r/BusDrivers Dec 24 '25

Christmas/Holidays/End-of-year umbrella thread

2 Upvotes

Hi all!

So.... I thought it'd be nice to have a dedicated thread for holiday thoughts, well-wishes, summaries of the past year, etc.

On a personal level for me, it was a good year with a very hectic ending. I've spent my first year abroad, with a new company through an agency, moved I think 3 times, and just when I was starting to get somewhat comfortable, I had to change companies and agency again at the end of the year (not by choice), and.... move again... 🫣 On the other hand, I'm greatful for all the new experiences, most of them being good.

I think I'll make another post about how things went with the concession transition here, but first I need some PTSD therapy lol. It was/kind of is, an awful mess.

I want to wish everyone who's celebrating now happy holidays and a great new year. Thank you for your work, moderators. And here's to more of the same!

Over to you all, but keep it nice! šŸ˜†


r/BusDrivers Jun 11 '25

bullpen FAQ

22 Upvotes

Hello, here are some frequently asked questions and some basic answers.

  1. What gift to give? General consensus have routinely been gift cards, little toys, and coffee.

  2. Interview questions? Expect questions from basic road rules to customer service. Questions will differ from country to country and agency to agency.

  3. How hard is it to get a CDL class b and endorsements? It's not that hard. study the book, listen to instructors, and you will pass.

  4. What do you do with passengers...? This has almost become a meme at this point. We do not wait for passengers. Some drivers may wait if they see a person running for the bus, but from my experience and it seems to be a consensus of others that you missed the bus.

  5. Stagecoach...? Please search the sub first. While there really hasn't been a specific question asked multiple times, it does show up a lot.

  6. Greyhound...? Please search the sub first. While there really hasn't been a specific question asked multiple times, it does show up a lot.

  7. Differences between charter, tour, transit, school? The main difference between all of these is the time you spend out. Charter be prepared to be gone all the time. Tour work like hell for six months, then relax. Transit picked route and known working days. School mornings and afternoons with some field trips.

  8. Pre/post trip and air break check? This is only learned by repeating it. Do it every day.

  9. Sleep and bad night of rest? Don't be scared of saying the F word. Fatigue is better to say than answering questions to police, ntsb, safety, and dot. If you feel you can not operate safely, better not to then roll the dice.

  10. Is bus driving easy? Or thinking about becoming a driver? Not everyone can be a bus driver. It takes passion for this industry, and it does eat people alive. Charter drivers regularly hit there 70 hour limit of driving, and that's not counting the downtime that is paid. Public transportation has assaults and harassment.

School drivers put up with God knows what. You should really think if you're strong enough to do this job. It's hard on drivers and our families. Don't think it's easy because all we do is drive. We are responsible for everything bumper to bumper tire to roof. It's stressful, hard, rewarding, and fun, and can be a great time, but we hold the lives of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and grandparents in our hands.

Thank you all for taking the time to read. This list is nowhere near complete, and more may be added.

Special thanks to u/littlelauren12 who had this idea!


r/BusDrivers 4h ago

Question Can I give my number to a driver?

27 Upvotes

I don't want to get anyone in trouble.

I have a crush on one of my local TFL bus drivers.

Would he get in trouble if I slipped him my number when getting on/off the bus?

I've never written my number and handed it to a guy, so my anxiety is through the roof.

Anything I should know/keep in mind?

ETA: heading to bed. If there's an update next week I'll update this post.

Thank you all for your feedback.


r/BusDrivers 2h ago

Discussion What would you do? Public Transit Young Pax

9 Upvotes

A young kid comes on. He puts a fancy single speed bike with a nice paint job onto the bike rack. He appears to be in his early teens, wearing clean clothes. Nothing out of the ordinary.

This is our interaction:

Me: ā€œHello, good to see you.ā€

He looks up at me with the utmost contemptuous facial expression.

Him: ā€œCan’t say I feel the same.ā€

Me: ā€œHuh. Having a bad day?ā€

Him: ā€œF$&@ you driver.ā€

He scans his phone on the scanner and pays by credit card. He then stares at me dead in the eyes and flips me off before walking away. He goes and stands by the rear entrance.

Shortly after I take off, he starts yelling racial slurs at me (funny enough they didn’t apply to me, but I still felt offended). He mouthed off other things but eventually stopped and just stood there…

This got me thinking… As a middle aged gentleman, do I have an obligation to society to say something to this kid? What would you do? Has something like this happened to you?


r/BusDrivers 11h ago

Discussion Bus driver fired for what?

16 Upvotes

So at my depot here in London, UK which I've been with for the last two years, there's been a few guys I I knew of over the two years that have been fired.

3 guys fired for checking their phone while at the wheel in traffic.

The 4th guy, he jumped a temporary traffic light once, they reviewed it and said ok, for now we will allow you to drive. Few months later, he did it again. He was fired.

The 5th guy, he was fired for speeding 28 in a 20. He fell asleep at the stand and woke up late for departure, about 40 min late, I know. Anyway, he panicked drove as quick as he could to the other end. The controller reported the late departure and him falling asleep but that wouldn't get him fired. What did was when the manager reviewed the cameras, she zoomed in on his speed and had him dismissed for speeding. The Union argued she had no right to do that as she wasn't reviewing it for that purpose but only him falling asleep and departing late. He got his job back at the same depot which is currently where I am.

The 6th guy was was barely 19, I think he was still 18 at the time, he was driving a low frequency route through housing estates etc and it was night time. He had three passengers on his bus: two men and a lady...

He jumped a red light and being night time, it was obvious to the passenger, the lady passenger went to TFL and complained about it.

This red light was a red light in the sticks, no one around and many drivers have supposedly jumped it.

So yeah, that's what I know of. It seems the majority is checking their phones while in charge of a motor vehicle.

The guys fired for phones are now at different companies in London, dunno about the red light jumpers, I assume the kid moved on to a different line of work.

I myself don't even take my phone out of the cradle while driving my personal car, so God knows how they even thought to do it on a bus with 3-4 cameras watching them in the cab 24/7.


r/BusDrivers 4h ago

Training Question UK/EU Route Learning

4 Upvotes

Hi all,
I’m a recently qualified driver and am currently learning my beginner routes. I’m okay with pretty much all of them apart from one longer route, about a 3.5 hour round trip. Does anyone have any advice/tips and tricks to get the route memorised? Or is it simply a case of learning whist in service?
Thanks all


r/BusDrivers 3h ago

Question Interviewing for IndyGo (Indianapolis) on Thursday. Any Advice? Still a little nervous.

1 Upvotes

I got laid off of School District IT in May. I'm really bummed about it but I don't want to go back into IT. I'm ADHD and sitting in front of a computer all day wasn't a good fit.

I have a very safe driving record and I have driven across the US multiple times.

Believe it or not, after I complete the paid Indy Go training I would be making more than what I made in the school district central office, + all the OT I want.

Does this sound like a good idea? I have worked as a long term sub in an inner city High school before, so I know what its like to have people come at me. I'm also a pretty quick learner.

Do you have any advice?

Any Regrets?


r/BusDrivers 1d ago

Meme/Joke Looks like someone who would complain that the bus didn’t stop to pick her up

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63 Upvotes

r/BusDrivers 1d ago

Ride for the Day Thanks Dewalt for the clean wrap job

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10 Upvotes

r/BusDrivers 19h ago

Other Female Driver Looking for a Job

0 Upvotes

Hey. Lady driver (27) with 6 years experience (B class)looking for a job. Location, Nairobi. Good with kids so ideal for children school dropoffs & pickups, extra- curricular activities etc. Open to Personal Driving too,(preferably for ladies) Punctual, and very keen on the road. With Good Conduct,


r/BusDrivers 3d ago

Picture BusDog

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17 Upvotes

It took her a while to figure it out but she finally settled on the space to my left…. We’ll keep working on it.


r/BusDrivers 3d ago

Ride for the Day My neighbors are going to trip out when they wake up tomorrow but I ran out of drive time and home was closer than the yard….

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95 Upvotes

r/BusDrivers 3d ago

Story Thrown into service!

11 Upvotes

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not brand new to driving buses, but I did take a 15 year break, during which I let my license lapse. Additional context is that it’s the Minnesota state fair, which is my agency’s busiest 2 weeks of the year, and they may be a bit desperate.

I got hired by a transit company about a month ago. Got my permit, did classroom training, and started training to get my license. Took my test on Wednesday this week and picked up my license Thursday morning.

The normal policy for my agency is after getting your license, you drive with a trainer for an additional 5-20 hours before getting passengers, and then, you need to have a 5 day cadeting process where a trainer stays with you on board your route your first several days with passengers. Also, you have to have specific additional training to drive their 45’ motor coaches (all my training was done on a 40’ Gillig transit-style bus). Well, I showed up for training after picking up my license and they said, ā€œChange of plans. You’re driving state fair solo tomorrow. In a motor coach. [Name] is leading a small group in route training now, so feel free to head to the garage for that. Good luck!ā€

Immediately after the route training, I was signed up to fill my next two weeks with additional state fair motor coach shifts.

Anyway, other than missing one of my turns and one woman yelling at me because she didn’t want to pay for a ride if there is standing room only, my first shift went very well and I’m excited for lots more in the coming weeks!


r/BusDrivers 3d ago

Picture Looks like an alien šŸ‘½

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32 Upvotes

r/BusDrivers 3d ago

Picture My waiting area for the night.

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23 Upvotes

Also my first time driving Motorcoach in SF.


r/BusDrivers 4d ago

Picture My 22 Mini Cooper S finally meets my 23 X3 Entertainer

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9 Upvotes

Jerry, my Mini, finally met the vehicle that pays her car note. šŸ˜‚

Somehow nobody has ever asked me to blindside the MINI into an amphitheater loading dock at 3am.


r/BusDrivers 3d ago

Discussion My bus driver keeps making me late and completely ruined my friend's morning club.

0 Upvotes

So, today my bus driver managed to pull up to the school exactly two minutes before the morning bell. Obviously, by the time everyone got off the bus and walked to class, I was 4 minutes tardy. This isn't a one-time thing either. She makes the whole bus late about twice a month because the route is timed so terribly that there is zero room for minor traffic. The worst part isn't even my attendance record—it's that my best friend keeps missing her Thursday weekly club because of this. The club meets before school, so when the bus arrives just two minutes before the bell, she misses the entire thing. It is incredibly frustrating getting penalized and missing out on school activities for something completely out of our control.


r/BusDrivers 4d ago

Other Speeding Bus vs Scooter’s Sudden Right Turn

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19 Upvotes

r/BusDrivers 5d ago

Question Driving anxiety

7 Upvotes

What are tips for combatting driving while having anxiety? Especially in bad weather?


r/BusDrivers 5d ago

Question Coach work or service

5 Upvotes

I currently work on the service buses however yesterday I had an interview for a coach company which I got straight away. However due to not having much experience I have been told I won’t be starting on the coaches but will be trained on coaches in due time then moved over to full time coaches once they are confident in me. I was just wondering if people have moved over to coaches from service could give me the pros and cons and if it’s worth it.


r/BusDrivers 6d ago

Discussion One more week until the free child travel is done

42 Upvotes

Here's my experience

1st week kids ring the bell continuously as we are getting out of the bus station - drove back in the bay, just said I am sorry I think this is the wrong bus for you asked them to get off and went my way

The next day had kids with a speaker in their bag and mid journey we all are graced by Taylor Swift -

Asked them to stopped the music, but they couldn't stop so you guessed it asked them to leave

The other week had these rowdy "Kids" tattooed and all

And high as a kite asking for a child free travel,

Didn't allow them on, on my way back police were at the station with the same group.

These are just want I can remember

I hope you have enjoyed your journeys


r/BusDrivers 6d ago

Discussion If someone is banging on your door once you’ve served a bus stop (and done your checks), do you reopen the doors or drive off?

31 Upvotes

Before I became a bus driver, I thought it was harsh. But now being in the job, I realise once you reopen your doors, it will be one person then ten other people appear. Especially at busy stops.

I’m very new to the job so initially I was a bit shy. And if a bus is behind you waiting for you to leave, you’re delaying them too. If the bus stop is quiet and I’m feeling nice, I may reopen them. But at busy stops, next one is in 10 minutes or less!


r/BusDrivers 6d ago

Story Passengers who'll have your back when it's too late

3 Upvotes

The other day I'd a problem with these troublemakers who I wouldn't let on for refusing to pay. They were about 16. I knew they were going to photograph me so I put on my sunglasses first. They then stayed outside the bus and wouldn't let it move by using the emergency button from outside.

They eventually went away and I drove off, but a passenger who was getting off 15 minutes later came up to me about it. He said "I just want to say to you about those guy... I've a shop and they regularly come in causing trouble. But they messed up with you this time with you because they touched that button on the bus. And that would be deemed as tampering with company property". He basically told me that I should go to the police! In his mind they couldn't be in trouble with the law for standing in front of a bus preventing it moving, or whatever else, but in his mind the fact that they touched the button meant that they'd be in serious trouble!

I didn't think much of it initially, but I later thought "where the fuck were you when I needed you?". I wouldn't have expected them to kick them off, but if he felt that strongly about it, then he could've at least said something. If any one of the passengers were willing to show the slightest sign of disapproval (and I'd never expect it from them), it would have made them leave sooner.

And no, I didn't go and waste my precious time by visiting the police station on my way home from work, and make a fool of myself in doing so! Some people really have an overactive legal mind though!


r/BusDrivers 6d ago

Question Key for bus panels?

1 Upvotes

Does anyone have a link for the square key for the engine door/bus panels? I can't find it anywhere online. Preferably a small one that can fit in my pocket.


r/BusDrivers 8d ago

Picture Love deadhead in the morning

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79 Upvotes

I just love such beautiful mornings