The Newsletter of the Wyoming Public Transit Association
2004 Driver of the Year Nominees in all aspects. Her responsibilities also include scheduling vehicles for two to ten therapists on a daily basis.
     Gloria drives four different routes each day in Riverton and surrounding rural areas. As a bus driver, her responsibilities include picking up and dropping off young children, three to six years old, to the Child Development Services Center in Riverton. Many, many parents have called to say what a great job Gloria does each and every day. She greets each child with a smile and a big hello. When she takes children home, it’s a goodbye to each child.
     I have ridden many routes with Gloria during the last few years and have been very impressed. The most important element of her job is the safety of each child on her bus. She makes sure the children are properly secured in safety seats, and she always works with the bus aides to make sure safety is their number-one responsibility.
     We are so very lucky to have employees who care so much about what they do. Our organization is a better, safer place for children and their families because of the job Gloria does.

Nominee: Shane Roberts
Agency: Sublette Hi-Country Senior Center
Nomination by Leona Roberts

     I would like to nominate Shane Roberts as Driver of the Year. Shane is a teddy bear sort of guy who is really proud of his mother. He has a bad back and legs from an auto accident, and he limps with a smile and a joke, even though I know he is hurting. He drives the Sublette Hi-Country Senior Center bus five days a week, eight hours a day, taking us crotchety old ladies to the center for lunch, exercise, arts and crafts, doctor and dentist appointments, hair and nail appointments, as well as delivers dogs for vet and grooming appointments.
     Shane also delivers Meals on Wheels, carries art bags, extra oxygen bottles, and lifts walkers onto the bus. We all feel that he is our own personal chauffeur. Thursday is sale day at Falers grocery store. Shane takes us shopping and carries our groceries to the bus and then into our homes, as well as helping out by mailing our letters.
     On weekends he loves to ice fish and has been known to bring some of us a mess of filleted trout. He is an exceptional bus driver and a neat guy. We are lucky to have Shane for our driver.

Nominee: Frances Higine-Rios
Agency: Cheyenne Transit Program (CTP)
Nomination by Joe Dougherty, Director of Transit

     Frances Higine-Rios has been one of Cheyenne Transit System’s best drivers for almost as long as the program has been in existence. In her 11th year, Frances always makes the effort to be professional as well as friendly to her passengers. Frances is always there at 5:30 a.m. when the CTP busses make their first start of the day, driving all types of service. In addition to taking care of her passengers, she is a great friend to her 25 fellow drivers. In the past when CTP had a Driver of the Quarter award selected by the passengers, she won the award so many times it almost became monotonous. Her passengers still frequently call our offices to report her extraordinary kindness and caring attitude.
     When I asked staff members how many years Frances has received accident-free awards, none could remember a single accident. One commented about a time she reported she had bumped another bus. She lost sleep over the incident for two nights, even though there was no damage. Talk about conscientious!
     This June, Frances will take her first airplane ride and represent the State of Wyoming and WYTRANS at the 15th Annual CTAA National Transit Roadeo in Seattle, Washington. Frances finished a skillful second place in the 2003 WYTRANS State Bus Roadeo competition in Cheyenne.
     Frances is the mother of three and grandmother of eight who likes to spend her free time playing bingo, barbecuing, and camping. With a degree in truck driving from “Jets,” and a certified heavy equipment operator, Frances could obviously make more money outside of public transit. However, she told us recently “she wouldn’t trade her job for anything.”

Nominee: Gloria Bulow
Agency: Child Development Services of Fremont County
Nomination by Scott A. Carlson,
Special Education Coordinator

     It gives me great pleasure to nominate Gloria Bulow, a bus driver in our Riverton Center. She is much more than a bus driver for our organization. She takes care of all the vehicle maintenance at the Riverton center: two busses, six vans, and many cars. Our Riverton vehicles are very clean and well maintained

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Wyoming Transit Express 3 April 2004