Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

BEST BUS BUDDIES

Unlikely friendship formed on Kamloops bus route a highlight of Transit Driver Appreciation Day

Mar 18, 2021 | 9:56 AM

KAMLOOPS — Thursday (Mar. 18) is Transit Driver Appreciation Day across B.C. For riders, transit drivers are integral for folks getting to and from work, school, important appointments and around their communities. To help celebrate, CFJC Today caught up with one transit driver in Kamloops who has formed a unique friendship with a young rider.

After a quick walk-around check of the bus he’s assigned, Bret Weir settles into the driver’s seat, ready for another trip.

“I’ve been driving now just about eight years,” Weir tells CFJC Today as he surveys the road and pulls out of the TRU Transit Exchange.

Thursday is Transit Driver Appreciation Day across the province. It’s a day to recognize the important service that transit drivers like Bret provide to the community.

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“Most of the time it’s pretty stressful, actually,” Weir says. “There are a lot of times when you get — certain people just make your day. Those people just appreciate you for everything that you do, and I just happen to have a little fella that does. Every day he looks forward to seeing me.”

On this trip, Bret is heading to pick up one such person. Ben Crummey is almost three years old. He’s also Bus Driver Bret’s biggest fan.

“He’d come out of his daycare, and he wouldn’t go home until he’d seen me on the bus,” Weir says. “Every day he’d be waiting there for me, him and his Mom.”

Weir says not every passenger he picks up is literally jumping for joy as the bus approaches.

“He would honk at me and wave,” almost-three-year-old Ben Crummey explains. “And I used to jump, too.”

“Ben’s daycare is just across the street,” Ben’s Mom Jen tells CFJC Today. “Ben would wave at the bus as Bret was driving past and Ben would get super excited. Bret would always stop for him, and wave and honk the horn. Pretty soon he was opening the bus doors and having a little chat with Ben after daycare. Ben would wait on that bench every single day. He’d have to wait for Bret to come so he could say hi to his best friend.”

It’s an unlikely friendship, for sure. A veteran bus driver and a little tyke who loves buses.

“It’s just meant a lot to our family to see how much effort Bret puts in to make Ben happy and fostering that relationship and Ben’s love for buses,” Jen says. “He’s a phenomenal bus driver who deserves to be recognized for putting in all that extra effort for Ben.”

“Bret is my best friend,” Ben adds.

When you see the smile that spreads across Ben’s cheeks when he sees Bret or hear the way Bret beams when he talks about his little buddy, you can tell the feeling is mutual.