An alarm clock blares at 4:30 a.m. After hitting the snooze button one more time, Wolfline Operator Dan iel Young begins his day.
Young said buses have fascinated him since he was a child riding with his father in a segregated bus from Maryland to West Virginia, but he said he never imagined bus operat ing would become his profession.
Before driving the Varsity, South East Loop, Avent Ferry and West Grove routes for the Wolf line, Young had a variety of careers. He was stationed in Italy as a member of the U.S. Air Force, worked as a courtroom clerk and assistant as signment commissioner for Chief Judge Harold Greene in Washing ton D.C. while taking law courses, founded the National Tennis Teach er’s College and ran for Raleigh City Council, as well as the House of Representatives Seat 35, among his other life accomplishments.
In 2005, First Transit hired Young, who decided to start working again after completing a bucket list which included buying a motorcycle and driving across the country and back, due to his then recent diagnosis of prostate cancer, according to Young.
On top of driving the bus, Young said he writes songs and letters to the editor, plays the guitar, volun teers at the Durham Veterans Af fairs Medical Center and maintains membership with the Henderson- Vance Recreation Commission and Rolling Thunder, a non-profit organization that raises awareness of soldiers missing in action and prisoners of war.
Young’s bus rides contain many surprises as well where riders can listen to Young read the headlines from that day’s paper during lay overs at D.H. Hill library among his other notable sayings.
“I pretend I’ve got a radio station and my bus number is the call let ters, Young said. ‘You’re listening to W-O-L-F Radio on the campus of N.C. State at 1509 on the dial. Don’t look for us on your AM or FM dial, because we only play to captured audiences.’”
Young said he got the idea when he worked at Hertz in the early 1990s. He has experience in broadcasting, radio, television and theatre and even held a small role in the 1989 film The Heist.
“I try to lighten [students’] day and make it entertaining for them because I know it’s a boring thing, and I know sometimes they have to get up early to go to class, and sometimes things just don’t go their way,” Young said. “I try to influ ence them by telling them to think of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. They didn’t graduate from college, but look what they’ve done, and if these kids, hopefully if they finish college, imagine what they might be able to do, so I’d like to try and inspire them as much as I can.”
Young speaks from experience because he said he attended the Uni versity part-time from 1992 to 1998 in order to pursue a communication degree but fell short of graduation by 12 credit hours.
According to Young, he receives a variety of reactions from students.
“The freshman have told me I act like a hall monitor. In fact, one or two complaints [First Transit] has gotten have said students can’t get any studying done on the bus. My thought is, ‘Well, it’s awfully late to start doing your studying on the bus,’” Young said. “For the most part, the majority of the youngsters chuckle at it and stuff like that. You know, those who have a sense of hu mor. The majority of them always thank me and say, ‘That was a fun ride,’ or ‘Thanks again,’ and they’ll wave at me when they get off my bus and stuff.”
After Young finishes his bus radio program, he gives them a tour of Ra leigh, just like when he worked for the Washington D.C. Tour Mobile in 1989.
“What I said I’ll do is look at the different buildings I see and just read out the names because there may be somebody on my bus that’s never been to Raleigh be fore,” Young said. “I like to inform people where things are, so next time they’re in town, they can stop by there. For example, I like to let people know where Snoopy’s is… and I don’t know whether I’m re sponsible or not, but there’s a long line at Snoopy’s now.”
The best part about driving the bus lies in the “responsibility” of the job, Young said.
Young said he drives an hour and a half from the town of Henderson to Chapel Hill Road in order to get there at about 6:21 a.m. to “pre-trip” the bus, the process of making sure the horn, lights and everything else on the bus run smoothly before he starts his route.
The routes change daily, so Young said he and other drivers must make sure they do not “mix up the routes.”
To communicate with each other, drivers must use a set of codes, which range from a 10:29 (ready to go) to 10:7 (going to the bathroom), Young said.
Once his shift ends, Young said he must either wait for another bus driver to relieve him or take the bus back to base.
“A job is what you make it,” Young said. “I try to be as professional as I can. I think that’s the impression you want to give off to students, that you take your job seriously and have their safety at heart.”
