MINNEAPOLIS — If life was a highway, Bar Russell took a bit of a different route to get to where he is today.
"I never imagined I'd become a bus driver, you know?" Russell said. "I went to school for other things."
But in his full circle moment, Russell's favorite part of driving a bus is not the bus at all.
"Just to be able to see people on the bus and do what I was doing when I was younger," he said. "Thanking a bus driver, saying 'good morning,' 'good afternoon,' 'good night' when they're getting off the bus; it's just gratifying to know that."
Even when conditions aren't ideal, Russell steers into the fact that this service is one that's so needed.
"It serves the needs of people who might not be in the position that I'm in," he said. "That [people] need public transportation to be able to get to hospitals, to be able to work, to be able to get to school, to be able to service their at-home needs, food, groceries."
Russell said he always strives to be a reflection of that positivity.
"I do feel appreciated, I do," Russell said. "I put out good energy, and I'm the type of person that feels like good karma is rewarded with good things."
Metro Transit has a fleet of 829 buses. About half of the fleet will be out Wednesday. You can check real-time updates, including delays and cancellations, here.
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