Gold Coast Transit District Says Thanks on Transit Driver Appreciation Day

Gold Coast Transit District along with transit agencies across the country are saying thanks on Friday, March 17th, in celebration of Transit Driver Appreciation Day.

Bus operators are experts in multitasking. They have to stay on schedule, answer customer questions, announce stops, maneuver through traffic and tight spaces, all while safely driving a 40-foot bus. In 2016, bus operators transported nearly 4 million passengers to their destinations, including  work,  school, medical appointments and much more.

GCTD employs 130 highly-skilled bus operators.  Some interesting facts include:

• Five GCTD bus operators have joined the “Two Million Mile Club”, which consists of professional drivers who have completed 50,000 hours of drive time without a preventable accident as defined by the strict guidelines of the National Safety Council. One of those operators is still active today.
• Similarly, 23 operators have joined the “One Million Mile Club”, with 13 of those still driving today. Reaching one million miles without a preventable accident takes approximately 12.5 years.
• CTD’s new hire training program covers approximately 6-8 weeks training that includes classroom education, equipment familiarization, passenger sensitivity training, route familiarization and supervised driving, regardless of the candidate’s prior experience.
• Operators attend an average of 12-16 hours of additional safety-related training throughout the year.
• As a whole, GCTD operators drive an average of 190,000 miles per month.

“Our GCTD bus operators are our ambassadors, our boots on the ground, and the heart of our agency. We are grateful for all of their hard work and helping to run our service safely and efficiently”, said GCTD General Manager, Steve Brown.

While GCTD encourages passengers to say thanks after every trip, the agency highly encourage all riders to take some time on Friday to show their appreciation to their bus operator. Whether it’s a friendly smile, a simple thank-you, or a social media post, make your appreciation official.

For those customers that want go that extra mile, you can say “thanks” with downloadable pre-made cards to show you care. Customers can also express their appreciation by sharing their commendation for a specific bus operator on Facebook or Twitter using #TDAD and #thanksGO. Be sure to include as much detail about your operator as possible so that the message can be relayed.