Ernest Fernandez paused, letting his student take the lead on an ambling walk down West Tampa Bay Boulevard.
The pair had just hopped off a bus on Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority’s Route 45. Now Crystal Riley, a 19-year-old with Down syndrome, just had to nail the 10-minute walk to school.
“She’s pretty good at doing this part,” Fernandez said. “We’re still working on the bus part.”
As Riley walked on, Fernandez called ahead: “Crystal, you remember how to get there, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, you’re gonna show me.”
Riley is one of Fernandez’s seven students in a revived program by HART called travel training. Over the last three months, Fernandez, a former high school Spanish teacher, has helped each student — all young adults with mental disabilities — navigate the bus route from home to school and back.
Fernandez will shadow a student for a week or two, helping them pay fares and memorize a route. Once he deems a student ready, Fernandez will follow behind in a car as they complete their route alone — the final test.
So far, Fernandez’s graduation rate is 100%.
HART has done travel training since 2001, but the pandemic halted the program, said Frank Wyszynski, HART’s spokesperson. Between 2016 and 2021, the transit agency conducted one-on-one training sessions with over 400 people in Hillsborough County. The program is primarily targeted at people with disabilities, but not exclusively. After his ride with Riley, Fernandez was making plans to help a church group ride the bus to the mall.
Riley finished her walk to school and entered the classroom, Fernandez in tow. Riley, like Fernandez’s other students, is enrolled in a health careers program for young adults with disabilities called Realizing Exceptional Achievements at a Community Hospital.
It’s one of the first community programs to use HART’s revived travel training. Instructors with the hospital program focus on readying students for independent living. Bus training is a critical part of that, teacher Sonia Gonzalez said.
When HART’s travel training went offline during the pandemic, teachers from the hospital program began riding the bus with students themselves.
“The point of that is just for them to be a good employee,” Gonzalez said. “I can’t call in because my mom’s car broke down, right? (Instead), get on the bus. You might be an hour late, but you’re going to get there.”
As Riley and other students settled in, Gonzalez took a count of hands: how many had already done their travel training with Fernandez?
All but one raised their hands.
Gonzalez began surveying the room: “What do you like about the bus?”
Some said they like the landmarks Fernandez points out to help them remember the route. Riley simply pointed a wavering hand at Fernandez.
Fernandez, HART’s only travel trainer, said his new job is filled with plenty of victories. He feels joy when he watches a student independently make it to school. But he’s also doubted that some of his students will pass.
Riley and Fernandez’s trek back was slower, as the beating midday sun drenched them in sweat. Riley kneeled at Fernandez’s side, taking reprieve in his shade, as she waited to cross the street. After parking on a bench at the bus stop, her gaze fluttered to her phone. One bus passed by.
“Crystal, look, is that ours?” Fernandez asked.
“Yeah.”
“That’s not ours! You’ve got to stay focused.”
Minutes later, the Route 45 bus pulled to the curb.
“OK, Crystal, this is us,” Fernandez said.
He pulled back, watching Riley tap her Flamingo payment card and find a seat on her own.
“I think a lot of what I’m doing is reassuring them that they’re capable,” Fernandez said. “And that they can complete the program.”
Fernandez will soon serve other groups in the area: a University of South Florida program for adults with disabilities and Lighthouse For the Blind & Low Vision, a Tampa nonprofit. Those partnerships would put HART’s travel training program more on par with other travel programs in the region, like the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s. In 2023, PSTA travel trained 342 people, said Ross Silvers, mobility manager for the agency.
Per the Americans with Disabilities Act, buses and stops must be accessible for people with disabilities, said Barb Page, a legal expert for Disability Rights Florida, a statewide advocacy group. Travel training goes a step further, she said, by ensuring people with disabilities actually use the service.
Fernandez and Riley hopped off their last bus and walked across the street, where Riley’s mom, Barbara, stood waiting. Fernandez said he’ll spend next week helping her daughter stay awake and attentive.
“That second week is when things start to turn around,” he said. “There’s a lot of patience in this process.”
Barbara Riley sometimes fears for her daughter, away from home on a public bus.
But “I want to promote independence,” she said. “I want her to be a part of the community.”
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