Host Paul Comfort interviews Ken Divers, Director of Outreach Programs at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), and Flora Castillo, President of Pivot Strategies and former APTA chair, about SEPTA's innovative SCOPE (Safety, Cleaning, Ownership, Partnership, and Engagement) program. Ken and Flora talk with Paul about how they created the program over a weekend and its goals for helping vulnerable people.

One of the main goals is connecting people with resources to help them with housing, food, healthcare, and other services, but SCOPE is also about playing an active role in the homelessness crisis. SEPTA--and transit agencies--can't solve the crisis of the growing number of unhoused people on their own, but they often bear the brunt of the effects. People just looking for a warm and dry place need to be helped and supported, not treated as unwanted guests. The SCOPE program makes sure everyone is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve while also keeping SEPTA safe for everyone.

The SCOPE program won APTA's 2022 Innovation Award for its groundbreaking work helping people access resources and get a fresh start with a whole new approach to the problem.

Flora and Ken's excitement and pride in their work should inspire all of us to look at how to help vulnerable people in new ways. Enforcement isn't always the best option, and SCOPE has shown their approach can make a real difference in people's lives.

If you have a question or comment, email us at [email protected].

Transit Unplugged is brought to you by Modaxo.

Transit Unplugged team:

Paul Comfort, host and producer

Julie Gates, executive producer

Tris Hussey, editor and writer

Tatyana Mechkarova, social media

00:03 Introduction and Background

01:17 Interview with Ken Divers and Flora Castillo

02:03 The Birth of the SCOPE Program

05:49 The Journey and Impact of Kenneth Divers

09:24 The Approach and Success of the SCOPE Program

13:16 Partnerships and Future Directions

20:46 Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged