On a typical night, Coy Dumas Jr. sits in his recliner with his two dogs until the early morning, watching football, typically dozing in and out of sleep.
“When it’s raining and it’s cold out there at 2, 2:30 in the morning, I know all I got to do is turn over,” Dumas said. He used to wake up for work at that time.
In November, Dumas retired after 51 years with MARTA as its longest serving bus operator. From almost delivering two babies on his rides to helping police solve a few crimes, Dumas has nearly seen it all.
Dumas, 73, started working with MARTA, then known as Atlanta Transit, at age 21. His uncle, having worked with the transit company for five years, gave him the idea of applying for a job.
“I had a class or two at Morehouse, and I was managing a shoe store,” Dumas said, recalling what he was doing when he filled out an application with Atlanta Transit.
He went through about a month of training, learning different bus routes around the city, traffic safety — and how to drive a bus. He was one of about 18 cadets, he said. They were taken to areas with many pedestrians, such as the Little Five Points area, so they could see what it was like to drive around busy streets.
“They used to take us to ride around that area, so you can get used to the people being outside,” Dumas said. He said since the bus is so big, sometimes people looked like ants.
Leaning back in his chair and smiling, Dumas recalled the very first day he drove the bus alone.
“I think that’s a feeling that any operator that’s been there never forgets,” Dumas said. “You’re nervous. “First of all, you want to make sure you know that route.”
He worked the night shift his first night, driving in southwest Atlanta, passing through Cascade Road to downtown.
He started out driving a bus made in 1953, he said, and the gear shifts weren’t easy to control.
“When I wanted to take that bus out of neutral to go to drive, I had to take it out of neutral, bring it all the way back to reverse, and bring it from reverse to go, and drive,” Dumas said.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Dumas nervously shifted the gears and made sure he drove the correct route that first night, but he doesn’t remember if anything spectacular happened.
He said he felt “tired and relieved” when he finished his first night. He had gained a bit more confidence and that’s when he realized how important the job was.
Throughout his career, Dumas alternated bus routes on the west side of Atlanta, changing between Route 53 and 98, with at least 20 years on each one, he said. He ended his career primarily driving Route 53, which eventually changed to Route 853, and left from the West Lake Station.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
MARTA estimates that he carried close to 3 million passengers, along with driving more than 2 million miles without an accident that was his fault.
“It’s been a blessing. People ask me, ‘How were you able to do it so long?’ I said it’s all by God’s grace,” Dumas said.
Once Dumas made 50 years with MARTA, he decided to stay because he promised some of his coworkers that he wouldn’t leave until they achieved their own goals.
“My grandpa and my mom always told us man don’t have much. But his word is the most important thing that he has,” Dumas said.
When he retired, Dumas was recognized in both the city of Atlanta and Fulton County honoring his work with MARTA. After the completion of his 50th year, MARTA also branded his bus with his picture on the side, celebrating his years of service.
Credit: Courtesy of: MARTA
Credit: Courtesy of: MARTA
In January, Dumas will return to MARTA helping to train incoming drivers, something he was already doing a little before he retired. He’s looking forward to it, but thinks that by that time, he’ll probably be used to retirement.
Dumas said he always starts off by telling new cadets: “Welcome to the family. Welcome to the best of the best.”
“When you hit that door, we got to be on our ‘A game,’ we got to be aware of what’s going on at all times.”
Dumas said that being a driver for MARTA comes with greater responsibility than most people realize. Over the years, he’s made sure kids got to school safely, ensured that folks made it to doctor’s appointments and he even helped a woman escape a robbery.
“When you wear this uniform, this blue and white, when you carry this MARTA badge, regardless of what section you work in, you got a responsibility that most people can’t even imagine,” Dumas said.
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