It’s no accident: VIA bus driver retires after 3 million miles, perfect safety record
Raul “Roy” Chapa had been married barely five months to his bride, Elia, when he got laid off from his truck driving job. It was December 1979, and Chapa was not quite 21.
“I was worried about money, so I put in my application at VIA,” Chapa recalled. “They told me to come back when I was 21. So, I did, went through all the training, and Jan. 7, 1980, was my first day of work driving a bus.”
And thus began an almost 41-year history with VIA Metropolitan Transit that ended Sept. 1 with Chapa’s retirement and an award — for a rarity in public transit, 3 million miles of driving a bus without a single preventable accident.
This was not an internal “attaboy” award from VIA. The acclaim came from the National Safety Council, which had already feted him at his 1-million and 2-million milestones and requires that awardees be full-time employees while they drive the miles and when they receive the award.
That technically prevented another part-time VIA driver, Jesse Quintero Jr., from receiving the NSC award in 2014, though he had almost reached 4 million miles and 50 years of safe driving without an accident. Quintero, a driver since 1966, was honored separately in 2014 by VIA and the American Public Transportation Association.
Chapa also recently learned he would be featured in a permanent display at the Texas Transportation Museum, 11731 Wetmore Road, the first public transit driver to receive such a tribute.
Equally amazing might be that for more than 25 years of that career, Chapa went to bed by 8:30 every night and awakened at 2:45 every morning to prepare for his 5 a.m.-2 p.m. shift.
“I always came in early, about 4 a.m., got my coffee and did my pretrip inspection. And I always
prayed my rosary. That is very important to me. God is my pilot.” said Chapa, a member of St. Brigid Catholic Church for 20-plus years who remains active in some seven different church groups, including youth and military veterans.
An excellent cook by all accounts, Chapa often made breakfast tacos for co-workers with Elia, who also worked at VIA as a reservations clerk and retired simultaneously with her husband.
“I told him that after retirement he should open a restaurant,” said Kenneth Davison Sr., manager of bus service transportation at VIA and a friend since 1984. “I would be a loyal customer.”
More seriously, Davison has reflected many times on what made Chapa such a conscientious worker and safe driver. He, too, attributes some of that safety record to Chapa’s calm religious devotion, but there’s also Chapa’s devotion to getting a full night’s sleep.
“For many, many years, Raul had to pass up doing things in the evening because he was in bed by 8 preparing for work,” Davison said. “He was always fully alert and cognizant when on the job.”
Chapa said he had the couple’s bedroom thoroughly insulated and sound-proofed.
But, of course, there’s more to that safety record. His route for many years was the 550 (now defunct), which went along Loop 410, down Military Drive and back to 410 on the West Side.
“We hit all the malls, military bases, freeways, frontage roads, business roads, residential, everything,” Chapa said. “For 12 to 15 years, I drove at night. That’s always harder because at night some people have had too much alcohol. There’s just a much different demographic on the road than the students and working class people you get in the day.”
Not one to boast, Chapa does allow that he might have had a heightened sense of awareness when he drove his 40-foot, 22ton bus.
“I was always thinking 20, 25 seconds ahead of time, always focused on the next traffic light,” he said. “In residential areas, you always have to think about driveways, basketball hoops, anything that might attract children. … But at night there are other problems.
“We have to keep the interior lights on in the bus, so that creates a reflection that is a bit difficult. The shadows on the road play mind games with you. People wear the black and silver Spurs jerseys and just blend right into the street. It’s amazing camouflage.”
The biggest hazard by far? It’s the distracted driver with an electronic device, Chapa said — “and surprisingly, it’s not the youngest kids; it’s people in their 30s, early 40s.”
Chapa also credits excellent training at VIA, a good work culture and an engaged public transit union for keeping up his desire to come to work. Not once, he said, did he have to stop a bus from leaving the garage because he thought it was unsafe.
Chapa smiled. “Sure, I’ve gotten pissed off before, at passengers or someone at work, but I was always very cautious about how to handle it. I was never going to allow anything to deprive my family of what I promised I would give them. Everything can be resolved.” He was 62 when he knew the time to retire had come.
He had been good friends with a 57-year-old VIA maintenance worker who died from COVID-19 this year.
Chapa and his wife love to travel, especially cruises, but with the virus looming, they will stay near home until things calm down, spending more time with their daughter and two grandchildren.
Davison said Chapa’s personality made him a favorite at work.
“He was always accessible. He had this extraordinary character that attracted people. He never demeaned anyone. He was always positive. He really was our celebrity here.”