BUSWAYS Depot Open Day in Coffs Harbour is all about coming along and finding out more about becoming a bus driver.

Coffs Harbour Depot Open Day – on Thursday, 16 June 2022 – has four one-hour information sessions throughout the day covering what it takes to become a bus driver.

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Juliana Meta, Busways Service Delivery Manager for the NSW North Coast, will be on hand all day.

“Participants will have the chance to try out what it’s like to drive a bus on the day, with a supportive and experienced Busways Driver Trainer teaching them what to do,” Juliana told News Of The Area.

The route will take drivers around the back streets near Coffs Harbour Depot on a fifteen-minute drive.

“Bus drivers on the NSW North Coast depots mainly drive split shift school services, leaving you free during the middle of the day to do other things.

“Driving hours vary with starting times around 7:00am – 9:00am and finish times between 2:00pm – 5:00pm.

“A small number of casual shifts deviate from these time ranges, such as charter work (two-hour shifts) and town service routes (4 – 6 hours)

“Bus drivers work anywhere from two to six hours a day between the hours of 7am and 9pm.

“It’s important that you like people – bus driving is about serving the community and interacting positively with people, especially young students, people from multicultural backgrounds and senior citizens.

“If you have good verbal communication skills and like driving, bus driving could be a great job for you,” she said.

Coffs bus driver Stephen Ryan tells NOTA what brought him to bus driving.

“My brother-in-law got me into it, as he was a bus driver when I moved up from Sydney in 1995.

“I heard such wonderful things about the industry, which is why I decided to pursue a career as a bus driver.

“I’ve now worked for Busways for 21 years and there are no days ever the same.

“I love the variety of driving different bus routes and there’s beautiful scenery in Coffs.

“I also enjoy helping the community and there’s great job satisfaction.”

Bus driver Calinda Morgan shared, “I recently moved to Coffs Harbour from Gunnedah and a friend saw an online ad that Busways was looking for drivers.

“I already had a Heavy Road (HR) vehicle class licence from driving delivery trucks and gained the Driver Authority (DA) training course through Busways.

“I love driving the buses, the Coffs coastline is spectacular, and I have one of the best views in Australia.

“I enjoy engaging with people daily, from my fellow co-workers to passengers.

“It’s an extremely rewarding job.

“The bus times fit in well with my Southern Cross University degree that I’m currently studying.”

Coffs Harbour local Dennis Visner told NOTA, “I’ve always been very intrigued about driving buses and due to having such a big personality and being a people person, I applied for the role at Busways.

“Since then, I have never looked back.

“The interaction with the customers and the rest of our multicultural community is what makes my job enjoyable and very rewarding.

“There are a lot of domestic and international tourists and I love building a rapport with them and finding out about their life stories.

“It has given me an insight of different cultures and built on my desire to travel.

“I find driving relaxing, as I drive past the beach and bush every day and the scenery is always different.”

For more information on the Busways Open Day, email driving@busways.com.au.

By Andrea FERRARI