Almost 15 years ago, Nafisah Freeman was sitting in the car with her sister and driving behind a Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus with an advertisement to become a bus operator. She decided to apply just to see what would happen, and two days later, she was called to schedule an interview.
Since Freeman has worked for MTD, she has driven every route. She now serves as one of three operator mentors and has taken on many other responsibilities at MTD.
She is a line instructor, meaning she drives with new operators and helps them learn their routes. She also teaches schoolchildren how to ride the bus and evacuate in case of emergencies, and plans social events for MTD staff to attend with their families.
Though this may sound like a lot, to Freeman, it is all just part of the job.
“To me, being a mentor isn’t a job or being a line instructor isn’t a job,” Freeman said. “It’s just spending time with my coworkers in different capacities.”
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Valerie Campo, mentor program coordinator, knew Freeman several years before working with her at MTD. She had previously worked as a property manager where Freeman lived.
“She’s always so helpful, and she does so much here at MTD,” Campo said. “She’s definitely someone that everybody calls on.”
Freeman was born and raised in Champaign County and went to Eastern Illinois University to study education before returning to C-U. Even though she did not end up pursuing a job in teaching, she said she has enjoyed being able to work with kids as an operator for MTD.
One time, she was able to celebrate a young boy’s birthday by giving him a tour of the bus that drove through his neighborhood every day.
“He got to walk on the bus, see how the bus worked, and then he took pictures with the bus driver — and it was really cute,” Freeman said. “That was my best memory.”
While some people have told Freeman they assume driving the bus is “just like driving a car,” she said it is a very different visual game.
“I feel like a boss when I’m driving those (60-foot) buses because I’m only 5-foot-2,” Freeman said. “But I think the thing we most worry about is making sure our back end is following us and the people who are on the outside are aware.”
Julie Torres, junior in Business, said she thinks the most challenging part of driving a bus on campus would be the narrow streets. Some Campustown roads have bike lanes or metered parking, so there is less space to maneuver larger vehicles like a bus.
Throughout Torres’ time on campus, she said MTD bus operators have been nice, and they engage with students by waving or talking to them as they board or exit the bus.
According to Freeman, driving a bus also comes with emotional and mental challenges, because she always has to focus on her passengers’ safety and well-being.
“If you’re getting on my bus and you’re crying, naturally, I’m going to say, ‘Honey, are you okay? Do you need something? Do you need me to call somebody?’” Freeman said.
She said she also has to be very aware of people who board the bus angry, because she has to anticipate whether that emotion is going to affect her other passengers or not.
After every shift, Freeman does what she calls “car meditation,” where she listens to music or reads for 10-15 minutes to decompress. She said she thinks it is really important for operators to have one day a week to recuperate and do an activity they enjoy. For her, that’s reading books in every genre.
Outside of interacting with the community through being a bus operator, Freeman also works with the youth of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, does community service through Sigma Gamma Rho sorority and volunteers with American Legion Auxiliary.
Freeman said she enjoys being able to do things with other organizations, but also likes that MTD does a lot to help out in the community.
“There’s not anything that goes on in the Champaign-Urbana community that you don’t either see MTD’s logo on, a table for MTD or … a bus for MTD,” Freeman said. “So it just kind of makes you feel good to know the job that you work with is part of the community.”
