“Good evening folks, it’s 18 degrees and it looks like we’re in for a beautiful sunset!” This is something you might hear over the loudspeaker if Bronco Hyrman is behind the wheel.

A bus operator at Coast Mountain Bus Company for the last eight years, Bronco is known for his mini-news update when leaving a bus exchange. Often researching current events and weather before his evening shift (he drives highway routes between Bridgeport and Tsawwassen and White Rock), Bronco’s energy and personal pizazz has made him a passenger favourite. But don’t take it from me, here’s what a customer had to say:

“He greeted every single person that got on the bus with a smile and lots of energy. After such a long day coming from work, it was super sweet to a see a very positive individual make a change just by smiling and having a great attitude. He made me feel special and greeted every single person differently and thanked everyone when they got off! He made this bus ride a great experience for me and others and I really hope you let him know his work was greatly appreciated!”

Guess how many commendations like these Bronco has received? As of this May, he’s had 100!

But Bronco isn’t in it for the awards. He just wants to give his riders the best possible trip.

Here’s how he sees it:

“I like to make the drive pleasant, entertaining and make it a nice experience. I greet everybody. Shortly after I started driving I realized how we can affect people’s experience on the bus – we can make their day start or end on a good note.”

Recently, Bronco took some time to fill us in on what it’s like behind the wheel.

Q: Being on the front lines is a tough job. How do you stay so positive?

A: Knowing people appreciate what I do keeps me going. I used to perform onstage and feed off the environment. Seeing people in a good mood is a great reward. It’s worth it to put the effort in.

Q. What do you do when you come across people who are negative?

A. If customers are negative due to an issue with transit, I explain to everyone over the PA what the issue is. I see it through the passenger’s perspective. I believe in a human factor – show some empathy and you feel for them and know what they are going through.

If I see someone running for the bus I wait when I can and when it’s safe to do so. It isn’t always possible, but it gives us that human touch instead of calling everyone TransLink.

During our interview we also learned that in addition to English, Bronco speaks basic German, Russian and is fluent in Czech!

We should have asked him if he plans on giving news updates in all four languages during tourist season!

We’ll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for giving it your all, all of the time, Bronco!

Author: Laura Tennant