Big Blue Bus will soon bid adieu to four long-time team members with nearly 150 years of combined service. BBB employs a team of 300 Motor Coach Operators to deliver 61,000 trips per day and 43 Mechanics who maintain a fleet of nearly 200 vehicles. Big Blue Bus commends these experienced road ambassadors for their many years of service to BBB customers in Santa Monica and BBB’s greater Los Angeles service area.
Tim Giroux, Santa Monica resident and BBB’s longest driving motor coach operator, with 40 years on the road, will drive his final Big Blue Bus route on Dec. 12. When asked about his many years on the job, Giroux says it was the passengers he’s most enjoyed. “I was able to develop relationships with some customers from the time they were in high school. I’ve watched them become adults and start their own families,” he says. “You get to know them well and come to care about them.” In his years of service, Giroux has driven approximately two million miles.
Motor coach operators Vincent Murillo, with 35 years of service, and Jesse Webb, with 34 years of service, will also be covering their final shifts late in December. Murillo sums up his service experience, “My job is about working with people, and Big Blue Bus combined my love for people and driving. And, I strove to be the best driver I could be for my customers.” Webb adds, “I love being helpful and my job is about helping people and sharing information to help get them to their destinations.”
Edward Anderson, maintenance supervisor, has been keeping buses running in BBB’s shop for 38 years. He has enjoyed his years working with his hands as a “bumper to bumper” mechanic, maintaining and repairing every inch of every BBB model in the bus yard with precision, and helping BBB’s team in the shop to come up with creative solutions for mechanical challenges, large and small, for BBB’s fleet running entirely on low emissions natural gas. Anderson enjoys restoring muscle cars and is looking forward to more time with his grandchildren and traveling.
“Motor coach operators have to be the type of people who find it rewarding to serve the public and provide mobility options to customers from all walks of life. We will all miss these experienced team-members. We believe sharing their stories will inspire a new generation of BBB Motor Coach Operators and Mechanics to drive our customers into the mid-21st Century,” says Edward King, transit director of Big Blue Bus.
