What are the first words you’d expect to hear from Australia’s ‘Happiest Bus Driver’? Upon my first time meeting the inaugural winner, it should come as no surprise that he led with a joke. While the resulting chat with Roland Tornyai was full of laughter and cheek, the Hungarian immigrant soon exuded a passion and care for driving people each and every day that made him a deserving winner of ABC Magazine’s ‘Happiest Bus Driver’ competition.
“I’ve learned that it’s not just about driving the bus – I want to connect with the people I drive,” he told ABC.
“I see these people every day, and my mantra has been to be happy to people and receive happiness back. A happy bus makes for a happy life.”
The H-word is a constant theme of our conversation – fitting for the competition and what ABC was striving to find in Australia’s bus driver cohort. However, Roland’s passion for buses hasn’t been an ongoing fanaticism. It was only three years ago that he came into the caper when he traded the hustle and bustle of a frantic kitchen for a similar stress in hopping behind the wheel of a 20-tonne bus.
“I was first a delivery driver after being a chef as I’ve rode motorbikes for all my life,” he says.
“I dreamt of getting a bus and licence to make myself a caravan, but then I found out how much it cost to get your licence. I had to start saving!
“About three years ago the company I was working for suddenly closed down and just days later I had no job or income. Luckily my wife told me Transdev John Holland Buses needed drivers, so I filled out the form and by Monday I was getting involved.”
Like any new driver hired by Transdev John Holland Buses in Sydney, Roland cut his teeth behind the wheel at the operator’s Port Botany depot. Being just around the corner from his house, Roland was able to learn the routes in his community as he was put through his paces over a few weeks.
Three years ago he wasn’t as confident as he is now steering a bus through Sydney’s winding streets. He remembers feeling uncomfortable and not ready to begin taking passengers throughout his training weeks. With some additional training under his belt, it was soon time for Roland to dive into the deep end and experience his very own bus route run.
“Somehow I had to start enduring the massive 20-tonne big box that is a bus,” he says.
“I had never driven heavy vehicles before, but I decided that I had to be like a mirror – if I was happy, then the people around me would be.”
He quickly learnt that driving a bus full of passengers on the road was a different experience in itself. Luckily, his cheerful nature drew the crucial help of patrons and allowed him to get through the challenging first few runs.
“On my second day I was driving the 379 route and I took a wrong turn,” Roland recalls.
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“An old lady came to me after the turn and said, ‘Darling, you’re going the wrong way, but don’t worry, I’ll help you’. She was an angel in an old lady’s body and she taught me the right way to go so that I wouldn’t forget it.
“Not long after, another passenger helped me get the right turns on a different route. I worked out that if I was happy around my passengers, they would in turn help me. If I was going to be a bus driver, I may as well be the best and happiest in the world.”
It was at this point that Roland’s infectious personality started shining through. When out on the roads, he began greeting his passengers warmly and asking them how they were. When passing another bus, he always waves at them. While many drivers didn’t originally share the love, Roland remarks with a cheeky grin that now plenty wave back and then talk to him at the depot.
Like any new driver at Transdev John Holland Buses, Roland soon graduated to the Waverley depot, which is the home of some of Sydney’s most intimidating and hectic bus routes. Once new drivers are trained at either the Port Botany or Randwick depots, the bus operator may move them to Waverley to experience the intense population and technical drives that summarise Sydney’s largest routes.
Over the past two years, Roland has been tackling these routes with aplomb and is now a popular member of the local community. His routes include the well-known 333 from Sydney to Bondi Beach, where he spends the summer transporting hordes of crowds to and from Sydney’s majestic beaches.
“Now, some of these routes I know so well that I could do them with my eyes closed,” he says.
“These suburbs have some beautiful people. I feel like I’m driving in my local suburb and transporting my family around, such is the happiness that I encounter while driving.”
What else makes Roland a deserving winner of Australia’s Happiest Bus Driver? It’s the little touches that stand out – Roland goes to the effort of putting on his own music on each run, tailoring the genre to the suburb he is driving in and the passengers he expects.
“It changes depending on the suburb, for areas that have younger passengers I’ll play house and R&B music, while for suburbs where there may be lots of pensioners boarding I play classic and ‘70s music,” he says.
“One time I had a lady sitting on the bus for the entire route, she said she had good music playing and comfortable air-conditioning and she had plenty of time, so she wanted to keep enjoying the ride.”
It’s this special care and energetic nature that has made Roland a favourite both inside the depot and out on the streets. Transdev John Holland Buses has been flooded with good feedback and compliments for Roland from passengers, while among the drivers he is helping inspire them to make healthier life choices.
It all stems from his own experiences – when he was a chef he didn’t exercise, but he has now transformed his health and fitness and is passing on his healthy lifestyle advice to other drivers.
“I think it’s so important to have better food on the table and have better energy when driving,” he says.
“If you get good petrol into your body, you can go forever. Food is your energy, and if you eat well then you live well.”
In just three years, Roland has become a shining light in Transdev John Holland Buses’ Waverley depot. Having received the company’s GEM Award for excellent service and developed plenty of friends for his passion and energetic nature, he is now also the inaugural winner of Australia’s Happiest Bus Driver. While doing so, he continues to build a collection of 189 selfies with co-workers at the Waverley depot that include drivers, duty officers, managers, cleaners and all others. When interviewing him, he was preparing to take another with a fellow colleague. He’s adamant that he’s not finished yet.
“I see a lot of beautiful people and culture,” he says.
“My lovely father told me this when I was 18. In front of the door, you can go out and find anything you want. Wife, yourself, your life – no one’s holding your hand. Find everything yourself, for your life. Be kind, be healthy, look after yourself and be strong.”
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