Meet the bus drivers who shuttled people to safety before storms

Jolly Trolley bus driver honored

FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia reports on the Jolly Trolly, which shuttled Hurricane Milton and Helene evacuees to safety before the storm.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Pinellas County bus drivers took Bay Area residents on over half a million rides before and after the two hurricanes, new numbers show.

In the days before and after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) drivers brought people evacuating their homes to shelters, drove others to higher ground when the facilities they were staying in lost power, and transported residents to their medical appointments for life-saving treatments.

The Jolley Trolley, which typically drives tourists around on the barrier islands, became the "Rescue Trolley" during the storms.

The Jolly Trolly, which was offering free rides to evacuees during Hurricanes Milton and Helene.

"I had this one couple that sticks out to me -- it’s an elderly couple -- and they said we would’ve driven to the evacuation center – this is for Milton – on our own, but our car still sits under our condo underwater and sand," Jolley Trolley lead driver Connie Stein told FOX 13 Monday. "It’s stuff like that: Knowing the second (storm) was going to come and people had no way to get (to shelters)."

Stein said she was allowed in some of the most devastated areas, where only law enforcement was permitted, in order to help people evacuate.

"I was driving like gritting my teeth to keep myself from crying," Stein said.

Christopher Blackshear drives a TransDev paratransit van and worked to bring residents in wheelchairs to safe locations.

"You could just tell from the look on their faces that they really were at a loss for words," Blackshear said. "You know, they don't even know if they got a place to come back to."

PSTA bus driver Leon Smiley also drove people to shelters and told FOX 13 he worked with the sheriff’s office to help evacuate people from St. Pete Beach.

"You just don't believe it’s going to happen to you," Smiley said. "And now, when they tell me to get out, I'm out. That's what my strongest suggestion to people is because this was like a nightmare."

In some cases, after first responders rescued people in high-water events, PSTA bus drivers were responsible for getting those people to a safe place. In total, PSTA drivers helped with 1,229 targeted evacuation rides requested by Pinellas County Emergency Management.

"Let them know that, you know, there is hope," Smiley said of what he told riders during the storms. "Just be strong and move forward."

Oct. 28 marked the first day of normal operations for PSTA, which is looking to hire more bus drivers. For more information, click here.

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