Bus Driver Retires After 40 Years Behind The Wheel In Tri-Valley

LIVERMORE, CA – Among bus driver Diane Farner's favorite group of passengers over her 40 years on the job were engineers and scientists enroute to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for whom she would occasionally pull over at the Donut Wheel in downtown Livermore long enough for the group to hustle in and get coffee and donuts to take to work.

And after four decades of service, Farner recently retired from the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority at age 80.

Farner started driving buses in the Tri-Valley in 1978 for the Livermore Unified School District, then went to work for the Rideo bus service in 1980 in Livermore, which eventually transitioned to LAVTA.

In all those years behind the wheel, Farner saw significant technological improvements in the vehicles she operated having driven buses with manual transmissions, many with no air conditioning and one with a driver’s seat that was located between the engine compartment and a window that did not open.

She also recalled that in days before on-board radio communication or cell phones, her passengers would sometimes exit her bus and call police if there was a troublemaker on board.

Farner said in the days when the Tri-Valley was more rural, passengers sometimes had to get off the bus to help persuade farm animals to move from the road so she could continue on her route. And she remembers riders who started riding her bus when they were in high school, then continued riding to work as adults.

Farner and her husband moved to Livermore from Alameda in 1971, and she plans to remain in the area.

Enjoy your retirement, Diane!

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--Image via LAVTA