Commuting can be stressful, but Elaine Ray appreciates the efforts of bus drivers.
In early 2024, Anastasios Adamopoulos, a Chicago bus driver, stopped his bus and ran toward two burning houses to wake the people inside. His actions helped save more than a dozen lives.
That story reminded me of my own less dramatic encounters with bus drivers.
In August of 2022, I dropped my 18-year-old car off at a used-car store in Fremont. Since then, while I’ve enjoyed lifts from generous friends, taken rideshares and occasionally rented cars, I’ve traversed the Bay Area mostly by bus and train. I’ve saved money, developed time-management skills and walked more. But when asked how it’s been to live without a car, my response is often: “Bus drivers are saints.”
Taking the bus through the hamlets along the El Camino, I’ve seen impressive levels of kindness and professionalism that make the extra steps and planning worthwhile.
I began this experiment when COVID was at its peak, and it remains a threat for workers vulnerable to public exposure. But I’ve yet to see a driver waver when passengers, masked or unmasked, need assistance getting their wheelchairs secured or help boarding a bus with their overflowing shopping carts.