Electric Buses: Improving drivers and passengers quality of life

Jaime Riveros is 47 years old and has been working in the field of public transport for 20 years. He is familiar with lots of different buses, ranging from the oldest buses of different colors and sizes, to the yellow ones of the public transport set into operation in Santiago in 1991, to Transantiago, which started in 2007. He is aware that he is now at the forefront, since he drives the most modern buses in the system: Jaime is behind the wheel of an electric bus.

Driving buses has been part of his family history. "In my family, they are all bus entrepreneurs on my dad’s side. My uncles also had buses in Maipú and I was always there ... constantly learning."

Buses are part of his DNA. He has been familiar with them since childhood. "I was always inside those steel frames, fixing them," Riveros explains. He did not drive - in fact, he only started doing it three years ago - when he learned to drive buses to pay for the education of his three children.

"Before I preferred the tranquility of a garage among nuts and oil. I did not like to work with money, cutting tickets, I preferred working in silence," says Jaime.

 Today he drives the electric bus of the Metbus 516 line (Maipú-Peñalolén), which departs from the Santa Ana terminal every morning at 6:00 a.m. Jaime always arrives half an hour early to take his time with breakfast. He is a man who smiles a lot when he speaks and that smile is part of his daily tasks, "I like to greet the passengers with a good mood. We are also part of their days, "explains Riveros.

He says he is happy and it is easy for him to infect others with his cheerfulness. "These buses are delivering quality of life to the drivers and passengers. Just to come onboard changes your mood. They have air-conditioning, and I no longer get headaches," explains Jaime.