HRT Trolley Operator is Living Her Best Life Helping Others

Linda Smith has been driving the VB Wave Trolley for 19 summers and says, “this is the coolest summer job anyone could have!”

Smith started in 2003 as a seasonal driver but ended up staying on as a permanent part-time operator until 2007. Following the birth of her granddaughter that year, she moved to seasonal only and has been back every summer since, except the summer of 2017. She had to sit that summer out after having surgery.

Smith did the campground run for the first 10 summers. Many families returned year after year, and she got to know some of them pretty well. They even kept in touch with her, sending her cards, letters, and pictures of their kids. Smith says, “I saw people’s children grow up.”

Smith understands her role is more than just a trolley operator. “People are here to have a good time,” she said. Helping visitors to the resort city figure out where things are, what they can do, and where they want to go is what she enjoys the most.

Smith says the trolley base crew is like a second family to her now. There are others like her who return summer after summer to work at the VB Wave. She says her trolley family was her saving grace that summer she had surgery and couldn’t work.

Before coming to HRT, Smith was an Administrative Manager with New York City Off Track Betting Corporation. She spent 30 years working in a high rise in mid-town Manhattan in the heart of Times Square before retiring in 2002.

She ended up in Hampton Roads because of her daughter, who had just finished her medical school residency and got a job here. Mom and dad soon followed. Eventually, another daughter and a son moved here too. Then her brother and his wife decided to relocate as well.

Smith was in her mid-50’s when she started at HRT. ?She rarely drove herself anywhere. Plus, she worked in mid-town Manhattan for over 30 years and was accustomed to using public transportation to get to work. When she told her family that she was going to be a trolley driver, they were “shocked!”

One of the first things she had to do was obtain a CDL.? Smith is proud that she only had to take the CDL test one time and missed getting a perfect score by just one point.

“This is where I should have been for 30 years,” Smith says. Now she’s living her life with “no tension… and it’s fun!”