Congratulations To SPARTA's 500,000th Passenger of The Year!

Daily routine earns rider free bus passes, $50 prize
Compliments of the Spartanburg Herald Journal
Dudley Brown, Staff Writer
 

Fannie Mae Williams said she's never won anything in her life.

But last week, Williams was rewarded for a routine she has followed for more than 40 years.

 Williams, 74, was recognized as the Spartanburg Area Regional Transit Agency's 500,000th rider for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

She received a year's worth of bus passes, a $50 gift card for Wal-Mart, and there are plans to include her in an ad for SPARTA at one its bus shelters.

If space is available, her image could be added to the side of a city bus.

"I ride every day, Monday through Friday," Williams said.

She started riding city buses in 1960, and she remembers when buses had no air conditioning or heat. She remembers not having the convenience of waiting for another bus at SPARTA's downtown Passenger Center, too.

"We'd be cold, but we waited," Williams said.

Williams lives off New Cut Road, and she usually boards the bus near Spartanburg Technical College. The bus takes her to the Passenger Center, where she boards another bus to Hillcrest. She works as a housekeeper for two east-side families, and they pick her up at the bus stop at Hillcrest.

Brenda Swinney, a bus driver, said she's known Williams for 25 years. Swinney usually picks up Williams at the bus stop near Spartanburg Tech.

They talk about gardening, and Williams usually brings Swinney apples and vegetables.

"She's very generous," Swinney said. "She has a good heart."

Swinney said she couldn't think of a better person to have been SPARTA's recognized rider.

"She's a very faithful passenger and worker," Swinney said.

Williams' husband of 42 years, Johnnie, died of colon cancer earlier this year. She said he had a car and a truck, but she didn't get that interested in driving.

"As long as the bus came through here, I didn't worry about it," Williams said.

In all, SPARTA had 501,677 riders last fiscal year, said Marc Keenan, SPARTA's general manager. Keenan said this was the first year since 2002 that SPARTA reached the half-million mark.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 38,599 in 2004, and Keenan said SPARTA is averaging 41,000 rides a month.

"There's a good many people in Spartanburg that ride the bus," Keenan said.

Dudley Brown can be reached at 562-7426 or  

 dudley.brown@shj.com.