Driver Appreciation Week 2024 - Meet Julia

I’ve known for years I wanted to move to New Zealand and eBus eventually brought me here. I’m from the San Juan Islands, close to Seattle and the Canadian border.  

I moved to Nelson in June 2023 as part of the global team that came here to launch eBus. Our team is like a family. Those of us who came at the beginning all had accommodation together. It was really nice because we would see each other at mealtimes when we were off shift and it was great for us to become friends outside of work, which meant we were able to lean on each other. Starting somewhere new is always a challenge but starting somewhere new in a different country is even more so. Even with English as my first language, things are different here, so it’s been great to learn that together.  

I’ve been driving buses for 11 years now, I expected the obvious difference, other side of the road, other side of the vehicle, but what I didn’t expect was how much tighter New Zealand roads were. There’s some smaller rural towns in the USA that have similar roads like the Californian Coast, the Appalachian Mountains and New Mexico so I had driven on roads like this before thankfully.  

I’ve really enjoyed seeing all the different passengers on board, from the morning run with corporates and students, to retirees heading out for the day. I had one passenger who usually travels during the day who caught the bus in the morning and couldn’t believe how packed it was, she said she’d never seen it so full.  

It’s been great to see people reconnect with each other too. I had one passenger, an elderly lady who lived in Atawhai who hadn’t seen her brother, who lives in Motueka, for four years. Neither had a way to travel until eBus came along. She got up the courage to take the bus from Atawhai to Motueka and reconnected with her brother. She’s since moved to Motueka to be with him. I don’t see her on the bus anymore but I get a big wave if I drive past while she’s out walking.  

I’ve also had some really funny furry passengers. One gets on in Atawhai and he knows when we’re getting close to his stop because he’ll give out a little bark. The first time the owner was a little distraught, but I just laughed saying it’s ok, the dog was just letting me know his stop is coming up, cos he can’t reach the stop button.