Transit Driver Appreciation Day: Celebrating the people behind the wheel at KT
ACCESS Drivers provide door-to-door service to older adults and community members with disabilities.
They’re the first face you see when you board a bus, the person to whom you direct questions if you don’t know which route to take or how to use a transfer slip. Maybe they’re someone you’ve seen every week for years when they pick you up to take you to appointments or the grocery store. They’re the crew that preps our ferries and ensures passengers enjoy quick, safe travel between Kitsap County and Seattle. They’ve been transporting essential workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, an era of uncertainty and fear.
Kitsap Transit’s operators are the face of our organization, and they play a vital role in connecting Kitsap communities and getting people where they need to go. That’s why on March 18, we celebrate all our fantastic drivers and crewmembers on Transit Driver Appreciation Day.
Transit Driver Appreciation Day has Puget Sound roots – it was inspired by a blog post by a pair of Seattle transit advocates in 2009. The authors felt they should give something by way of thanks to the people who drove their buses every day. They proposed recognizing March 18 – the day Blaise Pascal’s Carosses à Cinq Sous (“Five Penny Coaches”) bus line began in Paris in 1662 – as Transit Driver Appreciation Day.
So that’s what we’re here to do!
Kitsap Transit Routed Operators
Driving a bus is not easy, and oftentimes it involves a lot more than just driving. In addition to navigating vehicles up to 40 feet long through heavy traffic or bad weather, our Routed Operators frequently act as the first point of contact for riders, collecting fares, handing out transfer tickets and answering questions about our transit system.
ACCESS Drivers provide an essential service to elderly folks and members of our community with disabilities, transporting them directly to where they need to go. In the process, they assist riders with wheelchairs or other mobility devices and provide them with helpful information about services. It's important work that requires the ability to adapt to quickly changing situations while caring for some of our most vulnerable neighbors.
Our ferry crews also combine technical know-how with customer service, helping thousands of passengers traverse across our region’s waterways.
As the masters of our ferries, Kitsap Transit Captains perform pre-trip inspections, manage the crew, pilot the vessel safely, and take responsibility during emergencies. They often navigate vessels through wet and windy weather to get riders home safely.
A Kitsap Transit Fast Ferry Crew
Our Deckhands are an integral part of every ferry trip we operate. They help with inspections, refueling of our vessels, manage the boarding process and passenger counts, and assist the captain with lookout duties during travel. If you’ve had a great trip across Sinclair Inlet or the Puget Sound, make sure to thank your deckhands!
The next time you board a bus or ferry, please take a moment to thank your operators or crewmembers for their hard work. Consider leaving a thank-you note or sending a compliment via our Customer Comment card or online Contact form.
We want to hear your favorite bus driver or ferry crew stories! You can send us a DM on Twitter or Facebook, or share them with us on social media using the hashtag #TransitDriverAppreciationDay.
