Bus driver stops his route to help a blind passenger across a construction zone

Milwaukee, Wisconsin resident Gene Hubbard has been riding the transit bus to work for years. The 69-year-old is blind, and knows exactly how to navigate from the bus stop to his place of employment. 

As bus driver Thaddaus Turner approached Hubbard's usual spot, he saw it was blocked by construction. Despite knowing he is responsible to keep the bus on schedule, he stopped the bus and followed Hubbard down the stairs. He then took the man's arm and led him safely across the construction area.  

A driver in oncoming traffic snapped a couple photos and a video of this small kindness. Without knowing either Hubbard or Turner's identity, he shared the video with local news outlets, who in turn broadcast the good deed. 

Turner dismissed his act as something he and his fellow bus drivers do most every day. Hubbard praised Turner's kindness. “If I don’t have a regular locating point to start from, I may as well be in the middle of the ocean.” 

Bus driver stops to feed a stray dog every day for 2 years

A couple years ago, a Canadian bus driver spotted an emaciated stray digging through the trash. A volunteer with Feed the FurBabies Canada, the anonymous woman was touched. She returned to the site with a bag of dog food and offered it to the stray dog. He devoured it. The next day, she spotted the same dog waiting along her route, wagging his tail. She stopped her bus and tossed him another helping of dog food. The pattern was set.

Every day since then, the dog has waited for her bus. In all kinds of weather, tail wagging, he stays beside the road while she pulls up and stops the bus. When she opens the door and tosses the bag of food, he grabs it in his teeth and hurries off.

The local animal shelter does not have enough room to house all the area's strays. There aren't enough foster homes for them either. Even so, this woman saw something she could do to help this dog. And she's done it every day for the last 2 years.

Substitute bus driver sees a mom struggle, builds her a ramp

Thomas Mitchell works as a bus mechanic for Tennessee's Clarksville-Montgomery County School System. Sometimes he's called upon to be a substitute bus driver, as happened one day last fall.

His route that day included pick-up of 10-year-old Lydia DeSpain, who uses a wheelchair. Mitchell watched Lydia's mom Verna struggle to get Lydia and her wheelchair out to the bus. The home's front steps had a portable ramp which was flimsy and too short - it forced Verna to back the wheelchair down a stair before connecting with the start of the ramp. Verna confessed to Mitchell that she worried about Lydia's safety, and that she herself had been injured more than once maneuvering the wheelchair on the awkward setup. Afterward, the conversation and image of the struggling mother haunted Mitchell. 

He decided to act. He spoke with district officials who supported his efforts. Contact was made with the local Lowe's, who donated materials for a proper ramp. Mitchell called Verna DeSpain with the news - he would build a new, customized ramp for Lydia free of charge.

So late last month, Mitchell and four fellow volunteers built a new ramp for the DeSpain's home. Now Verna and Lydia can both be safe as they enter and exit their home.