Carmen Florez stood in Turlington Plaza watching RTS buses make their way down Newell Drive, watching as students took time out of their day to stop at her table and write a quick note.
“They’re kind of unsung heroes,” Florez, a 22-year-old UF behavior analysis senior, said, referring to Gainesville’s Regional Transit System drivers.
Florez, the vice president of operations at UF’s Hispanic Student Association, set up a table in Turlington Tuesday morning for the second annual RTS Appreciation Day. The event was a joint effort with the association, the Asian American Student Union, the Women’s Student Association and Islam on Campus.
The table in Turlington had a stack of empty notecards and a pile of colorful markers and pens for students to write a quick thank-you note to their bus driver for taking them to and from class every day. Students took the notes and handed them to their drivers as they got on the buses.
Strawder, 40, has driven for RTS for almost four years.
Strawder said RTS Appreciation Day is a nice gesture, but she said she finds her passengers appreciate her every day.
“The students are great,” she said. “They always say thank you when they’re getting off the bus.”
RTS driver Aquila Alford, 51, got a thank-you note from a student at the Hub. He’s worked as an RTS driver for more than 20 years. He’s driven the 120 bus route from the Hub to Fraternity Row for the past six years.
Alford fist bumps students as they get on his bus and asks them how their day is going.
“I am your parent,” Alford said. “Somebody’s gotta look out for y’all.”
Alford said he drives the bus eight or nine hours a day and has “good listening ears.” He wants to give some advice or suggest an avenue to get help.
“I get to know you,” he said. “If something’s going on and you can’t talk to your peers or your parents about, you can always talk to me.”
People board and exit an RTS bus Wednesday, July 24, 2019 by the The Hub at UF.
