Champion Commuter
Denise Guiles - Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center
Denise is a Food Service Worker at Sacred Heart Medical Center. Her mom took her on her first bus ride when she was about 6 years old, and she’s been riding the bus ever since. She has never owned a car nor had her driver’s license!
Back in 1979, Denise worked at Sacred Heart and lived close enough to walk to work. Leaving to raise her daughter, Denise came back to Sacred Heart in 2004 and began riding the bus to work. Since then, she’s saved nearly 4,100 trips a over 64,000 miles from our Spokane County roads. Looking at these stats, it made me inquire about our top performers since we launched our calendar in 2003. Denise is in the top 20! Quite an achievement!!!
Wherever she’s lived, Denise always made sure to be close to bus routes and shopping. Winter weather can be a challenge for her, but she says she gets creative on how to get to her bus stops. A friend from work gave her a pair of shoes with ice spikes, and that helps her maneuver icy roads. The only other challenge she has are how close some of her connections are. If the bus runs late, sometimes she’ll miss her connection and must wait about 40 minutes at the STA Plaza for the next bus. And at 10pm, she’s seen some crazy things.
Denise appreciates the fully subsidized transit passes that Providence provides all employees. Denise is always encouraging her fellow co workers to try transit! When she hears some having a difficult time getting to work, she’s always willing to help them with a bus route that can accommodate their schedules. She’s had at least 2 employees begin riding the bus on a regular basis.
She’s made friends with several of her bus drivers over the years. She even went to court to testify for a driver, after she was on the bus during an accident. The STA driver was found not to be at fault and was very thankful.
ETC, Seth Norman, states “Denise’s dedication to riding the bus and participating in our CTR program is simply inspiring”!
Congratulations Denise!