Boyster named 2020 Major Ed Pulido’s Hero of the Year

First Capital Trolley’s driver Claude Boyster won the Oklahoma Transit Association’s (OTA) 2020 Major Ed Pulido’s Hero of the Year award. Boyster was recognized at the 2020 Oklahoma State Driving Championships and Training Conference.

A Hero of the Year award nomination means someone has gone above and beyond their typical job duties. They go out of their way to help others and their agency has recognized this. Especially during this pandemic there have been a lot of changes, extra cleaning, sanitizing and mask wearing is a must.

Claude, who lives in Guthrie, has been a driver for First Capital Trolley for 14 years. His normal workday begins at 2 p.m. and ends at 10 p.m. Claude does after school trips at 3:15 p.m. and takes them either home or to daycare, and they tell him about what they ate for lunch and what they did at recess.

Claude’s on-demand route starts about 4 p.m. and he takes people to work, shopping, and other essential places until 10 p.m. He said roughly 70 to 80 percent are routine passengers, and most are older people. Many riders work at Walmart, McDonald’s, Braum’s, or one of the two Sonics, and sometimes Claude takes people to the park where there are walking trails and disc golf.

During the late shift, Claude regularly has passengers he takes home from the bars, and he believes it’s important to help people no matter what they’ve done or what condition they are in.

“It’s our job to get them home safely,” Claude said. “Without our service, I’d be nervous with them taking matters into their own hands and possibly getting hurt or injuring someone else.”

When asked what he likes about his job, Claude said he likes all his customers and coworkers, and that they’re a lot of fun to be with. He truly enjoys interacting with the public. Claude is known to go above and beyond every day as a matter of routine.