Many events can take place on a bus but the drivers are the ones who see the whole show. Dealing with the public, grueling shifts, traffic and time pressures make it tough but the job is very rewarding for many. Producer Kintilla Heussaff, spent a day on the No 16 Dublin Bus route and hears from the driver, inspector and passengers.

Travelling by bus has changed over the past century, over a hundred years ago passengers were boarding horse trams in Dublin which was electrified until 1900. After WW2 small capacity petrol engines buses were introduced across the City. CIÉ was founded in 1945 and is answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport in Ireland. In 1987 Dublin Bus, was founded and is a subsidiary company of CIÉ.

Ireland has a rich heritage and love of transport of previous generations, you only have to look at some old video archive of Dublin to see customers paying their fare on KD buses in Dublin. Since then public transport has seen many variations of buses from Volvo Alexander to the trial of modern hybrid-diesels. 

Today Dublin Bus employs 3,450 people from 72 different countries. 2,497 drivers operate a fleet of 1016 buses which are all low-floor wheelchair accessible and fully Wi-Fi enabled.

Presented and Produced by Kintilla Heussaff

First broadcast 17 September 1990

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