Across the street from Westfield High School sits Stonecroft Transportation Center. Normally, Stonecroft’s large lot is filled with dozens of buses and a modest modular office. On Friday, April 14, it was transformed for a day of friendly competition, team building, and community connection.

Back for the first time since 2007, about 250 school bus drivers, families, and community members turned out for this year’s Bus Road-eo, hosted by the Office of Transportation (OTS).

“With the chaos and distance that was caused from the pandemic, our OTS family began to grow distant,” said Area 1 Transportation Coordinator Jeremy Doxer. “The intense driver shortage compounded this distance.”  

Jeremy has been with FCPS for 15 years and helped plan this year’s Road-eo alongside Transportation Supervisor Kerrissa Watson and Transportation Routing Technician Shawn Stockslager. 

“This event was an opportunity for our team to come together, compete and show off their driving and securement skills, knowledge, and of course relax, enjoy each other’s company, eat great food, and so much more,” Jeremy said. “We are a student-focused organization, so it was awesome to have a day where we could focus on each other!”

Starting with a written test, competitors consisting of drivers of big buses, drivers of small buses, and attendants, were quizzed on their general driving knowledge with information compiled from the Department of Motor Vehicles, pupil transportation manual, and their commercial drivers license manual.  

Then, drivers maneuvered through nine challenging driving stations, always starting with their pre-trip inspection. The stations ranged from backing up into narrow alleyways to driving in a straight line with only one inch of tire clearance on either side of their tire.

A DJ kept positive tunes playing throughout the day while spectators enjoyed food trucks, vendors, raffles, games, and a moon bounce.

Martha Chesak, four time FCPS Road-eo winner and two-time state Road-eo winner said that her favorite thing about participating in the Road-eo is challenging herself and seeing other drivers compete. “One time I won when I was eight months pregnant and didn’t prepare at all,” she said. “Another time I prepped and under-performed. Winning is surprising.”

Before moving to Minnesota, Martha was a school bus driver for FCPS for 35 years. She returned to Fairfax to help judge the event and see her former colleagues. 

“I hope that everyone who participated walked away with a feeling of pride in their role with FCPS and a sense of accomplishment. I hope that they all were able to enjoy themselves and realize how much the school division appreciates them and their talents” said Jeremy. “There was no separation by school, team, or office of report. It didn’t matter what your position was, we were one OTS family.”

Winners of the FCPS 2023 Bus Road-eo:

Drivers of Big Buses:
1^st – Mike Milburn
2^nd – Titus Nmashie
3^rd – Christal Mitchell

Drivers of Small Buses and Attendants:
1^st – Rebekkah Anderson and Munshi Kamruzzaman
2^nd – Oscar Enriquez and Mingzhu Tan
3^rd – Graham Saunders and Byung Taek Min

Learn more about becoming a bus driver with FCPS and see a list of upcoming Bus Driver Job Fairs.