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 Carosses à Cinq Sous in Paris, 1662.[1]

History

In 2009, Hans Gerwitz and Shannon E. Thomas published a blog post[2] calling for a Bus Driver Appreciation Day. That year it was publicized by local transit-oriented blogs in Seattle,[3] Virginia,[4] and Washington, D.C.[5]

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[6] with the new name. This fostered extensive recognition throughout North America.

See also

References
  1. Wired, March 18, 1662: The Bus Starts Here … In Paris, 17 March 2008. Retrieved on 2 May 2018
  2. Bus Driver Appreciation Day, 23 February 2009
  3. Seattle Transit Blog, Next Wednesday is Bus Driver Appreciation Day, 11 March 2009
  4. Ideas for Hampton Roads Transit, Bus Driver Appreciation Day, 17 March 2009
  5. Track Twenty-Nine, Bus Driver Appreciation Day: Tomorrow, 17 March 2009
  6. ATU salutes members on Transit Driver Appreciation Day, 18 March 2014

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