YOUR TOWN

Flagler County bus driver earns Driver of the Year Award from state commission

Richard Briggs has transported more than 31,300 passengers over 281,000 miles without a complaint or accident.

By Julie Murphy, Flagler County Communications Coordinator
| 12:10 p.m. September 8, 2023

Driver Richard Briggs with a county paratransit bus. Photo courtesy of the Flagler County government

Palm Coast Observer
Your Town

Flagler County Transportation Driver Richard Briggs was selected by the Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged for the Driver of the Year Award.

The Department of Transportation invited Briggs to an awards ceremony at SeaWorld at the end of August.

“It was difficult to keep the news a secret until after the ceremony as they had asked,” said Transportation Manager Pia Thomas, who nominated Briggs. “I was so excited for him.”

In her nomination, Thomas spoke of Briggs’s work ethic.

Briggs, who has worked for Flagler County for six years, has transported more than 31,300 passengers over 281,000 miles without a complaint or accident.

“Richard also helps to train new operators,” Thomas wrote. “(He) is very kind and easygoing with a lot of patience.”

Flagler County Public Transportation is a paratransit bus system that is demand response, shared ride, and provides door-to-door service. It focuses on the elderly, people with disabilities and the transportation disadvantaged.

It provides transportation for:

Doctors' offices
Banks
Stores
Gyms
Nail appointments

Costs within Flagler County are $2 per ride. Medical trips to Volusia, St. Johns, Jacksonville, and Gainesville are available on select days at set rates.

Go to flaglercounty.gov/departments/transportation, or call 386-313-4100 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays.