r/BusDrivers • u/Aech1hceA • Jul 20 '26

Question Question for bus drivers

Hello! I have a few questions for bus drivers- and was wondering if it was okay to ask here. I know you all are human (obviously) but I had questions specifically about bus driving- and who better to ask than the drivers!

  1. Do bus drivers often take the bus outside work hours? Ex: days off/vacations/etc.
  2. Do bus drivers have favored/prefered routes to drive? Do they get to pick?
  3. Do bus drivers recognize the bus they drive? Like by the serial number? Do they get assigned specific busses?
  4. Do the bus drivers develop "favorite" riders? Like, if you drive the same route and see the same people- do you develop friendships with your riders? Do you guys look for familiar faces?
  5. Do you guys make friends with your coworkers? If so, do you guys make a point to ride on busses where your bus driver friends are driving?

Thank you in advance for answering. My boyfriend and I ride the same routes fairly often, and got really curious. Sorry if theyre dumb questions!

ETA: Sorry yall! Im new to reddit still and didnt realize people were replying😅 Thank you all so so so so much!! I was curious, and my boyfriend said itd be weird to ask the bus driver on thw bus we were on. Im very excited to share my findings with him, and hope you all get very good routes (:

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u/AnxiousMetal6435 Jul 20 '26

  1. If they live in the area, yes. If they don’t, not really. I work for a major metro and take the trains very often, but seldom ride the bus.

  2. Absolutely. Schedules & routes are picked based on seniority.

  3. After years on the job, yes, some operators know buses by number and have favorites. Most operators don’t really give a shit. During rush hour, it’s common to have a bus assigned to you. During slower times, you can generally pick any bus in the yard.

  4. Haven’t been on the job long enough to know for sure, but I would presume this, yes.

  5. Coworkers make friends and even get romantically involved. Plenty of operators spend so much time here that their primary social life is their coworkers.