Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 3, 1993                   TAG: 9309030225
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ODOMETER CAN'T MEASURE BUS DRIVER'S LOVE OF HER JOB

For eight hours a day, she stays behind the steering wheel of a Valley Metro bus. It takes about the same time to drive from Roanoke to New York.

On some days, Woods drives a bus for 10 to 12 hours. She's never calculated the miles she has driven, but guesses that it must be in the hundreds of thousands.

Woods, 38, has driven a Valley Metro bus for 14 years. Before that, she drove a city school bus and a Roanoke Agencies Dial-A-Ride bus.

She once worked for nearly a year for Norfolk Southern Corp., doing maintenance work on trains. But the railroad decided that the job was too tough for women.

Woods knows her way around the city. As a relief driver for Valley Metro, she must know all the routes because she might be assigned to any one on any day.

"Let's say I don't think I could get lost in the city," Woods said.

She drives wherever she's needed, filling in for drivers who are off work for vacation, illness or other reasons. She has worked as much as 59 hours during some weeks.

Woods chose to be a relief driver because it enables her to see all parts of the city instead of the same areas every day.

"Going over the same route can get boring sometimes," she said.

During her years with Valley Metro, Woods has been a driver on a regular route and also worked in the company's offices.

On the day the union drivers voted on a proposed new labor contract, Woods did not want to talk about pay and fringe benefits.

But Woods believes the drivers deserve a pay raise. She chooses her words carefully.

"I think we could stand a little more money," Woods said. "I think most people feel that way."

Woods would not disclose her salary, but the top pay for a driver is $9.10 an hour.

Valley Metro has 51 drivers; nearly 40 percent are women.

As she steered her bus through Garden City Thursday morning, Woods said there are pressures in the job that are sometimes overlooked.

"You realize that the lives of other people are in your hands," she said. "The weather can also be frightening at times and cause unusual problems."

Woods pointed to the record flood in 1985 and the blizzard this March, which caused havoc for Valley Metro. One of the most rewarding things about the job is getting to know passengers, she said, especially regular riders who depend on the buses as their only method of transportation.

"The other day, I had a lady thank me for transporting her for so many years," Woods said.

"You get to know so many people, and you get to hear some of their problems sometimes," she said. "You just have to listen sometimes."

After traveling around the city for 14 years, Woods said, you develop favorite routes - and others that are not so pleasant.

Her favorite: the route to the Veterans Administration Center in Salem. The passengers are nice, and the traffic isn't congested.

Her least favorites: routes that go into shopping malls, where the congestion is bad, especially during the Christmas shopping season.

There is sharp competition for the drivers' jobs. Applicants must pass physical examinations and background checks.

Woods had to wait 18 months for an opening after she had passed all examinations. After drivers are hired, they undergo eight weeks of training to acquire the skills to operate buses efficiently and safely.