On August 1, 2011, at the annual banquet held at the Lodge of the Four Season in Lake Ozark, Missouri, the Missouri Public Transportation Association (MPTA) recognized several individuals as leaders in the transportation industry.  Among those receiving awards was Linda Yaeger, Executive Director of OATS.

Yaeger was awarded the Missouri State Leadership Award by the Federal Transit Administration for her leadership at both the state and national level, bringing with her 33 years of front-line transit operations experience. Under Yaeger’s leadership, OATS has grown to meet the ever-changing needs of Missourians who require its service. As a result, OATS is now able to provide more transportation to more people under a wider variety of funding sources. In 2006, Yaeger was featured in a special edition of the national magazine Community Transportation in their “Women Who Changed Transit” issue.

Yaeger first served as the Executive Director for OATS in 1994, at which time OATS traveled 4.8 million miles and provided just a little over 1 million one-way trips. In 2010, OATS traveled 15.1 million miles and provided 1.6 million one-way trips, serving nearly 31,000 people.

Under Yaeger’s leadership, OATS has pursued a more varied operations funding stream to provide stability. In 1993, over 40% of all funding came from one source – the Area Agencies on Aging. As funding from the AAAs became stagnant or was reduced, it became clear that in order to survive, OATS must diversify. Today, no one source provides more than 35% of its operational funding and the second largest funding source – “special billings” – is comprised of contracts with over 100 different agencies and entities. By pooling its resources, OATS is able to provide more transportation to more people under a wider variety of funding sources.

MPTA President Mark Huffer, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, remarked that “The demand for reliable, affordable transportation service continues to grow in Missouri. We will continue to work to meet this demand and to improve public transportation to assure personal mobility and independence for all who visit or live in our State.”