Collegiate Times

There?s a serene silence on Blacksburg Transit buses in the afternoon. The humming of the motor and the occasional tick-tock of a turn signal provide a calming atmosphere ? until you remember you?re on your way to class.As the ?Stop Requested? voice rings through your ears and you gather your belongings, it?s off to another busy day of classes. Though your upcoming test or a paper may be haunting every crevice of your mind, don?t forget the time, money and effort BT just saved you.

At the risk of sounding like a Geico commercial, the BT is a rather convenient commodity on the Virginia Tech campus, and thanks to the drivers and services they provide, members of the community can safely and cheaply get around town.

Dwight Shelor, a BT driver and Blacksburg resident, has been a part of the staff for a year and a half. ?All of the people who work for the BT are nice, friendly people. They?re enjoyable to be around, and we all get along. I?ve had several jobs, and I think BT is the best place I?ve ever worked,? Shelor said.Shelor can be found four or five days a week happily driving a bus on the Hokie Express route.Convenience is one of the main perks when it comes to BT employment.

?We get to pick the shifts that we work, the days that we work and the hours that we work, and that?s the best part actually. Especially if you?re a student and have classes you can work around that or if you have another job you can work around that,? Shelor said.

The BT is constantly hiring and application requirements are fairly lax. The biggest requirement of the job is that applicants are required to have a commercial driver?s license, or CDL. Shelor had his CDL prior to being hired, but Isaac Barber, another BT driver, needed a CDL when he applied to the BT. Barber says the process was easily done through the transit system.

While driving a machine the size of a bus may seem intimidating, drivers say the buses? intimidating appearances are deceiving.

?It?s actually a lot easier to drive than it looks. It seems difficult because it?s so large and especially when there?s a lot of people in it, but it?s really not that difficult,? said Justin Miles, junior civil engineering major and BT driver. Though Shelor prefers to drive during the day, both Miles and Barber are experts at night driving. They say they prefer the night shifts because they tend to be more laid back and there is opportunity for more student interaction.Barber admits he once thought he was under attack as he made his last rounds one evening. ?I was driving late night with the drunk people and I was on my last route out to Hethwood. I was driving up the road and all of a sudden I heard ?bam bam bam!? I slammed on the brakes and looked around ? all I could see was color. My brain immediately thinks blood, it wasn?t blood ? it was pink and fluorescent. I look and there are bits of rubber pieces and splattered paint all over my windshield. It was all down the side of the bus, they got me pretty good. I think that was the first paintball incident with the BT,? Barber said.

Like Barber, Miles had a late run-in with a few partygoers, but rather than being hit with paintballs, he was hit with a beer can.

?It was on Progress Street and I picked up these people and they threw a beer can that just hit me square in the head. I kind of laughed about it, it didn?t hurt or anything, but it was definitely quite memorable,? he said.Drivers are required to work nine hours a week, but thanks to the BT?s flexible scheduling policy, all three drivers recommend the job to anyone.

Miles, a student, has the flexibility to form his work schedule around his class schedule, and despite the minimum hour requirement, he often finds himself completing 35 hours per week. ?I?m usually up by six and at the bus by 6:30 or 6:45. You get 15 minutes to do your walk around and check out the bus and get to where you are supposed to go. That?s how you basically start your route in the morning. The morning is pretty busy, so you don?t really have a whole lot to do except drive around.?

?Then usually after that I have class in the afternoon. I have two classes straight on both days and then I go back to work for another three hours. Usually my shifts are all spaced out, one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one at night. Or, I?ll work them all back to back, which makes it kind of tiring.?

So if you?re low on cash and if your gas warning light is blinking on your dashboard, save some money and enjoy a fun and safe ride on the BT.