San Francisco Character – Vivienne, Muni Operator

Rider Madeleine sent us a story about Vivienne, who drives the 108-Treasure Island. Vivienne has been a Muni operator for 20 years and is “very humble as to the importance of her job,” Madeleine reports. Madeleine, who is Swiss, tells us one reason why she enjoys having Vivienne on her bus:

I like her calling me ‘sweetie.’ I know, this is nothing unusual around here, but given that I am Swiss and used to Swiss public transit operator attitudes, the idea of being called ‘sweetie’ by a Swiss bus driver just amuses me… they are waaay too stiff and formal to do something like that.

Vivienne told Madeleine about what happened during a graveyard shift on the 91-Owl when she picked up a man on Van Ness who said he had just been hit by a cab. Read the rest of the story at Madeleine’s blog, SFCharacters.

Got another Muni driver who made an impression on you? Let us know. Or even better, are you a Muni operator? We want to hear from you!