HART Driver Named Best in State

October 29, 2007 – Tampa, Florida – People who ride Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) buses every day know its drivers are some of the best in the business. Now, one HART operator has claimed the title of best in the state, as the Florida Public Transportation Association bestowed its prestigious Driver of the Year award to HART’s Robert Whitfield at a banquet held in Orlando on October 23rd.

Robert’s achievement marks the second time in three years a HART driver has been named the FPTA’s Driver of the Year. HART veteran Patrick McKeon received the award for 2005.

Robert has more than twenty-six years of service with HART, joining the agency in June of 1981. He is a two-time recipient of HART’s Driver of the Month award, first in April 1988 and again in December 2006. In June of this year, Robert received special recognition for working on HART’s Bus Stop Evaluation and Analysis Project, an exhaustive study of each of the agency’s more than 4,500 bus stops and transit centers.

In 1988, Robert became a distinguished member of the National Safety Council Million-Mile Safe Driver club for driving more than one million miles without a preventable accident. This April, he achieved 24 years of safe driving at HART.

When Robert was just 17 years old, he served our country by enlisting in the Army and becoming a member of the 101st Airborne Division.

Robert's wife says he is a dedicated family man, and he has a daughter, a son and two grandsons who all love him dearly. In his leisure time, Robert enjoys karaoke, fishing, hunting, woodwork, camping, cooking out and tending to his landscaping.

“HART is fortunate and honored to have a dedicated employee like Robert as part of our team,” commented HART Chief Executive Officer David Armijo. “Robert is a shining example of the many able professionals behind the wheels of HART buses every day and we congratulate him on this much-deserved award.”

The mission of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) is to provide public transportation services which are safe, dependable and cost effective, thereby enhancing the quality of life in our community.

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