Go Ahead London - From me to you
I was a self-employed cab driver when Covid and lockdowns happened. There was a self-employed version of furlough for us but I couldn't stop wondering what I’d have done if things had been different and there was no furlough money. Just as we came out of the lockdowns, the war between Ukraine and Russia began, leading me to wonder - what now?
Also, a lot of love was being shown to 'key workers' from the highest levels of government, embraced by communities all over the country. Sustainability was being pushed out, with green energy being a tremendous concern for now and the future. A combination of the negatives in being self-employed and the positives of being a bus driver helped me make the transition.
They make it easy to become an apprentice driver at Go-Ahead London, the capital’s biggest bus operator. On Thursday, I applied online, on Friday, I got a call from the company, on Saturday I went down to our Camberwell depot to sign up – and on Monday I was in the classroom.
First challenge was to pass a theory test to get a PCV (Passenger Carrying Vehicle) licence. Our classroom teachers were wonderful and made the learning fun and interactive. Our classrooms are like a social club rather than a school, and my classmates were a mixed cohort of men and women, from 19 year olds up to 53 year olds. We passed our theory and I moved onto learning how to drive the bus with an experienced instructor. I was worried about whether I could safely drive a large vehicle. But the teaching was fantastic, and I quickly learnt that when the front of a bus turns right, the back swings left, which is a crucial thing to grasp! It’s just like driving a car but with a wider turn and gradual braking and in no time it becomes second nature.
In addition to getting a PCV license you have the opportunity to gain some academic recognition by achieving essential Maths and English qualifications. You also get your Driver Qualification Card.
Go-Ahead London takes on about 700 apprentices a year to drive London's buses and it’s part of a bigger company – The Go-Ahead Group – which runs buses and trains across Britain and aboard. The group hires 1,100 apprentices annually as bus drivers, train drivers and engineers. This shows how big the company is, and how vast the opportunities are. I have managers and colleagues who have gone aboard and they've enjoyed and developed even further.
I've learnt how to drive a number of different buses, including our double and single deck buses and our hybrid electric buses as well as learning a variety of different routes. We have something called a pre-promotion course, which enables people who are interested in learning more to explore what opportunities we have at Go-Ahead London, by having a closer look at our various departments and roles, so we can decide what we might want to work towards for our future. I've had two promotions, and I was able to train as a supervisor, and I am excited to share that I will be training as a manager from September 2023. So there are lots of opportunities to progress with Go-Ahead.
Driving a bus is easy, stress free and rewarding. How is it easy? Every anxiety you have about driving a bus has been thought of by Go-Ahead's Training Academy and the driver training has been developed in a manner to tackle these concerns and overcome them. In fact, given the quality of the training, it's probably harder to fail than pass.
You have mentors who teach you tips on the route. For example, the road becomes narrow due to parked cars so position the bus here and indicate from here to communicate with other road users who will 9 out of 10 times be willing to help so long as you give them enough time, space and information of what you need to do, and what you need from them.
How is it rewarding? Well you have your busy bus stops, where two thirds of the passengers can get off. They walk down and say thank you and wave, and that is a really nice feeling. Besides that, there are a lot of opportunities for growth, as the bus industry is a business that grows from the ground up. The nature of our work means that you have to know the business from the driver’s seat to manage from the top, and that is why some of our most senior managers are former bus drivers.
So go on, given it a go. You won’t regret it.