PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — "It's kind of an easy ask," said Steven Brown.
He had only one question for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority: can our disabled veterans ride for free?
"One of my taglines for the entire project is, it's the least we can do. And I feel like giving back to the veteran community is, like, it should be at the forefront of this country's conversation," he explained.
He took that question straight to the PSTA Board.
"I asked for a piece and I got the whole pie," he laughed.
That pie: every single veteran gets to ride the bus for free. A huge accomplishment for Brown, that all started with a school project.
"We had to pick a policy that we wanted to change and implement, bring to the effective government body, and try to make it happen."
Brown, a University of South Florida student, and veteran, knew immediately that he wanted to give back to his fellow veterans.
"I did an interview with a social worker at the VA who works over at Bay Pines, and we talked about the pressing need for people to have transportation to get back and forth to the VA."
When the free rides launch in November, about 73,000 veterans throughout Pinellas will have free access to the bus.
James Phillips, a Transit Planner for PSTA, shares the passion to give back to veterans. Working on the proposal was a big deal for him.
"It makes me feel great because, you know, this is for leisure trips, for life-sustaining trips, for employment. Or just, you know, I simply don't feel like driving today."
James Phillips is more than a PTSA employee; he's a veteran too.
"This is just kind of me giving back to my brothers and sisters, who have also served, who have led the way before me," he said.
Phillips says there was a lot of research that went into planning to launch the new service.
"We look at what other agencies are doing. So we looked at Polk County and Pasco County. Our neighbors have already instituted programs like that. And we look across the nation as well," he said. "We kind of, you know, borrow and steal, you know, but it's all it's all for a good purpose to help veterans."
PST is also in the middle of determining just how many veterans use the bus.
"Every four years, the agency does a community plus survey, where we survey the riders that are out there and are currently riding our systems. And right now, we're doing that survey. Later this year, we'll have a solid estimate of how many veterans are riding the bus," he explained.
Phillips says more changes could come to PSTA; it just takes some initiative from the community.
"We always love community-led assists and led initiatives. And when the citizens come up with a really good idea like this, we have staff will go back and see how feasible this is, and we bring that to the board, and they'll go out and vote and see if it's a good idea or not," said Phillips.
Brown hopes this serves as proof that change can happen; it just starts with the right question.
"There's nothing stopping you from just procuring the information that you need in order to take up the initiatives and passions that you want to," Brown said.
Brown plans to ride the bus changes to the top.
"This was a big win, but I don't want to focus on the incremental wins. You know, I want to want to take this, if I can, all the way to the state level," he said.
Veterans will be able to get a bus pass for free rides starting November 10. That's the Marine Corps birthday and the day before Veterans Day.
