Narendra Singh is a bus operator for CMBC. He joined the team in 2015 as a Community Shuttle operator and moved to conventional buses this past spring.

But to two different families, Narendra is more than a bus operator, he is a hero who located two missing children this past long weekend.

When a child in the area goes missing, operators receive messages via TMAC, the onboard computer screen. The messages include descriptions, last seen locations and any other information from police departments looking for the child.

On the first occasion, Narendra noticed a child standing by a bus stop sign alone as he was driving his route. The child looked distraught and matched the description of a missing boy Narendra had received just moments before. Narendra stopped the bus, let his passengers know why and had the child to get on board so he could verify if it was indeed the missing boy and alert the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).

“Hey,” I asked him, “Aren’t you supposed to be at home? Where’s your mom and dad? They must be worried.” The boy stated he got separated from his mom.

“I went back to my passengers and said ‘sorry folks, there’s another bus right behind me. I’ll be stationary and must wait for police.’  Most of the passengers understood a missing child was more important.”

VPD was on the scene in minutes and the boy was returned to his home. All of this only took about 90 minutes!

Narendra managed to save the day again two days later, except this time, he wasn’t even at work yet! Luckily he was wearing his uniform and safety vest to identify himself and he was able to wait with the child until police arrived to help the little lost girl find her way home.

For Narendra, he says it’s “Just a regular thing we (bus operators) do.”

Two children are back safe with their families because of the great communication between police services and CMBC, Narendra’s keen eye, quick thinking and kind heart.

We salute Narendra and everyone who help keep the children of our region safe.

Author: Adrienne Coling