UTA bus driver hits 3 million miles, no accidents milestone
May 25, 2018, 7:45 PM | Updated: 8:33 pm
OGDEN, Utah – In more than 40 years as a bus driver with the Utah Transit Authority, or UTA, Alan Bowden has logged well over three million miles and zero crashes. It’s not an easy feat.
“To put that in perspective, I’ve driven 120 times around the earth, without leaving the Wasatch Front,” Bowden explained.
Alan Bowden as a new hire with UTA in 1976.
Bowden, who joined UTA in 1976, has spent most of his career, driving routes in the Ogden area. He retired briefly in 2016, only to be hired back on part-time last August.
“When I was hired on, the fare was only 15 cents, and now it’s $2.50,” he recalled. “We only had maybe, 300 to 400 drivers, and now we have over a thousand.”
Very few people have matched Bowden’s accomplishment.
Alan Bowden, at the International Bus Roadeo in Tampa, Florida.
“He’s a great employee. He takes really good care of his customers,” Ogden Regional General Manager for UTA, Eddy Cumins said. “There’s a lot of things going on, and when you think about just navigating in your car; thinking about the traffic, thinking about the congestion, thinking about the orange cones, all the detours, everything going on, there’s a lot of moving parts.”
Bowden’s distinction allowed him to represent UTA at the International Bus Roadeo earlier this month. Bus drivers from around the US, Canada, and Mexico drive obstacle courses to compete. It was the second time Bowden’s taken part. He’s never quite won the competition, but he’s hoping to give it just one more shot next year.
“Hopefully I can win it,” Bowden said. And hopefully then, he can really retire. “Working for UTA has been a blessing for me. I was 25 when I got hired on and I’m now 67, so it’s been a good career.”
Alan Bowden drives a bus route in downtown Ogden, Friday.
