Brisbane needs more people like Liesl Hales.
The bus driver of 17-years proudly greets every one of her passengers.
She shows them a smile, and whoever she's greeted shows a look of "surprise" at first.
And then they smile.
"It's like, 'Oh someone just spoke to me' and you watch them light up and they smile back at you, and you know, they never thought the bus could talk," Ms Hales said.
It's a rare glimpse of genuine human connection amid the morning rat race – and a novelty that hasn't faded for the veteran driver.
"You get these little things that just make you happy," she said – like elderly couples holding hands or workers smiling on their morning commute or busy people who take the time to say thank you.
The people who make millions of trips on Brisbane's buses each week – who wouldn't get to the places their going without people like Ms Hales.
And Brisbane needs more people like her: specifically, bus drivers and specifically women.
A 'silver tsunami' and a shortage of drivers
Councillor Ryan Murphy – who's chair of Transport at Brisbane City ouncil – said that the council needed 160 new drivers – "and we need them fast".
TransLink cancelled 1,300 services across south-east Queensland over three weeks between March and April due mainly to driver shortage.
Cr Murphy said Brisbane, itself, has delivered 99 per cent of its services, but the council was still concerned about what it had seen overseas.
"Other cities like Sydney and Auckland have had to shed a number of their services," he said.
"For example in Auckland on a daily basis they will not run about 18 per cent of the cities bush services, so things are getting pretty dire."
The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) has identified major contributors to the worldwide driver shortage which included high attrition rates, lack of clear career progression, inflexible rosters and competition with other industries like rideshare.
The UITP also warned of a "silver tsunami" – a wave of retirements in the ageing workforce of bus drivers.
"Drivers that have been driving with us since the start of their career are now reaching retirement age. They're leaving full-time bus driving and we're not seeing the same amount of full-time drivers coming into the system to replace them," Cr Murphy said.
Recruitment drive for drivers
The council's identified women as a key recruitment target – because they're under-represented in the workforce.
"We think we can be doing more when it comes to female drivers," he said.
"They make up about 10 per cent of our workforce."
It's also developing a "driver recognition program" and upgrading facilities like eateries, toilets and depots.
"We're also looking at how we can change our systems and processes internally to make it easier to sign up and become a driver," Mr Murphy said.
It's offering flexible rostering to try and entice people in other professions – like the rideshare industry or even trucking – to make the switch.
It was an easy decision for Ms Hales – the former trucker has loved driving since she was four, when her dad put her on a tractor at the family farm.
"Dad used to say, 'Just keep the tractor straight!' and he used to load irrigation pipes out the back," she said.
"I still remember the feel of the steering wheel and being in charge of it — it's never left me."
And there's a reason her name rhymes with diesel: "It's in my blood."
Indeed, Ms Hales's sister moved to Brisbane from Newcastle to take up a bus driving career.
"She's been here three years now and loves it," Ms Hales said.
Perhaps she was drawn by the council's promises of flexible hours or of attractive annual leave – or maybe because of Ms Hales's stories about the "the little things that make you happy".
Posing in front of a bus for a photo for this story, Ms Hales's doesn't need to be told to smile.
What's she thinking about?
"This elderly couple on my bus, they were helping each other, and I lowered (the ramp) down so they could get off. And I saw them walk off hand in hand," she said.
"It was so sweet, and it was really nice just to watch that kind of thing.
"These little things that just make you so happy."
