Thank your driver on Bus Driver Appreciation Day

If you’re riding the bus on Monday, be sure to thank your driver. March 18 is International Bus Driver Appreciation Day.

The purpose of Bus Driver Appreciation Day is to celebrate the hard work of transit bus drivers and rail operators.

March 18 is the day that bus service is believed to have debuted in Paris in 1662, according to Randy Alfred writing for Wired.com:

“The system started with seven horse-drawn vehicles running along regular routes. Each coach could carry six or eight passengers. Some sources specify three routes; others say there were six, and that one of them was a circular route.

“The Carosses à Cinq Sous, or Five-Penny Coaches, were popular at first, but the novelty soon wore off. The system proved an idea ahead of its time.”

At busdriverday.org, riders can print out and personalize one of several thank-you cards and can also spread the word through social media.