Over the last weeks buses have proved a life-saver. The problem has been that walking even short distances has been difficult – it is my right knee this time that is giving me trouble! Despite this difficulty, by knowing the network of bus routes that we have nearby – and there is a choice of eleven – getting to my usual ‘haunts’ has been relatively easy.

At the moment, most weekdays in the mornings I am ferried to and from the gym on the single-decker 490 bus. My favourite seat is at the front from where I have found myself watching, sometimes listening to, and occasionally getting to know the driver. It is these observations that have inspired this blog about bus drivers who I now see as pillars of society!

Apart from being careful, the bus drivers I have watched have been calm, courteous and helpful. Moreover, they have also met a professional description on a poster by Transport for London that they are ‘knowledgeable and friendly’. There will always be some who drive too fast or jerkily or who seem grumpy, but in my experience these are the exception, and with around 25,000 drivers in London, the occasional lapse is inevitable. 

Importantly in all this, the drivers are very much on the passenger’s side. I have a ‘Freedom Pass’ that gives me, as an elderly citizen, free rides on buses and trains. However the offer has limitations – before 9am on weekdays the pass does not work and so card holders are required to pay. It has always seemed to me that this requirement is a penny-pinching exercise; fortunately, in their role as pillars of society and as part of the community, bus drivers share my view and actually I never have to pay! When I get on and the driver realises my age he or she simply waves me through with a smile. We are at one and it is a warming feeling. 

My description of bus drivers as ‘pillars of society’ might be seen by some as rather grandiose. The traditional definition of such ‘pillars’ is rather haughty and designed to include only those who are highly respected, reliable and influential. That is to say people who are classed as moral and upright figures who strengthen social structures. Certainly this would not easily fit bus drivers, and the definition I found recently is more inclusive; pillars of society now includes people such as teachers, firefighters and nurses because they provide essential services, protect the public, and contribute to the long-term well-being and stability of communities. Moreover, in their work they focus more on serving others than on mere profit. 

In considering bus drivers, it is important to remember that this is a relatively new job. Indeed, it was only in the last fifty years that the role we recognise as ‘bus driver’ was created. When I was young the driver was locked away in his or her cabin leaving contact with passengers to the conductor. Now that conductor-less buses are the rule, it is the driver who does everything. And surely if the profession is responsible for looking after the most widely-used form of public transport in London with over five million trips made each day, it is difficult to deny that they are ‘providing essential services, protecting the public, and contributing to the long-term well-being and stability of communities’. Moreover, this is recognised by the public with bus drivers recently shown to be the most thanked workers in the UK. 

Interestingly, this public display of gratitude comes at a time when other, everyday and reassuring figures in the community have all but disappeared. The milkman, the familiar street ‘Bobby’, even the same postman each day are all characters of the past. In their place, surely a friendly bus driver is an obvious alternative?

In order to write this blog I have talked to lots of bus drivers, some during their coffee break in the drivers’ ‘mess’ close by. Almost all say how much they like their work – one had been driving for twenty years – and how lovely it is to be thanked and appreciated. Some smiled when they heard my views, some looked incredulous, and Magda (see illustration), who was between shifts, beamed and ran down the pavement shouting ‘You’ve made my day’. It is high time that she and others knew how important they now are to our society.

The illustration shows a photo of Andrew standing with Magda by the cabin of his 490 bus. The two, who are both drivers, are married and by chance on the day of the photo had arrived at the terminus at the same time. Together, they have been driving London buses for almost thirty five years and at the terminus sometimes have time to chat – as was the case here.

For helping me write this blog, I would like to thank Magda, Andrew, John, Simon, Gary, Rohan and Vivien.