South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
HEROES & HELPERS
Stories of the good work being done in South Florida amid the pandemic.
Brenda Tucker and other Sun Trolley drivers have been courageous throughout the pandemic. While many residents have been sequestered, working from home and avoiding too much public engagement, the drivers have been working diligently every day to get essential workers to their destinations.
Tucker has been working as a Sun Trolley driver serving Fort Lauderdale for five years. She’s originally from Miami Gardens but discovered this opportunity when she was looking for a job in which she already had a lot of experience.
“I used to drive for the Miami-Dade County school buses, with younger kids and special needs students,” she said. “I was on summer break and I was going through job listings online. I saw an ad for the Sun Trolley and I was curious about it. I filled out an application, and a week later I went for an interview. The next day, they told me I was hired.”
While riding around with Tucker on the trolley, her positive personality comes through when she interacts with the regulars. She greets them. She talks with some of them. Even when people aren’t getting on the trolley, they wave and honk their car horns at her while she’s driving because they recognize her.
The experience of driving for the Sun Trolley is different than driving for children on a school bus, Tucker said, adding that the diversity of riders is one of the aspects that makes it interesting.
“There are always different types of people,” she said. “You have some business people, along with people working for the courthouse and for the hospital. Then you have the regular community, kids and their parents.”
She said she also likes that she has been able to encounter people from around the country.
“People from different states come down and take the trolley to the beach,” she said. “They share what’s going on in their state and their community with me. Every day is something different.”
The Sun Trolley is administered by the Downtown Fort Lauderdale Transportation Management Association, a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization that has been providing community transportation to the city’s residents and visitors since 1992.
“I’ve learned a lot about the community, especially when we do charters,” Tucker said about special trips to teach visitors about the area. “I learn a whole lot about the city’s history, which is really interesting to me.”
Driving during the pandemic, however, has created new encounters for Tucker.
“It’s been kind of hectic because a lot of people have been scared and afraid they don’t know what’s [going to] happen,” she said. “Our first fear came when they started saying that you couldn’t get on the buses without your mask, and a lot of people didn’t have masks at the time.”
Tucker said she’s relieved now that things are starting to open up. And she’s noticing better moods among the riders.
“Now it’s beginning to ease up. I’m starting to see a lot of people again who had stopped riding,” she said. “On the beach route, I’m starting to see some tourists come back out. It’s picking up slowly but surely and people are starting to come back to the trolleys.”
Handling difficult situations
Tucker’s positive outlook has helped her weather the storm of a pandemic and dealing with some riders who are more challenging than others.
“Some routes can be more difficult than others,” she said. “Sometimes we have some tourists or regular riders who can be a little bit difficult. But you just have to treat everybody the same and with respect.
“With my personality, I like to have fun
and I like to see people happy,” she said, smiling. “I don’t like to see people being sad. Believe me, I’ve heard some sad stories on the trolley, but I just try to cheer them up.”
Learning from her history
Tucker’s resilience and ability to relate to all kinds of people comes from her own challenges while growing up.
“My background wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t easy,” she said. “So I can relate to a lot of issues. I can relate to a lot of good issues, and a lot of bad issues. That’s what helped me get through the day, along with some difficult riders, because I can deal with them.”
The Sun Trolley also has routes through other areas of the city such as Sistrunk.
“I can relate to both parts of my job experience,” she said. “That’s what gets me through the day with all seven of the different driving routes. Some routes are easier than others. But If you can handle both good and bad, then you yourself are good.”
She makes sure that both she and the riders enjoy the experience.
“One thing I learned is that you should leave your problems at home because you
Keondrick Martin
don’t know what you’re facing when you go to work,” she said. “You just have to face the day with a good personality and have fun.”
And Tucker knows how to make that happen.
“Today, a passenger just started singing and I thought that was great. So we just started singing together.”
A driver finds his passion
Keondrick Martin was a driver for his family business in Miami. He’s been passionate about driving since he was 22. Now he’s 36 and has found his niche in Fort Lauderdale as a Sun Trolley driver for the last two years.
“Driving is my passion,” he said. “I really like getting out on the open road. I like being of service to the community. And I like helping people get to their destinations.”
Martin is another driver who likes to make riders feel at home.
“I talk to a lot of the regular riders and get familiar with them on a daily basis,” he said.
During the pandemic, Martin admits that he was a bit scared at first, but he realized that the safety measures and personal protective equipment should be enough to protect himself and the riders. He said he enjoyed taking people to the beach just to see it, even if they couldn’t actually go on the beach because of restrictions.
He said the Sun Trolley is a must for some people who can’t afford other kinds of transportation every day.
“My favorite part of the job is being able to provide a transportation service to the less fortunate, and the people who probably couldn’t make it without the service,” Martin said.
For information on how to ride the Sun Trolley, including routes, schedules and fares, visit suntrolley.com.