Transit Driver Appreciation Day

Transit Driver Appreciation Day is an annual event to celebrate the public service of public transit vehicle operators. The date of March 18 was selected to commemorate the first bus line, Blaise Pascal's Carrosses à cinq sols in Paris, 1662.[1]

Observing Agencies

edit

History

edit

In 2009, Hans Gerwitz and Shannon E. Thomas published a blog post[8] calling for a Bus Driver Appreciation Day. That year it was publicized by local transit-oriented blogs in Seattle,[9] Virginia,[10] and Washington, D.C.[11]

For the 2013 observance, Portland's TriMet established busdriverday.org.

By 2014, TriMet included rail operators by changing the name of Bus Driver Appreciation Day to Transit Driver Appreciation Day. Their site migrated to transitdriverday.org and the Amalgamated Transit Union began publicly observing the day[12] with the new name. This fostered extensive recognition throughout North America.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Wired, March 18, 1662: The Bus Starts Here … In Paris, 17 March 2008. Retrieved on 2 May 2018
  2. ^ "Transit Driver Appreciation Month 2021". MBTA. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  3. ^ MBTA [@MBTA] (13 March 2020). "March 18 is Transit Driver Appreciation Day, but one day is not enough time to thank those who drive this system 365 days a year. To continue our month-long celebration, this week we're spotlighting Red Line operator Bob Barclay. To our operators, thank you for all you do. https://t.co/ZmXLJxGxdI" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2022 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Have you thanked your bus or train operator lately? on trimet.org
  5. ^ Transit Driver Appreciation Day on kingcounty.gov. Retrieved on 26 February 2021
  6. ^ [1] on ccrta.org. Retrieved on March 2, 2022
  7. ^ [2] on takethehop.com. Retrieved on March 18, 2022
  8. ^ Bus Driver Appreciation Day, 23 February 2009
  9. ^ Seattle Transit Blog, Next Wednesday is Bus Driver Appreciation Day, 11 March 2009
  10. ^ Ideas for Hampton Roads Transit, Bus Driver Appreciation Day, 17 March 2009
  11. ^ Track Twenty-Nine, Bus Driver Appreciation Day: Tomorrow, 17 March 2009
  12. ^ ATU salutes members on Transit Driver Appreciation Day, 18 March 2014
edit