DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Volusia County’s First Step Shelter is getting the bus stop it has been requesting.

This comes nearly two months after a resident was hit and killed trying to cross the street to catch the bus to get to work.

With her memorial flowers in place, Gia Lana Moore is still mourning the death of her best friend and fellow First Step Shelter resident, Ashley Baker. 

“I am taking it day by day, I still miss her and think about her every day,” Moore said. I try to remember the fun times that we had and not the bad times.”

According to state troopers, Baker was crossing Route 92 just before sunrise on January 25 when she was hit and killed. She was trying to get to the bus stop across the road from the shelter to get to her first day at a new job. It is a tragedy hard for Moore to forget. 

“Last time I took the bus, it was a little bit scary because we still had to cross the street,” Moore said. 

It’s a fear she won’t have to face much longer, thanks to a unanimous vote by Volusia County council members on Tuesday. Votran will apply to the Florida Department of Transportation for a $56,000 transit grant set aside for it to build a new bus stop just outside the shelter’s gates. 

"They don’t have to cross the street. They literally just have to walk along the side here," said Caron Delancy, the operations director at First Step Shelter, while gesturing to the area reserved for the bus stop. 

It is exactly what shelter leaders have been pushing for since Baker was killed. 

“I am elated at the fact that I don’t have to be worried that, you know, are they going to make it over?" Delancy said. 

She says after losing Baker, it became very clear how much this new bus stop was needed and Votran partnered up with them almost additionally. She said Votran even hired some of their residents, picking them up for work and dropping them off every day while the new bus stop is worked on. 

“We are really appreciative of them and Volusia County for being able to step in to make sure that the bus stop actually takes place,” Delancy said. 

It’s a change Moore said she believes will protect the lives of shelter residents for years to come. 

“I think we will feel a lot better now that we will be able to have safe and reliable transportation,” Moore said.

Moore said she hopes the bus stop will memorialize Baker and the life she wanted to spend helping others. 

“I think she’d be very proud,” Moore said. 

A firm date has not been set for when the bus stop will go into service, a Volusia County spokesperson said.

According to the shelter, a 500 foot concrete slab will need to be constructed to give riders a safe place to board the bus. ​