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Portrait of a bus driver
After more than 20 years with the Southold Police Department, Timothy McGowan wasn’t ready to sit still.
So he traded in his sleek squad car for a big, yellow school bus.
“I’ve been working since I was 14. I can’t not work,” said McGowan, 54, who was born and raised in Mattituck.
He officially retired from the force in December 2023 and — barely a few months later — was back behind the wheel for Sunrise Busses of Greenport, trading sirens for school bells.
Why the change?
A funny thing happened.
“One of my bagpipe students — yes, I teach bagpipes — also works at Sunrise.
He said, ‘Timmy, why don’t you come work for us?’”
At first, he wasn’t sure. But after learning Sunrise would train him and pay for it, he gave it a shot. The rest, as they say, is history. Now, McGowan is the first smile kids see in the morning — and the last fist bump they get on their way home.
“In order to get on or off my bus, you gotta give me a fist bump,” he laughed. “We have Lifesaver Fridays where I give the little kids Lifesavers. And we talk about sports, what they had for dinner the night before, their plans the weekend. I try to make it fun.”
He lucked out with his route, too.
“I pick up kids in the neighborhood I grew up in. I know their parents, I know their grandparents. I used to patrol these same streets.”
And the kids?
“They’re awesome. Even the high schoolers,” he said. “I’d certainly rather them be chatting with me and each other than glued to their phones.”
As for St. Patrick’s Day? Well, that’s McGowan’s day off, always.
“I tell Sunrise it’s a high, holy holiday for me,” he said. “I march in all the parades. I also joke with the kindergartners, saying I turn into a leprechaun and then I’ll start talking in an Irish brogue. They tell me I’m too big to be a leprechaun!”
But the heart of the job is more than just jokes and bus routes.
“You’ve got a kid who’s crying or doesn’t want to go to school, and you help them through it. I’m no social worker, but I try to be a friendly voice. And nine times out of ten, I’ll ask them later, ‘Did your day get better?’ and they say yeah.”
“My old cop buddies tell me, ‘You were made for this job.’ And honestly? I’m having a blast.”
Sunrise wants you! Bus line is hiring school bus drivers and mechanics
