor call centers
• East Central Arkansas Transit, Forest City, Arkansas
• Fort Worth Transportation Authority, Fort Worth, Texas
• Kierig Associates, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, and City of Norman, Oklahoma
• Martin County Metropolitan Planning Organization, Stuart, Florida
• Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Ozark Regional Transit, Springdale, Arkansas
• Pima Association of Governments, Tucson, Arizona
• Prangley & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Clermont Transportation Connection, Batavia, OH,
• TranSystems, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA)
• Veolia Transportation