Beyond the Bus

CATA’s mission is to meet the mobility needs of our region by providing innovative solutions in partnership with the communities we serve. That’s why CATA is proud to support KCS Angels’ mission to help people with disabilities enjoy safe, therapeutic recreation, physical activity and life skills development in an inclusive environment. In the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, programs for adults with disabilities are underfunded and there is a greater need for programs such as the one KCS Angels provides. In light of this, CATA is showing support for KCS Angels by providing a donation of $2,500 for use toward Spec-Tran services for their members. We’ve provided this with hopes it can help the KCS Angels fulfill their passions with this noble cause.

“It's [this program] everything to me, I don't want to do anything else," said one of the KCS Angels founders, Tracy Smith "I've watched the Angels, all of them, bloom and become themselves." 

Tracy's brother-in-law Scott, and two other adults with disabilities were the co-founders and creators of KCS Angels, which is a registered nonprofit 5o1(c)3 in 2016, to help support peers with inclusive activities in the Lansing area. It was founded with ‘Angels’ as an acronym forming the organization's core values. 

Attitude - we respect each other and recognize our differences without judgment.

Network - we are pursuing opportunities to strengthen our relationships with similar organizations in the community to build each other up.

Give - we believe in giving back to our community.

Empower - we believe all people have their own unique abilities, we want to be the vessel that helps support and empower everyone.

Love - all people need and deserve to feel valued, safe, and included in the community.

Support - our foundation is to support each other; we do that by listening to each other's needs and desires and incorporating that into our daily life and activities.

The daily activities that are provided by KCS Angels are run solely by volunteers.  Others that volunteer with Tracy have found the experience fulfilling, like KCS Angel Big Al, who explains what KCS Angels feels like to him. "Family, because of all these people around me. I don't have a family up in Michigan, so when Tracy came along and told me about KCS Angels a couple years ago at the workshop I used to work at, I asked if I could join. I'm proud to be an Angel because of Tracy and this program."

And for others, the value of KCS Angels is much simpler. "I just like helping people," said Kristin, co-founder and peer of KCS Angels. "We come here to see our friends, we have a good time." 

The purpose and guiding principles of this organization are something CATA deeply empathizes with, which is why CATA has donated $2,500 dollars to KCS Angels so they can provide Spec-Tran services for the members of the organization. [Spec-Tran] is CATA’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complementary paratransit service for people unable to use CATA’s fixed-route system.

If you’re interested in learning more about KCS Angels or are interested in volunteering or donating, visit kcsangels.com to read more. If you’re also interested in finding out more about CATA’s services such as Spec-Tran and more, you can find it as well as service information, trip planning tools, and plenty more helpful service information at their website.

It’s official, folks.

On Sunday, March 6, the new McLaren Greater Lansing hospital will open its doors for service. The 46,000-square-foot facility will host the health care services provided by the decommissioned Pennsylvania and Greenlawn hospitals.

Follow the steps below to access the hospital via CATA.

Plan your trip

Use the trip-planning tools available at cata.org plan your trip. Find out which routes will get you to McLaren and what time your bus will depart from your stop. To help you understand how to use our trip-planning tools, view our tutorial here.

You can also contact a Customer Experience Representative for trip-planning assistance.

Arrive early

Arrive at your bus stop at least 5 minutes before CATA’s scheduled departure – depending on the circumstances, you may even want to arrive 15 to 20 minutes earlier. Unforeseen circumstances, such as traffic congestion, accidents, weather and construction can cause unavoidable detours and delays.

Keep print schedules

Once you know the routes you need to get to your destination, keep a print schedule of each on hand. You never know when you might run into a dead zone and don’t have Internet access. If you have service but no Internet access on your phone, you can use our CATAnow texting service. Just text your bus stop number to 76123 and, after about a minute, you’ll receive the next real-time or scheduled departure time.

Transit app and live tracking

The Transit app is a handy mobile tool for checking departures, planning trips, and staying up to date on service changes or rider alerts. The app can also track your bus via GPS technology. Simply select your desired route and direction of travel, and you’ll see a live feed of your bus location.

If you have any questions about how to plan your trip or use our service, please feel free to contact us via our online feedback form, or by reaching out to a Customer Experience Representative. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates about CATA service changes, giveaways, Lansing events and more.

Imagine for a moment you’re heading into work. You’re a CATA Customer Experience Representative and today you’ve got a shift at the downtown station. You walk through the atrium doors and make your way over to the booth and smile at the others already answering ringing phones – you know it’s going to be a busy day – but a good one. Lost and found, trip planning, bus tracking, Indian Trails, detours, departures and arrivals, paratransit, where to go, and what to do for anything and everything CATA – you know it all, even creating new stops. If there’s ever something you don’t know, there’s someone on your team who does that has your back. It’s a lot to handle, but you know you’ll get it done with a smile.

This is just a taste of everything that the customer experience department does for CATA. As the front line of contact for our riders, customer experience is in the know about almost everything to do with CATA and the City of Lansing in order to best assist you in getting where you need to go. This Customer Service Appreciation Week, we really want to highlight what the job means to our representatives who work so hard every day, 7 days a week.

What do you like most about your job?

We met with members of the CX (Customer Experience) team to ask them what they liked most about the work they do, hear what they have to say, and meet the team!

Brandon

"The best part is helping people navigate so they know they're going in the right direction, bridging the gap and building those hand-in-hand relationships."

Schuyler

"It feels good to help people out who are in need. Interacting with different people from all over and some of them you get to know on a different level."

RaSondra

"Working with my team is the most interesting because I get to work with not just my own department but others in CATA as well. I also like the stories that people tell me from day to day."

Samantha | Customer Experience Supervisor

"I'm in a unique position where I get to see immediate results for what our team does for the community. I see the understanding and relief as riders interact with our Customer Experience Representatives and I know that we are doing something right. I am so proud to be a part of this team."

Antwanette

"The customers are so funny, I love hearing their stories!"

Mysha

"I enjoy working with everyone on my team!"




 

Kayla

"I've always wanted to be a receptionist, so this is my first job that will help me in that direction. It's probably one of the first jobs where I actually like what I do. I like coming to work, and I like all of the people here."

Bri

"For me, it's connecting with the customers. A lot of the customers have disabilities, and I have a learning disability myself so I can relate to them. Here I can be there for our customers if they need to talk or need direction. It’s more than just a customer service job, it’s really about connecting with our customers."

Melissa

"My favorite part of the job is getting to help the public and make connections with people at a time when help is really needed. I enjoy talking with people and listening to their stories. I also work the Indian Trails at the Gateway and I get to speak with people from all types of backgrounds. It makes for some really interesting conversation. Because I work at the East Lansing Station I interact with MSU students and I get the chance to be of great help to some of the younger generation when they get lost around campus."


 

Andrea

"Lately, it's been helping the Lansing School District kids figure out which routes to take to school. I went to Everett, so I feel connected to them. I have a kid too, so I know how lost parents could feel if I were in that situation."

Margaret | Customer Experience Manager

"One of the things I like best about my job at CATA and in customer experience is our customers.  Each day provides us the opportunity to do something great, it can be as simple as replacing a lost pass, helping them plan their child’s trip to and from school or reuniting them with an item lost on the bus or as important as helping them with community resources.  We have customers that come to our information booths every day just to say hi to us and bring us treats, that’s how we know that what we do is important and impactful!"

All of our Customer Experience Representatives are responsible for a large variety of responsibilities which can be different depending on the location they're working at. Besides answering questions by phone or in person, all representatives manage the lost and found, learn and utilize numerous different programs for bus routes, bus tracking, customer feedback, pass sales, and more. Our representatives help more than just our customers. Within CATA they regularly communicate with almost every department to forward information that comes through the front desk. They play a part in many facets of day-to-day operation. So to our hard-working Customer Experience team, we want to once more graciously say thank you! You can learn even more about our Customer Experience team from last year's Customer Service Appreciation Week, so give it a read!

We'd love to hear your stories about any positive experiences you've had with our Customer Experience team on our customer feedback form.