Driving around in bright coloured buses, bus drivers in Nottingham take thousands of passengers to and from their destinations safely every day. Whether it be Nottingham City Transport, Locallink buses or trentbarton services, the city is lucky to have such frequent transportation.
A father and son duo working for trentbarton have spoken about the best bits of their jobs - where "every day is different". trentbarton has more than 1,000 drivers and more than 400 buses - some of which have been driven by Damien Dunne, 57, and his son Patrick Dunne, 29.
It wasn't Patrick who followed in his father's footsteps as Damien has been on the roads driving for less than two weeks. Patrick, who joined trentbarton five years ago, is now a traffic officer - also known as a lead driver.
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Patrick told Nottinghamshire Live about the best bits of being a bus driver, saying: "Every day is different - sometimes the roads are empty, sometimes they're chocka, but when there's traffic, you can break the ice with people and go 'it wasn't like this yesterday, was it?'
"We have our regulars when you're doing the same time, same shift - you get to know people. You get to a stop and you'll think 'where's so and so', you wait, then a couple of minutes later, you'll see them running for the bus."
trentbarton likes to keep drivers on the same route the majority of the time. Patrick's father Damien, who has mainly driven 'the two' so far, added: "I'm very, very new. I've seen customers outside of work and they'll go 'you off today?'"
Damien, a former truck driver, added: "I enjoy the interaction, enjoy the driving and it's very easy to get to know customers. It's all been OK so far, touch wood - the customers know I'm new and they'll ask 'how are you getting on?'"
Patrick continued: "There was one day where I panicked but it was the best experience too. I was driving a 'two' and then I got a message once I had left Nottingham from the traffic officer telling me to pull up. My missus had gone into labour.
"It was sorted out really well. I had told my passengers what had happened, drove to Ilkeston and a driver took over from there. The proudest thing about it was everyone clapped when I got off the bus. The job is more than driving."
Usually, passengers see the merry side of bus drivers, greeting them when they get on the bus. But is there anything passengers do that annoy them?
Patrick said: "There's not much that annoys bus drivers." Patrick added: "The school run isn't as bad as it sounds - it can be daunting when you first start and you have to tell them 'one at a time'. Damien has all of this to come!"
Damien said: "The busiest I've seen it so far is outside the concert hall at the weekend and getting round Trinity Square where all the taxis are." Unlike some other cities where it's a foreign concept to say 'thank you' to the bus driver, Patrick doesn't get offended when someone forgets to do so.
He said: "You notice the difference in certain areas [when people do and don't say thank you]. But I don't take offence."
Some of trentbarton's most popular routes are the red arrow and skylink buses due to their connection to the airport. Patrick continued: "I have a bit of a nickname 'Shep'. I drove a '15' for the first time to the airport, I got a message to say that Smalley Arena was closed and had to divert to the M1.
"At the time, the M1 was being turned into a smart motorway and I had missed my turning at East Midlands Airport and turned into Shepshed." Luckily, none of Patrick's passengers had a plane to catch.
He added: "That happened in my first year but the driver's sense of humour made it comfortable and I can look back and laugh."
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