Cindy Dawson misses her Mazda.

The 66-year-old retired vacation saleswoman loved to zip around in her sporty gold RX-7. It was freedom in the form of a sporty stick shift.

Then, three years ago, a heart condition forced the Gulfport resident to give up the keys and sell her car. Now she relies on the county's bus system to shop, get to the doctor and visit friends.

"I had to learn to just chill out because it takes quite a bit of time to get around," said Dawson, one of thousands who struggle each day with limited offerings from the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and are now caught in the middle of a fierce debate over the Greenlight Pinellas transit referendum.

If approved by a majority of voters on Nov. 4, Greenlight would raise the county's sales tax by a penny, to 8 cents on the dollar, to expand bus service and build a light rail line between St. Petersburg and Clearwater through the Gateway area. The sales tax would replace the property tax that currently funds PSTA.

Proponents say the rail line would serve as the spine of a transformed transit system, connecting the county's three biggest employment centers and spurring redevelopment. Opponents have zeroed in on the $1.6 billion train component of the $2.2 billion plan, calling it a boondoggle that few would use.

Even Greenlight critics agree the bus system needs improvement, but Greenlight is a package deal, so thousands of voters who don't like the idea of light rail will also be deciding the fate of the bus system. PSTA officials say Greenlight's defeat could force them to cut bus service by up to 30 percent because the agency cannot continue to raid reserve funds to keep the existing system running.

Hanging in the balance are people who have no choice but to ride the bus. According to a 2012 survey of PSTA riders, 57 percent did not have a driver's license and 28 percent said that without public transit they would not have made their trip.

Here are some of their stories:

Dwayne, college student

The Route 5 bus hisses as Dwayne McCray steps off the curb at Central Avenue and 36th Street, a short walk from his St. Petersburg apartment.

It's Thursday and the 31-year-old Boca Ciega High graduate is bound for calculus class on St. Petersburg College's Gibbs campus on Fifth Avenue N, a 15 minute ride.

His ultimate destination: business ownership.

McCray envisions a bakery where people dream up their own cake designs for him to whip into reality. He plans to call it Pretty Bird Cakes.

McCray will finish his associate's degree next year. He's the student government president on SPC's Midtown St. Petersburg campus but takes classes at the Gibbs and Seminole campuses.

Unable to afford a car, McCray uses a bus system that limits his choices at SPC. The last bus from the Seminole campus leaves about 6:40 p.m., and the last from Gibbs about 8 p.m. He could not major in entrepreneurship as he planned because the buses didn't run late enough for him to attend the classes.

"Extended hours would be so beneficial," he said.

So would increased frequency. If one bus to the Seminole campus is two minutes late, he misses his connection and must wait an hour for the next one.

"People have goals, and it's harder to attain those goals without the help of the bus system," McCray said. "Try to park your car for a week to see what it's like."

Hazel, retiree on a budget

Stepping slowly in her black Nike sneakers, Hazel Shine rolls a white metal handcart onto the Route 78 bus near her apartment on Kings Highway in Clearwater.

The bus is bound for Westfield Countryside mall after looping through Dunedin. Shine, 60, is headed to the Helping Hands pantry, hoping for a haul of canned goods to help stretch her disability check. Her glaucoma and cataracts would prevent her from driving anyway even if she could afford a car. She rides about four times a week to shop and see the doctor.

The 78 bus runs once an hour and stops shortly before 7 p.m. on weekdays and 4 p.m. on Sundays. If the bus ran later and more often, she could ride to weekday and Sunday services at the Bible Church of God in Clearwater instead of relying on a fellow church member.

The bus heads east on Main Street. A recorded voice reminds riders that voters will be asked on Nov. 4 to switch PSTA's funding source from a property tax to a sales tax, then directs listeners to the Greenlight website. Moments later, the bus rolls by a large red yard sign for the No Tax for Tracks opposition group.

As a renter, Shine would not benefit from the elimination of the PSTA property tax. She mainly buys necessities and is willing to pay a little more on other items.

"It would mean more freedom, and there are a lot of other people who feel that way," she said.

Karen & Joyce, housekeepers

The shadows of hotels along Gulf Boulevard have begun to stretch by the time the Route 90 bus stops for five housekeepers in yellow and blue Hawaiian shirts.

It's Thursday, and they have just finished another long day scrubbing tubs and changing sheets at the Tradewinds Island Resort. They left work about 5 p.m., plenty of time to catch last bus to St. Petersburg 30 minutes later, but sometimes their shift runs longer.

"Then we're stuck," said Karen Reynolds, 50, who takes two buses to her home in Coquina Key. The second bus doesn't run late enough on Sundays, so she must find a ride home or walk a few miles.

Joyce Vorns, 39, moved from Chicago a year ago to be closer to family. She had a car until an accident forced her onto the bus. She catches the 90 on 34th Street S near 18th Avenue S just after 7 a.m.

She hadn't heard much about Greenlight. When told of the higher sales tax, she arches an eyebrow.

"The low-income people, it's going to cost them more," she said. "I don't know if that would be good."

Greenlight opponents argue that hiking the sales tax would hurt the poor. Supporters note that sales tax does not apply to necessities such as groceries and medicine, that tourists would pay about one-third of the sales tax, and that low-income residents would benefit the most from a more robust transit system.

Back in Chicago, Vorns worked as a mental health technician. She wants to go back to school and get back into the health field, but she can't take classes after work with the current bus schedule.

She hopes to figure out a way.

Bill, former Marine

The man in a red muscle shirt and matching red Nikes waves a bare arm as the minibus rounds a bend on Enterprise Road.

Bill Miller, 77, steps onto the bus at the entrance to Villas at Countryside and greets driver Lenny Bove like an old friend. A Marine Corps veteran and retired shoe salesman, Miller has been riding the North County Connector since PSTA started the service two years ago.

The connectors, which run in Palm Harbor, East Lake, Dunedin, Countryside and Oldsmar, with an offshoot to Tampa, leave their set routes by up to three-quarters of a mile to pick up riders who don't live near a bus stop or aren't able to ride a traditional bus.

For Miller, who sold his Mitsubishi Lancer after a suspected stroke left him legally blind, "this is the best thing since sliced bread." He rides four or five times a week, usually to the gym and the grocery store. Today, he's headed to the Morton Plant Mease Wellness Center on U.S. 19 near Tampa Road.

He rents his villa and would happily pay the extra sales tax, but he's not sure about a light rail line. Still, he plans to vote for Greenlight. "It's going to help the Connector, and I use the Connector."

Cindy, frequent rider

Cindy Dawson, the former Mazda owner, peers out the window as the Route 52 bus rumbles north on 49th Street.

She usually takes Routes 14 and 15 from Gulfport toward downtown St. Petersburg to shop, but today she's visiting a friend.

Retired but looking for part-time work, she turned down two job offers because the 14 doesn't run late enough. She's tired of feeling confined by the shorter hours, especially on Sundays, as if she has a curfew.

If Greenlight passes, she'd be 76 when the light rail opens in 2024. She hopes to take the line to Clearwater, then a bus to the beach. She wants Pinellas to have a system like Portland, with convenient rail and buses the run every 15 minutes.

Money is tight, but she doesn't see the higher sales tax as a burden.

"If you ride the bus every day, you're willing to pay."

Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8779. Follow @tmarrerotimes.