Mike Majors wanted to be a professional driver back in the mid-1990s. He was working construction, and thought driving a gravel truck would be a better job. He even got his commercial license in hopes of landing a drivers' job, but his lack of experience stood in the way.

Then he saw an ad: Community Transit was looking for coach operators. He applied, was hired and completed his training, joining the agency almost 14 years ago.

These days the Marysville man is enjoying his career as a bus driver, and he recently reached an important milestone. Majors became a Million Mile Driver for Community Transit, signifying his completion of the National Safety Council's standard for 1 million miles without a preventable accident. That's the equivalent of nearly 42 trips around the Earth without so much as scraping a mirror on a tree branch.

"You just have to drive carefully and hope things go your way," Majors said.

Majors likes driving a bus because he gets to see a lot of different parts of Snohomish County. During his 14 years with the agency, he's driven almost all of the routes. Currently he's serving riders in South Snohomish County.

"It's fun to get to see all the cities, to see stuff you normally wouldn't get to," he said. "To see the waterfront, it's incredible. I love going down to the Edmonds waterfront."

Community Transit has 69 active Million Mile Drivers, including six active Two Million Mile Drivers. Million Mile Drivers receive uniform patches, a special jacket and a plaque recognizing their accomplishment. They even have a bus named in their honor.

Community Transit maintains 54 local and commuter bus routes and one of the nation's largest vanpool programs. Call Community Transit at (425) 353-RIDE or (800) 562-1375 for bus information, or (888) 814-1300 for carpool or vanpool information, or go to www.communitytransit.org.

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