It was all change on the My bus yellow bus to Cockburn High and Fountain Primary in Leeds recently as regular driver Ann Bell gave up her place at the wheel to Metro Education Team member and former bus driver Billy Haw.

But there was no chance of Billy getting lost. Cockburn High is his old school.

Ann rode the route with Billy and spent the following week sat at his desk at Metro’s behind-the-scenes Education Call Centre, finding out just what the Metro Education Team does to ensure that over 20,000 West Yorkshire pupils get to and from school every day.

After their job swap, Billy and Ann will be feeding back what they have learned, as part of Metro’s ongoing drive to ensure the county’s school transport is as good as it can be.

“I’m really enjoying getting back behind the wheel and seeing what the demands are on My bus drivers,” said Billy  “The My bus service is drastically different to the service I used to drive on 10 years ago and it has been interesting to see the impact the scheme has had.”

I’ll really miss all the children, while I’m at Metro as they’re all real characters,” said Ann. “But it will be interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes and how the call centre works.”

Metro’s Education Team Manager, Alison Pilling said “Although this may seem like a bit of fun for Billy and Ann to swap jobs, it is a serious part of our commitment to improving school bus services, by encouraging better understanding of people’s roles and how they fit in to the system.

“It is an opportunity for one of the drivers to experience the demands on the office team and for one of the office staff to see what a driver has to deal with over the course of a week.

Billy  and Ann will be recounting their experiences at the next My bus conference for everyone involved in the scheme.