On a regular route on a regular day, the STARS bus comes to a stop and opens its doors for a rider in a wheelchair. Like clockwork, a man in a Walmart vest gets up, goes to the door, and helps the wheelchair user make their way onto the bus.

Saginaw resident Todd Rennea Boone first assumed this was a spontaneous act of kindness. Turns out, it was a part of the riders’ daily routine. Before she could speak up to compliment the gesture, other riders told her the same young man helped the same passenger every time they shared the route.

“[When you ride the bus] you see how community looks after each other,” Boone said.

Boone is the founder of nTechQuity, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing tech literacy by pairing elders with tech-savvy youth, a retired teacher, and, despite owning a car, a self-proclaimed ‘bus rider.’

She rides the bus not out of necessity, but out of curiosity for her community and a desire for connection.

“When I ride the bus, I get to see the city from a different perspective. I see a different perspective when I ride my bike, when I walk, and when I drive a car… But on the bus, I get to watch how people take care of each other,” she said.

Boone was born and raised in Saginaw. She spent several years out of state, where she met her husband and started her family, before eventually returning home. Now, she spends her time getting to know the Saginaw community. Recently, she took the opportunity to meet others by attending the STARS Health and Wellness Fair.

“[Riding with STARS] is a good opportunity to connect with your community,” Boone said.

When her father passed away in 2023, Boone moved in with her mom, Darlean Carpenter, to provide support. Despite the hardship her family faced, Boone managed to find a new path forward at the bus stop just two houses down the street. The route took her downtown where she could walk the rest of the way to her office.

“I love people and interacting with people. I want to move away from judging people and making assumptions about people.”

On her mission to do just that, Boone finds unlikely connections at the downtown STARS plaza. During a recent conversation with another rider, she discovered she knew their father from a long time ago. Boone recalls that he was well-respected within the Saginaw community, a steelworker, and an old friend.

Boone said to the rider, “So, you’re here with this whole legacy, catching the bus?”

The rider responded by telling her he made a bad choice or two in his life, and Boone replied, “Well, who amongst us here hasn’t?”
The conversation that followed was a mix of sharing stories and drawing more connections between their families and friends.
“When I met him, I thought to myself: this is Saginaw,” Boone said.

For Boone, those connections include the people behind the wheel, too.

“The drivers are amazing, they’re fun, and because I’ve lived here all my life, I pretty much know a lot of the people who are driving the buses.”

Jacob Gaines is a STARS driver with over six years of experience, and he’s known Boone since his kindergarten years. He said it’s not a surprise Boone rides to connect with others, because it’s part of her personality.

“There are some people I know who ride because it’s convenient. Some ride because they get a chance to mingle with other passengers on there. With Todd, she’s a people person, so I can see her doing that,” Gaines said.

Gaines drives for the Lift program at STARS. While Gaines doesn’t drive Boone on fixed routes, the two have stayed in touch over the years.
“When you get someone that’s genuine,” he said, “you want to stay in touch with them.”

Boone has never associated riding public transit with the stigma that some others do. Instead, it has become part of how she experiences the places she visits and the community she calls home.

“When I go to other cities, this is how I get around. I don’t drive, and I don’t get a taxi. I do mass transportation,” she said. “[Riding the bus] just feels like who I am.”