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What does a transit bus operator do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a transit bus operator do
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Transit bus operator responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real transit bus operator resumes:

  • Maintain professionalism and upkeep cleanliness of assign bus.
  • Obtain information about children health history and allergies

Transit bus operator skills and personality traits

We calculated that 23% of Transit Bus Operators are proficient in Transport Passengers, CDL, and Post-Trip Inspections. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Hand-eye coordination, and Hearing ability.

We break down the percentage of Transit Bus Operators that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Transport Passengers, 23%

    Licensed to transport passengers to multiple destinations safely.

  • CDL, 14%

    Maintained Class A CDL and completed safety courses and acquired safety certificates.

  • Post-Trip Inspections, 7%

    Performed pre- and post-trip inspections.

  • Safety Rules, 7%

    Follow safety rules as passengers are boarding and exiting buses, and as they cross streets near bus stops.

  • Customer Service, 5%

    Demonstrated excellence in bus driving Developed skills to provide superior customer service Won safety award annually

  • Safety Procedures, 5%

    Followed safety procedures to make sure all passengers are safe.

Common skills that a transit bus operator uses to do their job include "transport passengers," "cdl," and "post-trip inspections." You can find details on the most important transit bus operator responsibilities below.

Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a transit bus operator to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "bus drivers regularly interact with passengers and must be courteous and helpful." Transit bus operators often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide excellent customer service and verify that all customers are properly restrained including securing wheelchair customers. "

Hand-eye coordination. Many transit bus operator duties rely on hand-eye coordination. "driving a bus requires the controlled use of multiple limbs on the basis of what a person observes," so a transit bus operator will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways transit bus operator responsibilities rely on hand-eye coordination: "provided administrative services and coordination for the activities of the public transportation system, which includes fixed-route bus"

Hearing ability. This is an important skill for transit bus operators to perform their duties. For an example of how transit bus operator responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "bus drivers need good hearing." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a transit bus operator: "participated in disciplinary review hearings for bus operators who committed rule and policy violations. ".

Patience. For certain transit bus operator responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "patience." The day-to-day duties of a transit bus operator rely on this skill, as "because of possible traffic congestion and sometimes unruly passengers, bus drivers are put in stressful situations and must remain calm and continue to operate their bus." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what transit bus operators do: "transport passengers safely to and from all scheduled destinations exercise patience, understanding, and mature judgment. "

Physical health. Another crucial skill for a transit bus operator to carry out their responsibilities is "physical health." A big part of what transit bus operators relies on this skill, since "federal and state regulations do not allow people to become bus drivers if they have a medical condition, such as high blood pressure or epilepsy, which may interfere with their operation of a bus." How this skill relates to transit bus operator duties can be seen in an example from a transit bus operator resume snippet: "transported individuals with physical disabilities & senior citizens following strict safety procedures. "

Visual ability. Lastly, "visual ability" is an important element of what a transit bus operator does. Transit bus operator responsibilities require this skill because "bus drivers must be able to pass vision tests." This resume example highlights how transit bus operator duties rely on this skill: "performed a complete visual safety check, and completed daily pre and post trip checklists. "

Most common transit bus operator skills

The three companies that hire the most transit bus operators are:

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Compare different transit bus operators

Transit bus operator vs. Motor coach driver

We looked at the average transit bus operator salary and compared it with the wages of a motor coach driver. Generally speaking, motor coach drivers are paid $109 lower than transit bus operators per year.Even though transit bus operators and motor coach drivers are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require transport passengers, cdl, and post-trip inspections in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, transit bus operator responsibilities require skills like "customer service," "defensive driving," "disabilities act," and "scooters." Meanwhile a typical motor coach driver has skills in areas such as "dot," "passenger endorsement," "minor maintenance," and "charter bus." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

On average, motor coach drivers reach similar levels of education than transit bus operators. Motor coach drivers are 2.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Transit bus operator vs. Charter driver

A career as a charter driver brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a transit bus operator. In fact, charter drivers salary is $1,064 lower than the salary of transit bus operators per year.A few skills overlap for transit bus operators and charter drivers. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "transport passengers," "cdl," and "post-trip inspections. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real transit bus operator resumes. While transit bus operator responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer service," "safety procedures," "incident reports," and "defensive driving," charter drivers use skills like "reliable transportation," "charter bus," "dot," and "transport clients."

Charter drivers may earn a lower salary than transit bus operators, but charter drivers earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $46,380. On the other hand, transit bus operators receive higher pay in the real estate industry, where they earn an average salary of $39,446.In general, charter drivers achieve similar levels of education than transit bus operators. They're 3.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transit bus operator vs. Charter coach driver

On average, charter coach drivers earn lower salaries than transit bus operators, with a $3,247 difference per year.By looking over several transit bus operators and charter coach drivers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "customer service," "traffic laws," and "vehicle inspections." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, transit bus operators are more likely to have skills like "transport passengers," "cdl," "post-trip inspections," and "safety rules." But a charter coach driver is more likely to have skills like "dot," "air-brake," "vehicle operation," and "tdot."

Charter coach drivers typically earn higher educational levels compared to transit bus operators. Specifically, they're 7.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transit bus operator vs. Jitney driver

Jitney drivers tend to earn a lower pay than transit bus operators by an average of $4,228 per year.While both transit bus operators and jitney drivers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like pre-trip inspections, mechanical problems, and traffic regulations, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between transit bus operators and jitney drivers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a transit bus operator might have more use for skills like "transport passengers," "cdl," "post-trip inspections," and "safety rules." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of jitney drivers require skills like "cab," "load trucks," "measure materials," and "quality checks. "

Jitney drivers reach similar levels of education compared to transit bus operators, in general. The difference is that they're 2.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of transit bus operator

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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