The mother and daughter bus driving dream team

After seeing her mum Laura thrive as a bus driver and unsatisfied with her 'boring' job that she felt was going nowhere, Katie decided to apply to be a driver herself. A year later, Katie and Laura are an unstoppable team, keeping people moving on route 5, 5A and 5B. They work the same days and share a duty – working one half each. We chatted to them about how driving shapes their identity, who inspires them and who they are when they're not behind the wheel. Read the full interview below!

What do you like best about being a bus driver? 

Katie: I love that you never have a day the same - different people, different routes, different weather - that makes a lot of difference. The company has been really good with us, they’ve been really flexible. I've never had a better job! 

Laura: It gives me a sense of achievement when I help people get around their busy day, shopping, meeting friends, lunches and everything in-between. You get to learn new routes and get to know the regular passengers – its nice, like a big sort of family! Also the free travel is a perk, and the fact we get paid weekly. The holidays aren’t bad either!

What does your life outside of driving look like? 

Katie: My kids are really into buses, so they point at buses all the time and I hear ‘wheels on the bus’ almost every second of the day – it's funny because they don't even know I'm a bus driver. We take them to the transport museum sometimes and I feel really clever for knowing so much about buses.

Who is your biggest female role model? 

Katie: The biggest female role model in my life is obviously my mum. I wouldn't be the woman I am without her! 

Laura: Mine is also MY mum, who’s no longer with us. She was a woman you wouldn’t want to mess with, but also loving and caring. She was always there for me when my children were born. I miss her so much and she is someone I would want to be like.

How does being a bus driver make you feel? 

Katie: It makes me look cool at parties! You don't see many young women out on the buses, or you didn't used to, so people are usually blown away by that. I feel like I can outshine most young blokes in their boy racer cars.

How long have you been a bus driver for? 

Katie: I’ve been driving for just over a year and it’s flown by! Once you know how to drive a bus, you can’t believe you never knew how to do it before – it’s blown me away how quickly I’ve picked it up. 

Laura: I’ve been driving for about 6 and a half years, and I remember going to my interview and thinking I couldn’t do it because there were some big burly men, and the size of the bus scared me. But I decided I’d gone there for a reason, and I carried on and did all the tests, and here I am! 

What’s the best thing about working with each other? 

Laura: It’s nice to see Katie more regularly than we would otherwise, as she lives further up out of Brighton. It’s nice and familiar and gives me the chance to see her more than I would if she wasn't a bus driver.

What’s the worst thing about working with each other? 

Laura: We make each other laugh and it gets all silly and giggly. 

Katie: She ruins my reputation at work! But actually, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Any final thoughts?

Laura: “We need more women drivers – come on, give it a go!”