After being voted Top National Bus Driver at the UK Bus Awards, Aaron Johnson talks to Madaline Dunn about receiving the accolade and his love for the job
Aaron Johnson, who just turned 42 has worked in the bus industry for 22 years. He applied to be a bus driver at the age of 19, with two years of driving experience, and joined as one of Nottingham City Transport’s (NCT) youngest employees. I asked Aaron what his day-to-day looks like in the job: “Pretty normal to be honest, I do seven to eight-hour shifts, which begin as early as 0400hrs and finish as late as midnight, sometimes later. [wlm_nonmember][…]
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“After work, I come home and try to fit in some chores – I’ve recently entered a new relationship as well so that’s really lovely.” He continued: “I’m a big believer in quality time. I enjoy socialising, listening to music, I’m a huge fan of cricket, and I love spending time with my friends and family.”
Aaron also emphasised the importance of a home-work balance: “With a job like this, I just like to switch off completely if I can. Work is work and home is home, and I enjoy my job at the end of the day.” He sounded as if he managed to maintain a pretty good equilibrium.
I asked if perhaps this was the most challenging part of his job – managing his time. “The shift patterns can make your sleeping patterns suffer,” Aaron replied. “You can go from an early week to a late week, and that can be really challenging on your lifestyle. The irregularity also means you can be a bit restrained in terms of arranging things, because of the early starts and late finishes. Of course passengers can be a bit challenging sometimes too – but it’s all about how you approach the situation. On a day-to-day basis you’re also dealing with bad road users, bus lane abusers and vehicles cutting you off – to name a few. People think you just sit and drive a bus; I wish it was that easy!” He laughed. “You learn from experience though, and after 22 years in the industry, there’s not much that can be thrown at me that I wouldn’t be able to deal with.”
Aaron said however, that the passengers make it all worth it. “I enjoy the social aspect of the job. You get some lovely people, that’s why I always try and go out of my way for passengers if I can.”
Going above and beyond
I asked Aaron what some of his favourite memories have been during his time as a bus driver: “Winning the MVP Award certainly stands out,” he replied. “When they announced it all, being remembered by passengers who I’d driven in the past that I don’t see now was a surprise, but really nice.
“I also attended an awards ceremony at Mencap in 2009 after I helped one of its pupils who was distressed on my bus.” I asked Aaron to tell me some more about the incident. “A young woman aged 17 or 18 was on my bus, and had a learning disability,” he continued. “After she had accidently missed her stop by four or five stops she became disorientated, and started panicking and crying. I consoled her and asked if she had a phone or anything, she did, so we rang up Mencap. I just wanted to make sure she was safe, so I told them where she was, that she was in safe hands and that I’d drop her off on the return journey. About 30 minutes later someone came to meet her and made sure that she was okay. After that, they took my details down and I ended up getting invited to Mencap’s awards ceremony. It was a lovely eye-opening night and a real privilege to attend.”
This is not the only time Aaron has gone above and beyond in his role though. He told me of an incident that had happened recently, with a woman who had fallen ill on his bus. “A woman on my bus was really ill, she had terrible stomach cramps. I knew she needed help, so I got everyone off the bus, transferred them to another bus, and rang the ambulance.” When the ambulance didn’t come however, Aaron took the woman to the nearest doctors to make sure she was okay.
Aaron doesn’t take off his superman suit when he’s off-duty either. He told me of another recent incident where he had helped an anxious elderly woman with her wheelchair. “I was going home on the bus, because I live on the bus route that I drive, and I got chatting to an elderly lady – one of my regulars. She said she was worried about getting home that day because of her new electric wheelchair. I hated the thought of her being stranded by herself, so I nipped home, got in my car – because I didn’t know how far away her house was – and met her where the bus terminated.
“I pushed her wheelchair home, took her inside her house, put the wheelchair on charge, and made sure she was in the other wheelchair and safe before I left.” Aaron said however that he wasn’t looking for praise: “I look at it as me just being me. It’s the way I’ve always been, and how I was raised so I don’t consider myself anything special – I think it’s just the decent and respectful thing to do. If I can help my passengers in any way, I try to do that.”
‘The Bus Oscars’
Aaron was however recognised for his outstanding achievements, hard work and dedication at the UK Bus Awards. I asked him what the night was like: “It was an eye-opener. I was shocked at how big it was; I called it the ‘Bus Oscars,” he laughed. “I must admit I was very nervous. When they got to my category, and read out bronze and silver, I thought ‘no, surely not,’ but when my name was first – well – I was completely shocked. I felt so honoured and humbled by the whole experience, because I just do this on a normal day-to-day basis, nothing spectacular. I was so surprised I didn’t think I would win that in a million years. After 22 years hard work and reliability it’s nice to be recognised. It was a fantastic day.”
The award, Aaron said, wasn’t just for him though: “My mum passed away in 1999, when I was 22 and my dad passed in 2008 when I was 31. It’s been tough. It’s hard when your parents don’t see you grow up and get settled. My mum especially has never seen any of the things I’ve achieved. I’ve spent half my life in this job, and they’ll never know. That’s why winning this award is so wonderful, because I know that they would be proud of me. It feels like winning this award is for those two – I’ve dedicated it to my mum and dad.”
Aaron said however, that experiencing such pain has made him stronger, and has shaped the man he is today. I enquired as to why he thought he was selected as Top National Bus Driver and how he had got to this point in his career: “I think it’s down to the fact that I’m such a people person,” he said. “I’m respectful to passengers, but can also have a laugh and a giggle with them. You build up good rapport in this job; you become part of people’s lives in a way. Sometimes you might be the only person they speak to that day, so it’s important that you make their journey pleasant, and interact. You get to know passengers; what they’re doing with their day, what ailments they have, what they’ve had for dinner. I think people appreciate it when you take the time to go out of your way to help them as much as you can.”
Back of a bus…
Considering the high-profile nature of the nationally recognised accolade, I asked Aaron what the impact of winning Top National Bus Driver award had been: “It’s quite funny because now I’ve got photos everywhere at the moment. I’m literally on the back of buses. In local restaurants, especially the last couple of weeks, people have been like ‘Oh look, there’s the bus driver of the year.’ I walked into a WHSmith last week, minding my own business and an elderly couple whispered to each other ‘There’s that bus driver of the year.’ It’s taken some getting used to that’s for sure; I’ve tried not to take it too seriously. It’s had its moments. At least 95% of passengers have been fantastic – and now I’m recognised to the point where people say, ‘morning Aaron.’ My regular passengers have been so lovely, and I think seeing my face on the back of the bus has put a smile on people’s faces.”
In terms of his thoughts on the industry at the moment, as a man on the frontline Aaron said: “I think it’s thriving in Nottingham at the moment. They’ve introduced more bus lanes, phone apps, online fares, and contactless payments are coming shortly. NCT has one of the most modern fleets going, nothing more than six years old, very comfortable and attractive buses. Personally, I think it’s a great and cheap alternative to the car – an all-day ticket is only £4. In terms of improvement, perhaps some tweaks in timetables to maximise reliability would help, maybe also the use of CCTV bus lane defenders too. I also think that there could be a few more seats on buses, because now they have the same capacity but fewer seats. The addition of music on the buses would also be fantastic.”
Aaron also said that he wanted to debunk the myth of the ‘grumpy bus driver’: “We’re not all like that; there are so many great bus drivers out there. I’m trying to change that perception of bus drivers myself and make an impact. I try and be as happy as I can. All in all, I love the job, for 22 years it’s been a pleasure.”
The future
Speaking of his hopes for the future Aaron said: “As cheeky as it sounds, I’d absolutely love to be the first double award winner. On a more serious note, I’ve had a little bit of experience as an inspector in the past, and I would absolutely love to do it again. I’d also like to go down the route of management. Whether I am too old for it now, I don’t know, but what I’d like for the future is to be involved with something where I can share my knowledge and experience.”
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