Ratasha Smith photo
Resto on the O. bus.
Jose Resto is a new face among the city’s CT Transit bus drivers.
“I like it, I do. I enjoy it,” he said.
Resto has been driving for CT Transit for eight months. He said before working for CT Transit he drove trucks for the military.
“The pros, it’s a very rewarding job. You interact with a lot of customers, a lot of different people which is great,” Resto said. “The cons are that on the same level with the people, some people can be nasty. Some people you don’t want to deal with them because they’re really mean.”
Resto drives the O, D, and J buses.
Saturdays, he drives the O, which travels downs New Haven’s Winchester Avenue and ends in Milford, at the Westfield CT Post Mall.
He said the O, along with D, can be two of the more difficult routes he drives, due to their large ridership.
So far, Resto’s trips have gone without incident, but he’s had a close call.
“A passenger got on, he didn’t have the right fare and started cursing at me,” he said. “I basically said, ‘If you’re going to start cursing, you’re going to have to get off my bus.’”
Although he is now a bus driver, he has also spent time as a bus rider.
“I used public transportation in New York, trains and buses,” he said. “Ours [CT Transit] is a lot better. On the most part we’re pretty good.”
The CT Bus Diaries project is a collaboration between the New Haven Independent, the Valley Independent Sentinel and students from the multimedia journalism class at Southern Connecticut State University. The students are blogging about experiences on CT Transit’s bus lines in order to give a glimpse into the commutes of the people using the bus system.
Share your CT Transit experiences with us by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) photos or videos to Jodie Mozdzer Gil or tagging #CTBusDiaries on Twitter posts.
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The D is atrocious. The drivers will pack passengers in and presumably not bother to mention to supervisors that their buses are filled to capacity. Or their supervisors simply don't care because THEY DON'T USE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION