A bus driver happy behind the wheel

Photo OF 24, Nadia Lemieux
Dhouha Ben Ammar, 36 years old, flourished for almost eight years in his job as a bus driver

Nadia Lemieux

Wednesday, march 7, 2018 19:37

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Wednesday, march 7, 2018 19:37

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MONTREAL – The women represent a little over 20 % of bus drivers and operators of the metro in Montreal. On the occasion of the international women’s Day, we present to you a bus driver a passion for her profession for almost eight years.

For Dhouha Ben Ammar, the international women’s Day is a good time to deconstruct the preconceived ideas about the presence of women in the mid-traditionally male-driving a bus.

This career was a natural choice for the one who has always been passionate about customer service and driving. At the age of 28, while she was on the verge of completing a bachelor’s degree in education, she decided to embark in this business.

“I spent a day and I already look forward to the next day. It is here that I realized that I was like a fish in water when I drove the bus”, she told.

The Société des transports de Montréal employs for the time 785 conductive bus on a total of 3 660, or 21 %. On the side of the metro, there are 75 operating on a total of 345, or 22 %.

To find its place

“It is sure that I had a small concern. It is a man’s world and I am a woman, admitted Mrs. Ben Ammar, who is now 36 years old and mother of two children. But if, really, I hadn’t found my place, I would have had my plan B, to be a teacher.”

His apprehension disappeared quickly after his hiring. “I had put pressure on me to do things, she told. It took two or three weeks before I realized that I had nothing to prove to anyone. I found my place calmly.”

Good relations

The woman said that her relationships with her male colleagues are generally very good. She feels comfortable working with a majority of men and has never lived in the situations disturbing.

“It is sure that there are times of little jokes, here and there. But I call it more of awkwardness than anything else, she explained. But increasingly, women are making their place. They come put a special touch to the business.”

Different every day

Dhouha Ben Ammar loves her job mostly because she never knows how her day will go. “Every day, I have anecdotes and stories to tell”, she stressed. The smiles of the children who enter the bus and the discussions with older people are a “little joys of life”.

Ms Ben Ammar has mentioned that women are known to be welcoming, which is a strength to build connections with the public transit users.

She is pleased to see that the number of female colleagues never ceases to grow since she practice her profession. “Increasingly, women see themselves as armless bus”, she noticed.

She encourages women who have concerns to get started in this career. “If I had hesitated at the start, I would not have found the shoe to my foot. I found it because I dared to. At times, the unknown, it can be avoided, but you miss some things,” she confided.