Most of us would view driving a busload of kids around to school each day, as some special kind of punishment.

For decade-long local “bussy”, Kevin Duffy, though, it’s as easy as shelling peas!

With a newly expanded local timetable with 200 additional services a week recently introduced for the Colour City, drivers are in high demand at the moment.

Contrary to most people’s impression of the work, Kevin says it’s a good job that dovetails well with life on the land and his work as an Orange City Councillor.

“It’s just a natural thing for me; I already had my heavy vehicle licence for the farm, so it was very easy for me to do,” he explained.

“To me it’s ideal, in my state of life. The number one thing is I enjoy driving the kids, and that’s all of them, from Year One to 12.”

He revealed that, it was originally in his role as a doting parent travelling for sports events, that got him into the game.

“For junior and senior sport, my kids’ teams were always looking for someone to drive them to Dubbo, or Cobar, or wherever.

“These were events that I was already attending for my own boys, so I’d volunteer to be the driver,” he said.

He added that the variable hours of the work, also ideally suits his farm and Council duties.

“You’re always doing different routes, though passengers do get used to a driver for town runs, so it is regular in that way.

“But the work is very flexible, depending on the time of year, schools, that sort of thing,” he added.

Like most drivers, he also takes on many of the passenger runs for paying fares in the middle of the day. Recent changes to these have created 30 percent more services, including for off-peak times and on weekends. 

“With the increase in new services, we do need drivers, and it’s a good life.

“But with the flexible nature of the work, we turn over numbers pretty quickly, so there’s always openings,” he added.

He said that the travelling also gives him a first-hand look at our City, providing valuable insights for his work on Council.

“As you drive all over town, you get to see what’s going on, the state of the roads and parks and the like.

“There’s always people to chat to, people tell you what’s important, what’s going on in their lives.”

With a regular school route on the winding way to Ophir, he said the exacting work of driving a full-width bus full of children on narrow country lanes, is now second-nature.

“Out of town, the vehicles are sometimes as wide as the road, but, once you’ve been doing it for a couple of months, you get the hang of it.

“My trick is, that I use my peripheral vision for the road and my direct vision for the sides.”

Despite occasional blow-ups and dramas that all children have at various times, Kevin has no problem with “kids today”!

“I treat all the kids as if they’re my own. I may have 40–50 on a bus at a time, but I get along fine with them.

“One is bound to have a bad hair day every now and then, but I just deal with it,” he said philosophically.

With nearly 12 years in the saddle, one of the fun aspects is seeing how regular fares grow and mature over the years.

“They’re great when they’re young, but as they get older and have more life experiences, you can have a decent conversation with them.

“That’s the good thing, they’re fantastic kids and they’ve got fantastic parents, and that goes for all different schools,” he added.

“My philosophy is, ‘if you can’t get along with kids, then you’re struggling’.”