FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Jeff Shuler or Roger Fraser, Lee County Transit (LeeTran)
               (239) 277-5012

LEE TRAN DRIVER HEADED AGAIN TO STATE DRIVING CHAMPIONSHIP

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 26, 2004) - Norm Miknyocki - a 17-year veteran of Lee County's Transit System - is heading to the Florida championship of bus driving after taking the local crown.

Miknyocki was the overall winner of the 2004 LeeTran Roadeo (held April 18 at Edison Community College), which tests the skills of local drivers as they maneuver 35-foot buses through a variety of obstacles.

Miknyocki also was the local 2003 winner and went on to place third at the Florida State Roadeo, and competed at the International Bus Roadeo in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The local Roadeo pits bus operators against a tough obstacle course as they try to maneuver a 35-foot bus in tight turns, around tall cones, over tennis balls and through a tunnel of barrels - all while being timed. The winner is the driver who completes the course with a combination of the fewest number of errors and fastest time.

The top three in the event were:

• 1st place - Norm Miknyocki
• 2nd place - A.J. Hartman
• 3rd place - Justin Higginbotham