TOWNSHIP OF SYLVANIA, Sylvania — Edward Dustman has been driving TARTA buses for 32 years. And while he's encountered many situations that were more than he signed up for, this past month he helped reunite a lost child with their family.
"I was coming down the road, and a lady was sitting next to a child on a curb and it didn't look right how she was sitting there. And I said, 'Is everything OK?' and she said, 'No.' (I said), 'Let me pull over,' and I got out of the bus" Dustman said.
The happened on Nantucket Drive in Sylvania Township, an area Ed regularly drives.
Once he realized something was wrong, Ed called Sylvania Township police officers, who were able to help the child get home okay.
While this doesn't happen often, Ed says it's something bus drivers are trained to handle before they hit the road.
"There's a lot of drivers that come across that. It's what we do every day! We come across that every day and if there's a problem we have to help the police and fire (department) out," Dustman said.
Public transportation is one of the few places where masks are still required for safety reasons. Ed says working throughout the pandemic has been a huge responsibility, but it's nothing new for drivers like him.
"Even before the pandemic, I mean, when you sign on to do this job, you sign on to get people where they need to go," he said.