Aside from 7 months in the wilds of Belconnen (ie a township of Canberra) in 1999, I have lived my entire life within a maximum ten minute walk from the 406 bus route, which runs between Footscray Station and Keilor East (side note – I have this propensity to call it East Keilor).
Before moving to Avondale Heights in early 2003, my public transport options were much richer, and indeed during my sojourn in Maribyrnong, I mostly relied on the tram which ran to within 3 minutes walk from my flat.
But in the intervening 22 1/2 years, I have mostly relied on the 406 bus, or its feeder route, the 407, which meanders from Highpoint West to Milleara Shopping Centre past my street.
In that time, I have become very familiar with many of the bus drivers and know them by name. We greet each other and they frequently ask after my elderly mother, who relies on the 406 to take her from her home to Highpoint West regularly.
Having these familiar faces on the bus route is something that I have long taken for granted. They do change over time, and there are very few who are left from when I moved here so long ago, of course, but that is normal in any business.
That all changed drastically in one fell swoop in early July. The depot handling the 406 and related lines switched from the Sunshine depot to the Werribee depot.
So now there is a legion of unfamiliar faces driving the buses around here.
Being new to those routes means that the bus timetables are a rough guidance only, even early in the day, which is quite frustrating.
But more to the point, I miss those familiar faces of the drivers I used to chat with.
Lost For Words! 