We ride and reminisce with TTC bus driver Al Nywening as he drives his last shift after 42 years at the TTC.
For more on this heart-warming story visit the Toronto Star: on.thestar.com/2nHZmv7
Or read an excerpt of Jackie Hong's article below:
TTC bus driver retires after 42 years on the road
Al Nywening spent almost three decades driving the 7 Bathurst bus.
After 42 years working evenings, TTC bus driver Al Nywening is calling it a night.
“I’m ready for retirement,” Nywening said shortly before heading out for his last shift Tuesday, a 5:55 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. on North York’s 125 Drewry route.
“I’m not really going to miss the job at all, (but) I think I’ll miss a few of the people.”
Nywening started with the TTC in February 1975 - when Pierre Trudeau was prime minister and David Crombie was mayor of Toronto - less than a week after applying to a driver’s ad he saw in the newspaper.
The hiring manager told Nywening to get a haircut - he had shoulder-length hair back then - and to come back Monday morning.
“So I came back, I had a haircut, and the guy says, ‘I thought I told you to get a haircut,’ ” Nywening recalled. “He sent me back (to get it cut shorter). That’s what it was like then.”
for more on this story visit thestar.com: on.thestar.com/2nHZmv7