Be proud of bus drivers

May 30, 2008

Dear Sir,

Earlier this month I visited your beautiful island paradise for a week. The water was too cold at this time of year for some of my goals, and the hiding sun made superior photography difficult on most days, but I forgot my jacket and never missed it. At first, I missed vehicles being on the right hand side of the road, but I got around enough to get used to it.

A few years ago I worked as a tour guide and bus driver at the Grand Canyon; an experience I treasure. The Grand Canyon National Park is visited each year by about 90 percent more vehicles than the roads were designed to carry, and driving a bus was a challenge. I developed skills and did things I didn't think possible in a vehicle that size, but yet only occasionally.

I used Bermuda's bus system extensively during my stay and would like to applaud the skills of your drivers. To safely negotiate a bus that seems a foot wider than the lane of travel through obstacles, with precision, while sharing the road with less skilled drivers and meeting a time schedule is a feat in itself. However, the drivers I met also maintained high professionalism, good manners, and were even friendly; some to the point of being cheerful.

Some of the skills I used infrequently at the Grand Canyon are used by Bermuda's coach operators on a minute by minute basis. Be proud of your bus drivers, they deserve it.

DANNY F. DROLLINGER

Tucson, Arizona