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Lost: 1 Wheelchair On A Bus

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By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 23, 2007

TAMPA - As manager of the lost and found department for Hillsborough County's bus agency, Robert Trout has seen just about every item imaginable come through the door, from an oil painting to a toaster to a walker.

How does someone forget a walker on a bus?

"We've even had wheelchairs," said Trout, whose official title is public information coordinator for Hillsborough Area Regional Transit. "How does someone get on a bus with a wheelchair and then leave it there?"

Whatever the item that shows up at HART's Marion Transit Center in downtown Tampa, the clearinghouse for objects found on buses, Trout dutifully stows it inside a locked second-floor storage room or in one of three, six-foot metal storage cabinets.

Each cabinet represents how long the items have gone unclaimed: 30 days, 60 days and 90 days. After 90 days, found items are donated to Metropolitan Ministries, a charitable agency on North Florida Avenue.

Most things left on buses are routine - clothing, backpacks, umbrellas, cell phones, school books, keys, laundry and medication. "It's not an overpowering amount of stuff," Trout said.

Occasionally, unusual items end up at the transit center, such as an oil painting of an American Indian, suitcases packed with clothing, laptop computers, walkers, crutches, canes, a teddy bear, and on one occasion a silver bracelet that turned out to be an heirloom worth "beaucoup bucks," Trout said.

"I guess it just slipped off her wrist," he said.

The bracelet was returned to its owner, who called up frantically looking for it.

Most found items eventually are returned to their rightful owners.

Before an item can be claimed, its owner must describe it. If money, the owner must describe the amount, denominations and the wallet or envelop containing the cash. Even house keys get a thorough going-over.

"Most people can describe their keys," he said.

In the case of purses and wallets, which leave clues as to their owners' identities, HART sends letters to contact their owners.

After a driver finds an item, he notifies the dispatcher to see if anyone has called. If no one reported the item missing, it gets sent to the lost-and-found's 30-day cabinet - provided it fits inside.

Bicycles, which are particularly popular lately, are sent to a second-floor storage room at the transit center.

Riders attach their bikes to the front end of buses then forget to remove them after getting to their stop, Trout said. On average, about 10 bikes a month arrive at the storage room. "About six in 10 get claimed," he said.

After 90 days, the rest are donated to Hillsborough Community College to be used by foreign-exchange students. That still leaves many more awaiting ownership. Just how many? Ten? Twenty?

"Try 40 of them," Trout said.

As for the missing toaster, "maybe it belongs to the same guy who left his walker," he said.

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

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