My third day behind the wheel almost didn’t begin. Here in Whistler they usually don’t tell you where your bus is, so you have to wander around the yard searching for your bus. The first bus wasn’t in the yard, so it was back to dispatch for another bus. That bus existed, but the other driver didn’t want to give it up, even thought it hadn’t been fuelled. So they finally sent me out with the HR fellow, Joel, who has been assigned temporarily to Whistler to try and get things organized, and he gave me a bus. Luckily I had arrived early for my shift, or I would have been very late.
Whistler Village
The adventure continued when I did my first #7 Tapley route that we had gotten lost on in training. My GPS wasn’t programmed just right, and I knew it. So I recruited my first passenger to help me find my way in the dark. Oddly enough, this neighbourhood doesn’t have street lights. Another odd thing here is how often they use turn around areas in the routing to make a U-turn. And backing up doesn’t seem to be against the rules here either, which is good because it took me two runs to figure out how to avoid backing up.
Snowy mountains surround Whistler
After reprogramming my GPS, the second route went perfectly. The 7 route is scheduled for 30 minutes, but it only took be about 20 minutes, so that was nice. The parking on Main Street is also not really designed for so many buses, so I learned to hang back until my departure time.
At around 7 in the morning we had the Main Street Terminal blocked by the Torch Run. I ran up and got a video of it leaving Whistler.
Video of Torch run leaving Whistler
I had a two hour lunch during which I had to make my way from Main Street Terminal to the Gondola Exchange Terminal. What a lovely place to have to kill time. I had a lovely breakfast in the village at the BREAD Garden Urban Cafe, and then strolled around snapping pictures. Today the weather was clear and sunny, which makes for beautiful mountain shots. Like Blue Mountain in Ontario, the ski lifts are right next to the village. The hotels are huge, and the shops are busy.
Prevost highway coach on the 99 Pemberton run
My second half was on the 99 Pemberton run, which runs 30 kilometres north to Pemberton. I lucked out and got the Prevost coach I was hoping for. Here again I’ve had zero seat time in this new vehicle, so I had to learn on the fly. The blinds are powered. The door handle is actually two buttons. The previous driver had turned off the retarder, so it wasn’t braking the way I it should in the mountains. Once I figured that out, it was much better. What a smooth ride and good hill climbing ability. This coach is 45 feet long.
John with one of his trainers in Pemberton
Of course, this route was messed up too, with the map indicating that we should be going around the block the opposite way to the correct one. Plus, they have added a jog down Nestor road by the garage on the return trip, which is also not noted. Nor is the stop in the Meadow Park Sports Centre mentioned either. Luckily, I befriended a bunch of the passengers and they helped me out so that I never missed a turn. All part of the adventure.
When I got back to the garage, I met Steve Huebner, who was just completing his day of training. They had a bus lined up to travel back to Squamish in, so I tagged along with them. John Livingstone was just leaving the garage in a double decker bus as I parked my coach. Now I’m jealous. I’m not scheduled to drive the 98 route, which is the only route they are allowed on. I may have to switch shifts or do some OT, because I can’t return to Ontario without having driven a double decker. All the drivers rave about them after drive them.
Steve Huebner, on left, arrives for training
They are now hiring more drivers to replace the many who never showed up or quite. People who missed the cut off date for the hiring are being called back and hired. Two of the people on my bus right now were hired this week, and started their training today. So that is interesting.
Well, I’m almost back to Squamish, and have found that writing this blog makes the trip go a whole lot faster. So maybe I’ll have to call this the Bus Blog.
Tomorrow evening Steve and I will be attending the evening service at Squamish Baptist Church. I got a phone call from one of the members last night who offered to pick us up at the hotel. It sure makes you feel welcome here.