A local bus driver had an unlikely passenger this week.
It was on Tuesday, May 5th when a local city bus driver saw a toddler in the middle of the traffic lanes on Harding Ave as he was driving the Eau Claire Transit Route #5.
He stopped the bus in the lane of traffic, got out, and retrieved the toddler. The driver then called the dispatch center to receive assistance finding
out where the child belonged. Mike Steinke, a Bus Operator for the City of Eau Claire for more than five years acted quickly after alertly
noticing the child in the street. “I just went over to her and opened my arms and she let me pick her up and carry her to the bus,” Steinke said.
The child, who is not yet two years old, didn’t cry or act like there was
anything wrong when Steinke approached her and before the officer arrived, the mother realized something was wrong when she saw her front door open and a bus parked out on the street. She went to the bus and was shocked, but appreciative, to see her daughter there with Steinke and the mother and daughter were safely reunited.
