ODOT presents mobility‑management plan to expand local transportation help and place mobility managers statewide

Olivia Cook, presenting for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, told the commission that the state's mobility‑management program aims to place locally based mobility managers who act as a social‑worker‑style navigator for complex transportation needs and to coordinate across urban, rural and tribal transit systems.

"Mobility management is essentially a social worker for the transportation industry," Cook said, describing local staff who will both help individuals arrange trips and feed system‑level planning to close service gaps. Cook said the program aims to deploy about 25 mobility managers statewide, provide travel‑training certification (Easterseals Project ACTION), and support initiatives such as the Rolling Oklahoma Classroom and ClimbRite to tie transportation to reunification and workforce access.

Why it matters: Transportation repeatedly surfaced in earlier agenda items and the child‑welfare task force presentation as a barrier to accessing services, retaining employment and sustaining reunifications. Cook urged agencies to consider pooled funding (CCAM) and to provide letters of support for discretionary grants and partnerships.

Key details

• Scope: Mobility managers will identify service gaps by layering urban, rural and tribal transit maps and work across providers to connect riders and to inform planning.

• Pilots and partnerships: Cook described the Rolling Oklahoma Classroom (FTA‑funded outreach and awareness bus) and the ClimbRite pilot that embeds transportation into family‑reunification planning.

• Funding: Cook said current ODOT mobility funds are limited (about $600,000 available for the program in the near term) and that local match and project design will be necessary to scale the initiative.

Requests to the commission

Cook asked commissioners to consider letters of support for grant applications, to include mobility managers in local coordination and to route transportation complaints or data to ODOT so the mobility program can act on them.

Next steps

ODOT will continue to expand the pilot programs, apply for discretionary funds, and coordinate with OCCY and other agencies on CCAM funding strategies and local implementation.