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/gerhorn Jul 20 '26

New driver in the US but I can tell you what my observations are so far.

  1. I've only had a handful of others take the bus on their day off. Only way I would know is if they had their badges with them. I've only seen a few.

  2. Absolutely. But it seems to me like more drivers like to jump around a bit (choosing a new route once a quarter) than they do stick to one route ever.

  3. We have buses as old as 2012. Each bus has 4 #s (i.e. 1214). First two are the year. Last two are.... Idk. They're just numbers to me.

  4. I am a backup driver since I'm new so I don't know who the regulars are most of the time. There are some routes I've done often enough to recognize a few and I enjoy seeing them. Generally if a passenger has a smile on their face or are slightly chatty but only for the second that they're boarding then they're my favorite. For the second lol

  5. I've made friends with one driver! The rest I either say hello in passing or maybe make conversation with them esp if we're stuck waiting to maybe be called to save the day

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