Longtime bus driver brings sunshine to clients

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - For nearly three decades, there has been no brighter ray of light on the Sunshine Line than Dorcas Figueroa. 

“I love her that’s all I can say. She’s wonderful,” said passenger Patricia O’Neal. 

“She’s like family. Maybe even better than family absolutely a lot of times,” offered passenger Flavia Torano.

She’s logged close to a half-million miles transporting senior across Hillsborough County. 

“We take them to the mall, we take them to get their medicines, doctors’ offices, just in general whatever they need," said Figueroa. 

They are the reason why she’s stayed behind the wheel for this long. 

“I love the people, I love the elderly," Figueroa continued. "I was raised with elderly people so I enjoy working with them."

“I think she’s marvelous," Torano said. "She’s the best that could ever happen to us because she understands us, she empathizes with us, she knows we have problems, she laughs with us, and she cries with us. She’s the best."

“Dorcas is a wonderful person. She has that kind of personality that is uplifting. Even when someone is having the worst day, she has that positive effect that can change their day,” said Scott Clark, the director of the Sunshine Line. 

“To know that they have someone they can count on to pick them up and take them where they need to go and just have an ear for them,” added Figueroa.