Mats Karlsson has more than 10,000 followers on Twitter, and some of the fans plan their own bus trips so that they can definitely get on board with Karlsson.
The most important thing is a face-to-face service situation. Karlsson is not a showman in his work, but trusts in genuine encounters with people.
– I just received an e-mail that thanked me for meeting people – how I welcome passengers. I’m always ready to help if someone needs advice on, for example, which stop to get off at.
Karlsson thinks that even such simple things can become very important, because in local traffic, for example, it is by no means a matter of course that the driver says hello.
– I understand that there are drivers who can’t say hello anymore, because very few passengers who get on board in local transport say hello back.
– But for some, it can be the most important thing of the day, that someone notices and says hello.
Some brought fans with them
Karlsson’s reputation has spread widely thanks to Twitter.
Karlsson says that he got into social media semi-accidentally. When he joined Twitter, he noticed that no one was talking about the job of a bus driver there. So Karlsson decided to be the first.
– I like Twitter’s limited number of characters. It has to summarize the most important content of the matter.
Followers began to accumulate quickly. He still doesn’t consider himself a celebrity. He is known in certain circles, he does not dream of national publicity.
The good-natured and funny tweets, which contain an anecdote from everyday life, have made him a small phenomenon that will be seen on the bus on the spot.
– People come up to me sometimes just to greet me. Some people have said that they have chosen a certain departure based on the fact that I am the driver at the time.
Mats Karlsson says that he also sometimes receives gifts from his passengers.
Especially those returning from a cruise bring a lot of chocolate, sweets and wine.
– The most memorable gift has been a Mats doll made of me. The gift inspired by the Ken doll was given by a doll enthusiast.
– It is in its rightful place in my home.
Buses fascinated me as a child
Karlsson, who was born in Porvoo and lived in Tammisaari and Hanko, says that he started dreaming of becoming a bus driver at the age of six.
– Because of the long distance, I went to preschool by bus every morning, that’s where my enthusiasm for big cars started.
While still in high school, Karlsson was supposed to become a classroom teacher, but the roads quickly took him away and he ended up working in public transport. Instead, love took the man to Tampere and now he is visibly proud of being from Tampere.
You can run into the popular bus driver both in Tampere’s local traffic and on long-distance lines.
– Both have their advantages, few drivers like to drive to Helsinki, but I personally love the distance and the tourists arriving from the ship.
I want to improve the industry’s image
Karlsson says that he is driven by one thing, both in social media and elsewhere in the public eye.
– I also agree to interviews in order to spread the good news of public transport. We have a big shortage of drivers. If I can do my part to create a positive image of this industry, I will be happy to do so.
Karlsson does not have an unequivocal solution to the personnel shortage plaguing public transport. You can get a job with a fairly short training and there are certainly jobs available. Of course, raising wages and improving working conditions will come up for this profession as well.
– Young people value free time so much. Hobbies and the rest of life are more interesting, for them work is just the \”necessary evil\”. This work is done every day of the year.
On the other hand, the work is such that when the working day is over, you can leave work matters at the workplace.
– I enjoy going to work every day. I know I’m doing important work, so there hasn’t been a day where it’s sad to get behind the wheel.
In his spare time, Karlsson is seen driving Jopo instead of behind the wheel. Singing is also close to the heart.
– Sorrun sings during the work shift every week. First, the fingers start tapping the steering wheel, and when the chorus starts, that’s where the song often comes from. But not so loud that the whole bus was fresh, Karlsson laughs.
– This is often the case with Elton John’s music.