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He's Driven To Do Job Well

Kathy Moore / Tampa Tribune

HART driver Bob Whitfield, whose route is along Sun City Center Boulevard in south Hillsborough County, has worked every route and shift many times since joining the agency in 1981.

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By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 1, 2007

TAMPA - Bob Whitfield would avoid the attention if he could, but pats on the back come with the territory when you're the Florida bus driver of the year.

The congratulations happen these days whenever Whitfield strolls through the operations center at Hillsborough Area Regional Transit to the parking lot where his Route 87 bus waits for him each morning before sunup.

'It's been kind of strange. I'm one of those guys who likes to fly under the radar,' he says.

The Florida Public Transportation Association recognized the 53-year-old Plant City man at its annual convention last week after analyzing his driving and onboard safety records, years of service to HART and other contributions, including a survey of bus stops to determine which ones met federal requirements for disabled people. He beat out 13 other nominees.

'He was just so unassuming and didn't think he was doing anything out of the ordinary,' selection committee chairwoman Mary Robinson says.

Whitfield's prize: $300, a three-night stay at the Wyndham Orlando Resort and a foot-high plaque that probably will end up on the mantel at his mother's house. HART will give him a jacket later on.

Whitfield figures he has logged close to 2 million miles - about four trips to the moon and back - and hasn't had an accident since 1983, when his bus clipped a mirror on a parked car.

'I just wasn't paying attention,' he says.

He's worked every HART route and every shift many times over since joining the agency in 1981, but these days are especially good for the early riser.

His day starts at 5:10 a.m. when his Toyota pickup arrives at the operations center in East Tampa and ends at 2:34 p.m. at the same place.

Most of the time in between is spent behind the big wheel along Sun City Center Boulevard in south Hillsborough County - a sweet ride compared with traffic-choked, stop-and-go roads of Tampa.

Whitfield's needs are simple, starting with a comfortable chair. When he started driving, 'it used to be a pole in the floor with a seat,' and a long day driving could translate into lower back pain. Today, Whitfield is perched comfortably atop an air-cushioned seat that rises and lowers at the flick of a switch.

When it comes to the buses themselves, bigger is better, he says. Big buses absorb bumps and potholes better than short ones because 'they have a longer wheel base.'

Of course, Whitfield has some pet peeves: 'I hate drivers on cell phones. They're not paying attention to what they're doing. The light turns green and they're still sitting there.'

Also high on his list of pet peeves: Motorists text messaging, reading newspapers or watching dashboard TVs while flying down the highway.

After all these years, he could be forgiven for wanting something different career-wise, but he says he still loves the job that began after brief stints in the Army and as a furniture truck driver.

He has seen all manner of riders come through the glass double doors of his buses, 'from the nicest people in the world to the meanest,' and says he could write a book on his experiences. The oddest experience?

'I saw a naked man driving. It was at night and he turned on his dome light. There he was, completely exposed, driving down the road,' Whitfield says. 'That was pretty weird.'

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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