By Staff Reporter

Dublin Bus has celebrated its first all-women class of graduating new drivers.

Jennifer Dixon, Elizabeth Cummins, Tracy Sullivan, Rachel Dunne and Sinead Hilliard bring the total number of women drivers to 84.

The company says it has set a target of having 125 women drivers, or five per cent of all drivers, by the end of 2017.
 
All trainee drivers are put through their paces at the company’s dedicated training centre in Phibsborough, north Dublin, headed by Marie Beegan, the company’s first female heavy vehicle apprentice motor mechanic and a 35-year veteran.

“Until 2014 Dublin Bus had not recruited drivers for a period of six years and during this time the number of women drivers fell,” said Dublin Bus chief executive Ray Coyne. “Therefore we decided to actively work to recruit more women to the role.”

Dublin Bus cites internal research that women drivers have fewer accidents and deliver a higher level of customer satisfaction.

“Our drivers are the face of the company and the job is a hugely rewarding one and I welcome them to the Dublin Bus team,” Coyne said of the latest recruits. “I would also encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a driver to apply.”
The training centre provides a six-week programme for recruits to attain their Certificate of Professional Competency (CPC) and driving skills training.

The first half is spent with driving instructors on D licence instruction and recruits take their Department of Environment driving test. They then spend two weeks completing classroom-based training on modules such as tickets and bus technology, customer service, advanced driving standards, wellbeing, and policies and procedures. 

Their last few days in the training centre include a driving skills assessment course and night driving.

In 2014 Dublin Bus won the CPC Training Organisation of the Year at the Road Safety Authority’s Leading Lights in Road Safety Awards.