Featured Operator: DONNIE SMALL

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To many regular riders, Jefferson Transit and Donnie Small are synonymous.  A 28-year veteran operator on the Eastbank, Small has driven every route, adapted to generations of new vehicles, and seen change after change in the landscape of Jefferson Parish.  Through it all, though, he has remained committed to—and proud of—the fundamental mission of transit, and deeply conscious of the people who depend on it.

“I truly enjoy helping get people to where they need to go,” says Small, who currently drives the Veterans Blvd. (E-1) line.  He does so with a remarkable degree of craftsmanship, politely greeting passengers as they board, informing them—sometimes in Spanish—that there are currently no fares, and avoiding the cars that dart in front of his bus. 

And his popularity is obvious.  His regular riders openly share the details of their lives with him: news of their families, updates on their houses, and the latest on mutual friends.  Several passengers comment that they’ve never had anything less than great things to say about most JeT drivers, but that Small stands out.  Mike Stewart, an operations supervisor, says that what stands out about Small is his dependability and selflessness.  “He has a real deep concern for his riders,” he says.

Small’s investment in Jefferson Parish runs deep and goes back a long time.  He is a fourth-generation Jefferson native, and his father was the Parish’s first black policeman.  He says that the most rewarding part of his job, particularly since Katrina, is the fact that he and his riders “help heal each other.”  The stories his riders tell him help him keep his life in perspective; one of his most poignant memories involves a passenger who had taken the bus all the way from Hammond to receive a heart transplant. 

Donnie Small is a proud father and grandfather of four—each generation consisting of three girls and a boy.  In addition to operating a bus on the Veterans line, he is leader of the local operator’s union and active in state and national transit unions. 

Read about some of our other wonderful JeT bus operators.