Monday, March 18, 2024, is Transit Driver Appreciation Day, an annual day of celebration recognizing the public service transit operators provide. BARTA operators are front-line employees who assist BARTA customers using our Berks County bus service by collecting fares, answering questions, on-time performance, and safely maneuvering and navigating 35- and 40-foot vehicles through all kinds of traffic, detours, and weather. This March 18, BARTA is encouraging customers to express their appreciation for our operators with encouraging words when riding our service or by posting on BARTA social media accounts via Facebook or Twitter or via email at [email protected].
March 18 was selected as Transit Driver Appreciation Day to commemorate the first bus line, Blaise Pascal’s Carosses à cinq sols (in English, meaning five-sol coaches) in Paris 1662. This is widely recognized as the first modern form of public transport in the world. The vehicles used for the service were pulled by four horses and staffed by a coach driver and a valet. Each employee wore a blue jersey with the coat of arms for the king and the city of Paris. The vehicles themselves, which carried eight passengers, only stopped on their routes when passengers requested to board or alight at stops.
BARTA employs 75 operators who require a CDL Class B Driver’s License, airbrake certification, and passenger endorsement. BARTA drivers provide close to 1.8 million one-way trips annually and travel 7.3 million passenger miles across Berks County.
