In 1996, Cindy Schmidt came to SCT as the assistant to the Managing Director. After a year in that role, she took on the task of Special Projects Coordinator and assisted in grant writing for federal and state grants for the organization. As services increased and new counties were added, she was promoted to Director of the Dispatching and Scheduling Department where she remained for the duration of her employment at SCT. 

I saw many, many changes during my tenure with SCT. Initially, we scheduled rides on handwritten note cards that were taped to a wall in the dispatching office and scheduled at 15 minute intervals. Of course we were only doing a few hundred rides per month at that time. After our computer system was switched over to Windows and Microsoft Office, we moved scheduling to an Excel Spreadsheet then eventually to a fully automated dispatching and scheduling program.

Taking care of thousands of rides each month was a challenge, but I had the pleasure of meeting, speaking with and serving some incredible clients through the years. SCT has always had a compassionate staff that truly cared about the needs of the people we served.

It’s been a pleasure to spend the majority of my adult years in this organization with these incredible people. I thank SCT, the employees, the Board of Directors and the managing Director, Sheila Niederhofer, for their commitment to serving the best interests of the transit public.

I’m now on to the next chapter in my life and look forward to travel, spending time with my family and crafting.