Taiwan bus driver earns praise online for turning back to fetch student who missed last bus

A secondary student in Taiwan found herself stranded at a bus terminal after missing the last bus home by mere seconds.

The station staff immediately contacted the bus driver, who promptly made a U-turn to fetch the teen.

The heart-warming moment, which happened on March 5, was shared on Facebook by a staff member of the girl's school, reported Mirror Media on March 17.

He said the student attends evening self-study sessions at the school in Tainan.

As her parents were unable to pick her up that night, the teen rented a bicycle and cycled to the bus terminal. This was something she was doing for the first time.

Slowed down by the bike-sharing system and unfamiliar route, however, the girl arrived moments after the last bus left at 9.40pm.

The station's CCTV footage showed the student sprinting in and telling an employee that she had to catch the last bus, to which he replied that she had "missed it by 10 seconds".

While his colleague called the bus driver, the teen, who was in a state of panic, remembered that she had not ended the bike rental session and rushed back to park the bicycle that had been left outside the terminal.

The bus that had left returned to the station a minute later and both station employees ushered the thankful girl on board.

The kindness of the bus driver and the bus terminal employees have won the hearts of netizens, who lauded them for going the extra mile to assist the student.

"The student didn't mean to be late and even thanked the staff politely, kudos to the workers," commented a YouTube user.

"I'm glad the other passengers on the bus were considerate too," said another.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com