John Filippone is Safety and Training Manager for the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority in Aspen, Colo. He has been involved in resort/commuter oriented transit as a driver, scheduler, hostler, dispatcher, supervisor and trainer for over 30 years. John also serves/served on the Colorado State and National RTAP Review Boards. He has also trained whitewater guides and coached youth soccer.
If we encourage our operators to treat operating a bus as a shift-long Zen moment, we may be able to reduce preventable crashes by a significant amount. The “Zen Operator,” who drives precisely at all times, is also less stressed. The Zen Operator flows through difficult, tight situations easily and their body language and vibe give passengers a sense of confidence. The operator whose passengers have a white-knuckle death grip on the back of the seat in front of them is not practicing “Zen Bus Operation.”
Thinking of the situation in terms of “who should yield” will lead operators to a less aggressive mindset. Once we get our operators to think in terms of “who should yield,” the logical follow up question to ask is “will they yield?” Once operators start looking at situations with a “yield” attitude, it becomes easier to recognize situations, which may result in preventable crashes.
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