|
|
 |
Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
Bus service making a mark on Baytown
By Cierra Putman
The Baytown Sun Published November 7, 2009 The rumbling of bus engines can be heard every hour on the hour at the Baytown Bus Service Park Transfer at Garth Road between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. After only a little more than a year in Baytown, the buses are already making their mark on the community and helping to build new friendships.
Whether its morning, afternoon or at the end of the day, the riders of the bus service’s newest Route 3 are met with a kind word and a smile when bus driver Gloria Daniels opens the swinging bus doors to welcome them aboard.
“I’ve met a lot of different people, a lot of good people (because of my job),” Daniels said. “But there are good people everywhere you go. I’ve met a lot of friends, made a lot of friends in Baytown.”
As one of the senior bus drivers with the Harris County Baytown Bus Service and after serving as a bus driver in Texas for more than 20 years, Daniels still enjoys her job and knowing she helps make other people’s day a little easier.
“I think it has done a great tremendous thing for the people in Baytown and it’s going to do better and get better,” Daniels said.
“There are a lot of people that walk where they need to go. I used to be the driver for Route 1, and a lot of people got jobs from riding that bus,” she said, “and a lot have been able to raise money so they can afford a car.”
Rider Alicia Covey used to make a long walk from her home to Lee High School where she works as a custodian before Route 3 opened in October. She said having the opportunity to get a lift everyday has made her life much easier.
“That was horrible,” Covey said, “because that was an hour walk. If it was raining a friend would pick me up, but most of the time I walked. This is a great thing they did; I’m happy.”
Many other members of the growing Route 3 family agreed with Covey and discussed how the bus system not only makes their lives easier, but also gives them a bit of independence.
Daniels said many of her passengers would walk wherever they needed to go, like Covey, and one of her regular riders used to pay $14 a day for a cab so she could make it to work on time.
Adults 12-years-and-older pay $1 each way and the fee is 50 cents for children between 2 and 11-years-old, seniors and the disabled. Free passengers include Lee College students and faculty with proper identification and children under two.
Lee College student Connie Reed and her boyfriend Gregory Olachia use the bus for school, to visit the doctor and to explore the city they call home.
“We’re able to get out more and we don’t have to wait on other people to give us rides,” Reed said. “We can do what we want, when we want to and not have to wait on other people. It feels good that we can do things on our own.
“The drivers have been driving for awhile and everybody knows people on the bus and we’ve met different people,” she said.
The couple started utilizing the service last year and it has helped a lot since Reed doesn’t have a Texas Driver’s License and her boyfriend cannot drive because of a disability.
“We hope it’s going to expand (even more) soon,” Reed said. “We’ve heard it’s going to be expanding and they’re going to have more busses and routes, and we’re looking forward to the other places we’re going to be able to visit.”
Riding the bus with her grandson Matt, Delanie Cunningham echoes the hopes and dreams of her fellow riders.
“She’s one of the (bus) family members,” Daniels said tilting her head towards Cunningham.
The Baytown grandmother apparently went on a personal crusade to encourage her family and friends to ride the buses. Now she says her mother, daughter and other family members use them on a daily basis.
“We depend on this bus all the time,” Cunningham said. “My daughter’s pregnant and this is how we take her to the doctor. If I have to go to the grocery store this is my transportation.”
“Baytown has needed a bus service for a long time,” she said, “and I’m glad we have it. There’s a lot of people who need transportation to get around … I want to keep the buses; I don’t want them to go away. I need them.”
There are currently three bus routes for the Baytown Service. They cover Garth Road and the Decker Loop, the Lee College area and North Alexander and Cedar Bayou Road.
According to a Harris County Transit spokesman the bus service will only expand if more people ride the bus.
The Baytown Sun Published November 7, 2009 The rumbling of bus engines can be heard every hour on the hour at the Baytown Bus Service Park Transfer at Garth Road between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. After only a little more than a year in Baytown, the buses are already making their mark on the community and helping to build new friendships.
Whether its morning, afternoon or at the end of the day, the riders of the bus service’s newest Route 3 are met with a kind word and a smile when bus driver Gloria Daniels opens the swinging bus doors to welcome them aboard.
“I’ve met a lot of different people, a lot of good people (because of my job),” Daniels said. “But there are good people everywhere you go. I’ve met a lot of friends, made a lot of friends in Baytown.”
As one of the senior bus drivers with the Harris County Baytown Bus Service and after serving as a bus driver in Texas for more than 20 years, Daniels still enjoys her job and knowing she helps make other people’s day a little easier.
“I think it has done a great tremendous thing for the people in Baytown and it’s going to do better and get better,” Daniels said.
“There are a lot of people that walk where they need to go. I used to be the driver for Route 1, and a lot of people got jobs from riding that bus,” she said, “and a lot have been able to raise money so they can afford a car.”
Rider Alicia Covey used to make a long walk from her home to Lee High School where she works as a custodian before Route 3 opened in October. She said having the opportunity to get a lift everyday has made her life much easier.
“That was horrible,” Covey said, “because that was an hour walk. If it was raining a friend would pick me up, but most of the time I walked. This is a great thing they did; I’m happy.”
Many other members of the growing Route 3 family agreed with Covey and discussed how the bus system not only makes their lives easier, but also gives them a bit of independence.
Daniels said many of her passengers would walk wherever they needed to go, like Covey, and one of her regular riders used to pay $14 a day for a cab so she could make it to work on time.
Adults 12-years-and-older pay $1 each way and the fee is 50 cents for children between 2 and 11-years-old, seniors and the disabled. Free passengers include Lee College students and faculty with proper identification and children under two.
Lee College student Connie Reed and her boyfriend Gregory Olachia use the bus for school, to visit the doctor and to explore the city they call home.
“We’re able to get out more and we don’t have to wait on other people to give us rides,” Reed said. “We can do what we want, when we want to and not have to wait on other people. It feels good that we can do things on our own.
“The drivers have been driving for awhile and everybody knows people on the bus and we’ve met different people,” she said.
The couple started utilizing the service last year and it has helped a lot since Reed doesn’t have a Texas Driver’s License and her boyfriend cannot drive because of a disability.
“We hope it’s going to expand (even more) soon,” Reed said. “We’ve heard it’s going to be expanding and they’re going to have more busses and routes, and we’re looking forward to the other places we’re going to be able to visit.”
Riding the bus with her grandson Matt, Delanie Cunningham echoes the hopes and dreams of her fellow riders.
“She’s one of the (bus) family members,” Daniels said tilting her head towards Cunningham.
The Baytown grandmother apparently went on a personal crusade to encourage her family and friends to ride the buses. Now she says her mother, daughter and other family members use them on a daily basis.
“We depend on this bus all the time,” Cunningham said. “My daughter’s pregnant and this is how we take her to the doctor. If I have to go to the grocery store this is my transportation.”
“Baytown has needed a bus service for a long time,” she said, “and I’m glad we have it. There’s a lot of people who need transportation to get around … I want to keep the buses; I don’t want them to go away. I need them.”
There are currently three bus routes for the Baytown Service. They cover Garth Road and the Decker Loop, the Lee College area and North Alexander and Cedar Bayou Road.
According to a Harris County Transit spokesman the bus service will only expand if more people ride the bus.