The Roadeo tests the skills and knowledge of bus drivers, gauging their driving skills, customer service, road knowledge and ability to detect bus faults.
By Mark Sawyer
A Lower Hutt bus driver has been selected for the Olympics ? the bus Olympics. Sam Maiava will pit his skills against the best 26 bus drivers in the land at the Tranzqual Bus Roadeo in Auckland. The Roadeo tests the skills and knowledge of bus drivers, gauging their driving skills, customer service, road knowledge and ability to detect bus faults. Competing drivers are chosen by their companies because of their skills, low complaint and accident rates, great customer service and professionalism. Mr Maiava has been driving coaches in the Valley since 1987, and can remember the days of the big rolls of yellow tickets and buses that were not nearly as technologically advanced as they are now. ?I used to drive from Woburn to Wainuiomata and there wasn?t the beautiful road that we have now. There was only one way up and one way down we were based at Woburn the traffic would be bumper to bumper.? Mr Maiava says not only was navigating through traffic a tough task but the old bus he used to drive leaked. ?When it rained your socks would get all wet and then in the summer the motor was at the front on the left so it would make it so hot,? he says. Nowadays he drives a Hutt Valley Flyer bus and says driving the airport run is a dream. ?It?s beautiful. The bus has air conditioning, leather seats, it?s a lovely bus and the road is really good too.? He says he is looking forward to using his 22-years of bus-driving experience at the 2009 Tranzqual Bus Roadeo. ?I?ve been driving for so long now that many drivers have gone away and come back and I?m still here. I?m not going anywhere. I love the driving; I love the buses and the people.? This is the third national event since the inaugural Tranzqual Bus Roadeo was held in 2007. This year?s event is being hosted by NZ Bus, with support from the Bus and Coach Association. Last year?s winner, Ian Anderson from Go Bus in Hamilton, will be defending his title of Bus Driver of the Year. Bus roadeos originated in the United States more than 40 years ago, and were created as a way to challenge drivers to keep their skills current.
