Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity
Drive bus or motor coach, including regular route operations, charters, and private carriage. May assist passengers with baggage. May collect fares or tickets.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Service Orientation
- Time Management
- Speaking
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Transportation
- Customer and Personal Service
- Public Safety and Security
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Administration and Management
- Telecommunications
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Inspect vehicles and check gas, oil, and water levels prior to departure.
- Park vehicles at loading areas so that passengers can board.
- Report delays or accidents.
- Advise passengers to be seated and orderly while on vehicles.
- Regulate heating, lighting, and ventilating systems for passenger comfort.
- Drive vehicles over specified routes or to specified destinations according to time schedules, complying with traffic regulations to ensure that passengers have a smooth and safe ride.
- Assist passengers, such as elderly or individuals with disabilities, on and off bus, ensure they are seated properly, help carry baggage, and answer questions about bus schedules or routes.
- Handle passenger emergencies or disruptions.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (83.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (37.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (60.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 61% of occupations compared | 74% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 68% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 95% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 82% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 51% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 71% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 86% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 87% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 2.89%
- Occasional contact with others: 6.33%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 16.45%
- Constant contact with others: 74.32%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 6.33%
- Fairly important: 15.18%
- Important: 7.12%
- Very important: 27.9%
- Extremely important: 43.46%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 23.42%
- Fairly important: 6.33%
- Important: 25.34%
- Very important: 16.5%
- Extremely important: 28.4%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.93%
- Very little freedom: 17.81%
- Limited freedom: 23.05%
- Some freedom: 28.43%
- A lot of freedom: 29.78%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 17.63%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 10.44%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.33%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 1.41%
- Every day: 64.2%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 1.85%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 35.37%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 27.2%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.07%
- Every day: 18.51%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0.81%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 10.81%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 43.89%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 15.28%
- Every day: 29.2%
n = 33, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 0.93%
- Fairly serious: 32.29%
- Serious: 2.89%
- Very serious: 2.64%
- Extremely serious: 61.24%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 53-3052.00 · SOC 53-3052 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8