Beaming on the Sunshine Bus

By Ant Perrucci

At the Sunshine Bus depot at US-1 and Pope Road out on Anastasia Island, four buses idle in line, 10 minutes from beginning their 3:45 p.m. run.

About two dozen people wait. A man in a Red Lobster uniform, an elderly woman with several bags and a full-size table lamp wait. The sun’s getting hot.

Connie’s a middle-aged blonde woman, waiting for her ride. Why does she ride the bus?

“Well, I got a DUI,” she said. Connie thinks most people who are riding the bus are forced into it because of legal troubles, disability or some other such problem. Connie refused to give her last name.

Quarter to four rolls around. The buses load.

***

George Hesson manages the Sunshine Bus Company, and today, he was driving the Red Line. The route takes him through downtown St. Augustine, and when he found out about this article, he became positively gleeful.

“Another one!” he said. “We’re getting all kinds of publicity this month.”

The Sunshine Bus Company began in 1999 with two buses, and in nine years has expanded to five lines, plus a connecter route, with plans to expand in the works. The Sunshine Bus is a division of the St. Johns County Council on Aging.

The current routes, color coded, go as far north as the Avenues Mall on the Purple line, and as far south as Highway 206 on the green.

“We’re working on going to Hastings and Flagler Estates,” Hesson said. As he drives, he talks about tourism, the cost of gas and the economy.

“This is not a good June,” Hesson said. “Except for us,” he added brightly. “Gas prices have really helped us.”

Hesson pled ignorance when asked what the company spends on gas per month.

“Oh, God, I couldn’t even start to tell you,” he said. “I know it’s up a third over the past year.”

Most of the buses run on regular gas, with a handful of the vehicles powered by diesel, Hesson said, though he also said that most of the drivers prefer the regular buses.

Despite Hesson’s gregarious personality, the Red Line wasn’t particularly talkative. To be honest, nobody spoke to one another, and it began to feel uncomfortable, almost like public transport of the damned.

Melissa Nicodemus, riding to work at Fusion Point, was one of the few willing to talk.

“It’s a pretty good little system, you can’t beat it,” Nicodemus said.

When the Red Line stopped at Winn-Dixie on US-1, a woman named Janie – who also declined to give her last name – got on.

“You can’t go wrong for a dollar, and you can go almost anywhere,” she said, shuffling bags.

Her only complaint, she said, is that “the wait is a little exceedingly long.”

***

The Blue Line is piloted today by one Jim Rodgers.

“[The buses] provide a definite need for people around town,” he said. “People who can’t drive for whatever reason, age, disability, DUI …”

The Blue Line was nearly empty on the last run of the day.

“The majority of us [drivers] are part-time or retired from other things,” Rodgers said.

At the intersection of US-1 and Highway 312, the discussion of safety came up; the intersection is one of the busiest in town, and Rodgers relayed a story about a regular passenger that wanted to get off at the intersection.

Rodgers refused, and dropped her off a short distance away from the heavy traffic.

The woman boarded the bus a short time later, without a word. She exited the bus, silently as well.

“Guess she’s still mad at me,” Rodgers shrugged.

***

Sitting on a yellow park bench in front of the St. Johns County Library is Joey. No last name.

A retiree, Joey moved to St. Augustine in 2003 from New York, he explained in his still-present Bronx accent.

Joey was waiting on the Purple to State Road 16, he said.

“I go into town, read the paper, have a cup of coffee,” he explained.

He paused.

“The bus takes me anywhere I want to go, and I don’t mind waiting,” Joey said with a shrug.

The sun beat down, storm clouds loomed ominously off in the distance, and down the road, the yellow bus rumbled on.