Aman Dulay always wanted to be a bus driver. Moving to England from India when he was 16, he watched the buses go by and thought, “That looks good to me!”

He didn’t have to wait long. He quickly got a job with West Midland Travel, a transit agency with a service area about the same size as GO Transit’s today. He began as a conductor, collecting fares and announcing stops. Six months later, in 1972, he started driving a bus for the first time.

It clicked. “It’s a great job, you know? You drive your bus, take your passengers, and you’ll be fine,” he said. “Having a great team helps too.You help each other. This isn’t a one-man job!”

Fast-forward to 2018. Dulay, a GO bus driver since 1989, was recently presented with a 40 Year Safe Driving Award, recognizing decades of driving a bus without any safety-related incidents. This remarkable achievement spans his work at both West Midland Travel and GO Transit.

Dulay’s secret to such a stellar safety record? “You just always have to be cautious. Be aware of your surroundings, look ahead on the road and just be slow and steady,” he said. “That’s more important than the schedule! You just have to get your people to where they are going safely. The safe way is the best way.”

With such a long tenure at GO Transit, Dulay has become a central fixture at the GO Streetsville bus facility. David Wipperman, Manager of Bus Operations there, has worked with him since 1990. “He’s completely dedicated to safety in everything he does, he said. “He’s also a great teammate and mentor. He’s dedicated to helping out his peers however he can.”

Dulay has also built annual Vaisakhi celebrations into a tradition at the Streetsville facility, bringing colleagues together over a feast of food and sweets. He has impressed his colleagues with his commitment to health and fitness as well. “He comes in an hour early for his shift almost every day, where we’ll find him working hard in the gym,” said Wipperman.

With such a long and distinguished career behind him, retirement is now on Dulay’s mind. “It will be a chance to see more of my family, mostly,” he said. Some are in England, some in the States and Australia. But there’s also the grandkids here. I’ll have to look after them too. It’ll be the start of a new job!”

On his remarkable career and safety record, Dulay only has one thing to say, “I thank God for that, really. That’s the main thing. I have been very lucky.”