Driving an enormous Cy-Ride bus while making quick turns and stops Sandra Bullock-style may interest students, but what does becoming a Cy-Ride driver really entail?

Of Cy-Ride’s nearly 50 part-time bus drivers, nearly all are Iowa State students or spouses of students.

Bob Bourne, director of Cy-Ride, said the procedure for becoming a student bus driver is a “progressive” process.

“They have to be comfortable they’re a safe driver, with safe driving habits, and we have to be comfortable they’re a safe driver with safe driving habits,” he said.

Bourne said Cy-Ride has been hiring student bus drivers since 1976. He said in order to become a Cy-Ride bus driver, applicants must first complete an interview process, which will show Cy-Ride officials if a student is personable.

Bourne said if a student makes it through the interview process, he or she may then start the “custom-tailored” training process, which is scheduled around class time. The training process includes both “out-of-service” and “in-service” driving.

Before students start driving the bus with a supervisor, they must have a commercial instructor’s permit.

To drive alone, a student must have a commercial driver’s license with passenger and air brakes.

Barb Neal, Cy-Ride manager in charge of hiring and training, said the out-of-service training is a time for students, who do not possess necessary driving skills, to discover they are not cut out for the job.

“We have some very old buses, with [different] switches and controls,” Bourne said, adding it can take time for students to get acquainted with the driving of a large vehicle.

The student driver starts out with about 30 hours of out-of-service training.

Out-of-service training involves the student practicing the basics of bus driving, such as left and right turns, with a supervisor behind the ISU Center.

Neal said trainees spend their first day out in a bus, and the supervisors then take them out on an actual bus route.

He said the students practice on the orange route because even though it is the “heaviest” route, it also is the easiest.

Next is the in-service training, which can last from 60 to 120 hours. Students work with experienced drivers on regular routes.

During this time the drivers work on braking, accelerating, making turns, smooth starts, using the radio and understanding transfer orders.

Bourne said some of the problems student drivers first encounter includes difficulty with braking.

He said some applicants are accustomed to driving trucks, not buses.

“Driving with passengers is a lot different than driving with cargo,” he said.

Students who have more than two speeding tickets will not be considered for the job, Bourne said.

“Safety is the most important part of the job,” he said, adding that this policy helps weed out a lot of the “speeders” from the job pool.

Bourne said he never has received any complaints from members of the Ames community about their young bus drivers.

“They really like interacting with young people,” he said.

Bourne said Cy-Ride constantly needs new drivers.

Since the training can take four or five weeks, it can take officials five to six weeks to replace a driver.

Neal said most students who apply make it through the training. “Most are very good drivers,” she said.

Bourne added that about 10 percent of the people who go into Cy-Ride training quit.

He said a big problem is lack of coordination.

“It’s acceleration and stopping — ‘stop-and-go’ type of driving,” Bourne said. Driving a bus on a specific route is a “very prescribed” process, he added.

As for other requirements, Bourne said prospective drivers must be 18 years old.

He added that Cy-Ride often hires sophomore and junior students so they will stay with Cy-Ride for a couple of years. The job pays $8 an hour.

Cy-Ride officials agreed that the job is a beneficial one for students.

“I think it’s a good experience; it teaches a certain amount of discipline,” Neal said. “It’s a fun job.”

“It may be the best part-time job in town.” Bourne said. “We encourage people to apply.”

For information, call Cy-Ride at 292-1100.