McGuire’s 39-year career is dedicated to helping others

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Each morning, Elaine McGuire arrives to work hours before the sun rises. She has a staff of 33 people, a fleet of 25 buses and a strong commitment to all the county residents who depend on Hamilton County Express (HCE) to meet their transportation needs. As Janus’ transportation manager, McGuire has provided the vision and the leadership needed to help expand HCE since its inception in 2007.

McGuire began working at Janus in 1980, just a year after Janus opened its doors.

“I always knew that I wanted to help people with disabilities,” said McGuire. “When I was a teenager, I worked at both the Children’s Homes in Arcadia and in Cicero.”

So, it was an easy decision for McGuire to take a job teaching life skills to adults with disabilities at Janus’ Noblesville facility. After a couple of years, she joined Janus’ transportation department driving one of the four vans used to transport Janus clients from their homes to their community worksite. Before too long, she was promoted to the position of transportation manager, a position that she still holds today in a department that has more than quadrupled in size.

In 2003, the City of Noblesville partnered with Janus to provide a fixed route transportation service, using a former Noblesville Schools Corporation bus, as well as an on-demand van service to serve residents within the city. Just four years later, with McGuire playing a crucial role, HCE was launched by Hamilton County and Janus as a public transportation pilot program to serve residents.

The success of that pilot program can be seen today in HCE, which in 2018, provided 62,346 one-way passenger trips to county residents. Each day, McGuire emphasizes driver safety training and preparedness to her team. Over the past 16 years, HCE has consistently received perfect scores in all INDOT required compliance reviews.

McGuire is proud of those positive reviews, but says, “I guess what I am most proud of is that we get individuals throughout Hamilton County out to their jobs and to things they want to do!”

In fact, she has much to be proud of, including a day in 2011 when Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear issued a proclamation recognizing February 22, 2011 as “Elaine McGuire Day” in the City of Noblesville.

As Janus’ longest-serving team member, Elaine continues to lead HCE while displaying a strong commitment to providing superior transit services to the Hamilton County community that is so important to her.

To request a ride on HCE, please call (317) 773-2688 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information on HCE, please visit HCEpublictransit.org.