Bus Driver

Lance: Hey I'm Lance, I'm a Bus Driver in Wellington working for Tranzurban based out of our Rongotai depot.

As a Bus Driver you're responsible for your city. Getting your citizens from point A to point B safely and comfortably.

In our urban operation we've got casual options, part-time options and full-time options. As a part-timer myself, I build my day going to work in the morning, working from five till roughly nine o'clock and then I’ll end my day there. In the morning I’ll arrive at the depot, go get my cash box, make sure I’m ready to go and head to the operations counter to see the supervisor and get my shift card. Then I get my bus, I give it a quick but thorough pre-service check and then I’ll head out for the day.

Your shift card is made up of multiple runs at multiple different locations for the day. You might have heaps of short runs or you might have one or two long runs until you break and then you'll resume your trips. I love driving a bus because you do have some passenger interaction so you don't get too bored or lonely.

Cheers, thank you.

And you get to drive a large vehicle in a tight city. The challenges that it brings. I really, really, really enjoy that. At the end of the day once you've finished your final trip you make your way back to the depot, notify the yardman if there are any faults with the bus, fuel up, sign out of your ticket machine, cash all of your money in that you've collected for the day and then once you've done all that, chuck cash box and your locker until the next morning.

The roster is generated some weeks in advance so you can plan your weeks. Some weeks you might have a Thursday and Friday off, some others you might have a Saturday Sunday off so they do vary. Stuff can always be worked around and suited to your schedule. All it takes is friendly conversation between you and your operations supervisor. As long as you maintain those good relationships it's all easy.

To be a Bus Driver you need some good communication skill and good patience.

Whereabouts are you off to?

People might take things out on you that isn't totally your fault. You just need to be calm and think things through before you say something or before you try fit a bus through a tight gap. It's not easy all the time but as long as you just stop take two seconds and figure it out you should be all good. Obviously these are large vehicles so if you're not very spatially aware in your smaller car, then you might have a bit of difficulty driving one of these larger vehicles. I think as well having that good communication skill, interaction skill, being good at customer service, it's all going to help you with a career in bus driving.

So you need a heavy vehicle's license to drive a bus. A minimum of a class two license. To do that you've got to sit a driver test and then you'll get your learners for a class two, complete the training with your driver trainer, sit a course that will then give you a certificate that you can go and cash in for your class two full license. To jump up from that you're required to have a class four license to drive a double decker or any vehicle over eighteen tons and once again it's very similar, you complete the training with your driver trainer and then you'll once again receive another certificate after completing a certified course and you can go out and get your class four full. As well as requiring a heavy vehicle license as a bus driver you are legally required to hold a P endorsement, which is a passenger endorsement and the NZTA are required to background check you and make sure you've got no infringement, criminal history etc.

There are employers that pay for you to get your heavy vehicle licences. So I’m incredibly lucky. Tranzurban paid for me as a part-timer to go and get my licenses as well as putting me through that training. Recently I was appointed to a new position as an Operations Supervisor and I think a lot of people don't realise in this type of industry, that there is potential for career progression. I'm only twenty one and now responsible for ensuring that drivers feel safe coming to work, ensuring that they know what they're doing, have the right shifts, getting paid correctly and that has new responsibility and new challenges that I enjoy facing.

Prior to driving a bus I thought driving an urban bus would be quite monotonous and boring. I thought you'd be doing the same trips over and over again but it's really not. Whether it be the place and the tight streets, the people, the weather, it's always varied and I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly.