Vickie S. Bourne has dedicated her professional career to improving and enhancing transportation in
the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Bourne has spent over 40 years in the Transportation Cabinet and
Department of Highways. In 1986, Bourne became the Section Supervisor of the Public Transit Section in the
Division of Mass Transportation. Through technology, she streamlined the entire grant-making process,
reducing both the costs and the time required for processing the grants and managing the funds. Bourne has
made sure that all parts of the Commonwealth have access to public or specialized transportation. Under her
guidance, public transit now provides over 29 million passenger trips annually in both rural and urban areas.
These trips provide Kentucky’s citizens with access to jobs, shopping, education and medical services.
Bourne worked with the Department of Medicaid Services and key legislators in coordinating and linking
human services and Medicaid transportation needs with the Transportation Cabinet’s resources. She was
appointed by then Governor Paul Patton, to serve on the initial Empower Kentucky Committee that worked on
the details of a coordinated human services transportation system.
In 2001, Bourne was appointed as Executive Director for the Office of Transportation Delivery. The
coordination, safety, and cost-savings associated with the Human Service Transportation Delivery Program
have made that program a model for other states, and the program has received national recognition.
Under Bourne’s leadership, Kentucky Public Transit has accomplished an almost impossible feat: 12 years in a
row with zero deficiencies found during four Federal Transit Administration intense, on-site reviews covering
27 different areas. She was voted one of the first two inductees into the Kentucky Public Transit Hall of Fame
in 1999. In 2013 Bourne was inducted into the Kentucky Transportation Hall of Fame as the first public transit
member and only the second female.