WHAT BEGAN AS A PART-TIME JOB
for a cash-strapped college student
turned into a rewarding career for Mac
DeBusk. Th e Virginia Tech student started
as a driver and then dispatcher for
Blacksburg Transit.
DeBusk was the dispatcher on duty
the fateful morning of April 16, 2007,
when a student unleashed the most deadly
campus shooting in history. His favorite
quote, from Th omas Jeff erson, served
him well that day: “Nothing gives one
person so much advantage over another
as to remain always cool and unruffl ed
under all circumstances.”
In those moments, chaos interrupted
the routine Monday morning routes and
DeBusk kept his cool when details were
sketchy and injured students appeared on
buses. Unable to communicate with 911
dispatchers, he instructed a bus to transport
some students with minor injuries
to the local hospital, and directed other
buses to evacuate the campus.
Once his studies were complete in
2008, he and his wife moved back to his
hometown and DeBusk was hired by
the local agency, District Th ree Public
For more information, visit www.MassTransitmag.com/10065485
28 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
Transit, as mobility coordinator. He started
by designing and marketing a new series
of routes that provided transportation
for passengers in his rural area to medical
facilities located outside the district.
DeBusk was promoted to operations
manager and expanded new driver
training, headed a large scale procurement
eff ort to have surveillance cameras
installed in buses, and was instrumental
in the procurement and design of a much
improved radio system.
DeBusk also served on the board
of directors of the Community Transportation
Association of Virginia and
was relied upon to draft a letter that
delicately stated the association’s views
on new regulation without jeopardizing
its positive relationship with the Commonwealth’s
Department of Rail and
Public Transportation.
Fact:
DeBusk served
in the Virginia
National
Guard and was
deployed to
Afghanistan for
a year in 2004.
MassTransitmag.
com/12354876
“When you stand in a classroom telling people how
to do their job, if you can actually tell them, I’ve done this
… and bring those experiential stories to the classroom,
it gives you more credibility with your students.”
Mac DeBusk
Intelligent
Transportation
Systems Specialist
District Three
Governmental
Cooperative DBA
District Three
Public Transit