Gregg Thompson maintains the Salem Area Mass Transit District’s fleet of buses.
He walked me through the warehouse where the buses are fixed, and where chains get put on when it gets icy. He showed me a banner hanging above an entryway detailing his team’s high success rate in giving the vehicles a long life on the road.
At the end of the tour, Thompson waved goodbye and started to walk back to his post.
“Now, let’s get you behind the wheel,” Patricia Feeny, Cherriots’ communications director, said to me.
Thompson stopped and, realizing she wasn’t kidding, asked that I at least drive one of the older models. He laughed, but he wasn’t kidding either.
I’d been cleared in advance, of course, but as driving instructor Heidi Moffitt walked me through how to get the bus started, I thought mostly about the way my mom holds on to the safety handle above the passenger seat the entire time that I drive a car.
After explaining how to adjust the driver’s seat and mirrors, Moffitt took another look at me and then asked how old I was. I don’t blame her, I look pretty young. I was asked for ID when I went to see a R-rated movie this summer.
I told her I was 23, and she burst out laughing before reassuring me that I would do great.
I’m a good driver, but today, on a Cherriots course, I would have to be the perfect driver.
A few weeks earlier, Feeny emailed me asking if I’d like to get behind the wheel. The first line was: “Growing up as a child, did you ever dream of getting behind a 40-foot bus?”
While I hadn’t necessarily dreamt of it, it did sound like a lot of fun. Growing up, I was always in awe of my elementary school bus driver who, every year on the last day before summer vacation, would let us have a free-for-all paper airplane fight mid-route. Her multitasking skills were incredible.
In this case, I’d be trying out something available to Cherriots applicants, and in advance of a hiring event on Feb. 21. The district has been having staffing issues, and is seeking to be fully staffed by May.
The district had attempted to implement a virtual driving experience, Feeny said, but the system was inoperable and left even experienced drivers unable to complete a course. So, potential recruits are being given the chance to get behind the wheel of a real bus.
From the driver’s seat on Friday, Feb. 10, I faced a straight line at Cherriots’ Del Webb facility northeast Salem. My only obstacles were parked buses a good distance away.
Moffitt showed me where to look in the mirrors, and let me know that even a slight movement of the pizza-sized wheel would put us off target. I set my feet flat on the ground to get the seat’s adjustment right, and to bring the wheel to a comfortable distance. All I had to do was head straight down a line in the pavement.
Still, when I eased off the brake and sent the bus rolling forward, I thought only of how awkward it would be to cause thousands of dollars worth of damage. I could almost hear the crunching of metal.
But, Moffitt was calm and close by, and I kept the wheel steady. Driving the bus was surprisingly similar to a car, and its wide windows stretched down to my feet and granted better visibility than my Camry.
I never hit the acceleration once, the bus rolled forward and gained speed every time I let off the brake.
I got to the end of the straight line, ready to cede the driver’s seat, when instead Moffitt said she thought I was ready for a turn. My two other passengers, Feeny and Transportation Manager Don Clifford, concurred.
Surprisingly, I felt like I was ready too. She explained the mechanics of it, and told me exactly when to turn the wheel, much later than I would in a car.
I creeped along, and it was done. One more confident turn and I was parking back at our starting point, completing the lap around the building that Moffitt started.
I parked the bus using a dial on the left side that I would have otherwise assumed controlled the A/C, and Moffitt gave me a high-five. Then she hopped out of the bus to take some pictures of me.
I left with a greater appreciation for Ryan Loibl, the bus driver on my route back to downtown. He told me he was hired in October. That’s around the same time I started at Salem Reporter.
I’m looking forward to seeing where else this job takes me.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-704-0355.
SUBSCRIBE TO GET SALEM NEWS – We report on your community with care and depth, fairness and accuracy. Get local news that matters to you. Subscribe today to get our daily newsletters and more. Click I want to subscribe!
Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
