The bus driver

Marion Thoma takes a somewhat philosophical view of her daily routine. The 35-year-old still finds it interesting to drive her gas-powered bus along the same route around downtown Augsburg day after day. The entire route takes three hours, and there's no break. That's why the route is particularly unpopular among Thoma's colleagues.

Thoma knows every meter of the route in detail, but it still takes a lot of concentration to maneuver the 18-meter long articulated bus through the morning rush hour traffic. Despite the hectic pace, she manages a small miracle: she remains helpful and friendly.

Battling rush hour

Today, Marion Thoma can't imagine doing any other job. But when she started, she'd more or less stumbled into this line of work. "I read an ad in the newspaper, applied, and I got it," she says. "First, I drove streetcars, but after two years, I got my bus license, and now I can drive both."

Earlier, Thoma worked as a driver with the German post office in Munich. But she didn't like the stress and anonymity of big city life. Now, she works in Augsburg – a much smaller city with a population of 250,000. For her home, she sought out an even quieter place: a village located just 30 km away from the small town of Bobingen, where she was born. Thoma values life in the country; she enjoys the quiet and the fresh air.

Husband also a bus driver

Marion Thoma is married, and her husband also works as a bus driver. The couple doesn't have any children. When it comes to combining work and family, Thoma is skeptical. "I think that's a difficult decision to make these days," she says. "I really like going to work, and I just don't think it's possible to have both a job and children."

What she loves most about her job is dealing with people. Each day, Thoma says she has some really nice passengers. But she also has to deal with more vexing passengers, who always have something to complain about. More and more, she also sees young people getting onto the streetcar with a bottle in hand; they typically occupy the back row for about two hours, riding around while they drink alcohol. When she watches such teens through the built-in camera, she has an uneasy feeling.

A different destination every time

Privately, she also finds herself behind the wheel. But she tries to use her car as little as possible – mainly just to get to work and home again. Whenever she can, she travels by bike. "I'm driving all day long anyway," she says. In order to keep fit, she goes jogging each day.

When Thoma goes on vacation, she likes to see something new. That's why she never goes to the same place twice. She looks for diversity in what she does. She says that's why she likes being a bus driver so much, even though she sometimes has to drive the same route six times in a row.

"Every time, the journey is different," she says.

Author: Georgios Pappas (dc)
Editor: Rina Goldenberg