Texas Transit Association

Jesse Quintero, bus operator for VIA Metropolitan Transit, has driven over three million miles, and he’s done it without having a preventable accident. He is one of only six bus drivers in the nation to pass the three million mile mark in the past five years.

Jesse Quintero has been driving buses safely in San Antonio for 38 years, long enough to achieve membership in the exclusive Three Million Mile Club. To reach this level of driving excellence, the operator must first pass through the ranks of the One Million Mile Club and the Two Million Mile Club.

When asked his secret? “You have to slow down,” Quintero says. “You have to be careful.” Quintero admits that every route has its problem areas and blind spots. But careful driving and making allowances for other drivers-is key to avoiding accidents, especially at traffic lights.

Quintero’s bus-handling skills also earned him international renown when he won APTA’s Bus Roadeo Champonship three diffeent times. Quintero outperformed the field in bus maneuvers in Anaheim, California (1996); Montreal, Quebecd (1988); and Las Vegas, Nevada (2002).