• TARTA News

After working for an ambulance service, it never crossed Jeff Yuille’s mind to wander into the world of public transportation.

But, “it seemed like a good fit,” he said.

Now, nearly three years later, Yuille (which he points out is pronounced “yule, like Christmas.”) is happy behind the wheel of a TARPS bus, where he takes passengers with physical and developmental disabilities where they need to go.

 It’s a responsibility that he doesn’t take lightly. As a TARPS driver he has a lot of face to face contact with his riders.  He’s trained to help them on and off the bus if needed and to keep a tight schedule as to not miss a doctor appointment or trip to the grocery store.

“Sometimes it’s hard, but I make it work,” he said.

At the Knapp street garage, they call that “on time performance,” or OTP.  Each month TARPS strives to meet an OTP goal of 95%.  In June, Yuille went above and beyond. Out of dozens of trips and all his colleagues, Yuille had an OTP of 98.62% – making him on time nearly 100% of the time!

During July’s board meeting TARPS director, Connor Briggs commended the effort; one Yuille says is just part of the job.

“I like to get the passengers where they need to be,” he said.

12 of Yuille’s fellow drivers also exceed the goal.

Briggs told the board that overall, TARPS has seen an increase in OTP and a decrease in the amount of time passengers are spending on the bus.

We’d like to thank Yuille and his co-workers for going the extra mile to take care of their riders.