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Motor vehicle drivers

How to become a Route Bus Driver

Also called: Community Bus Driver, Public Bus Driver

Drives a route bus, taking passengers safely to their destinations and keeping to the timetable.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say high school is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular level of education is needed, but you need a large vehicle Class 2 licence (the licence for carrying paying passengers in large vehicles). To sit the test for it you must, among other things, hold a set licence and have at least three years of driving experience in total. Because of this, many drivers used to come from other driving jobs, such as tour bus, truck and taxi driving. With today's driver shortage, more companies are actively helping staff get the large vehicle Class 2 licence, and in that case you can be hired without the licence on condition that you get it after joining. Companies are also making more use of recruitment agencies and holding joint interview events with several bus operators. Partly as a result, more people are joining from other industries or with no industry experience, not only professional drivers changing jobs. A change to the rules also means you can now get a large vehicle licence from age 19 by completing a set number of hours of special training, making it easier for young people to join. In hiring, companies look not only at driving skill but also at aptitude, such as attentiveness and accurate, quick coordination between eyes, hands and feet. You need a strong safety mindset and respect for traffic laws, and because you serve customers, good communication skills and a polite manner. On the job you need the flexibility and resilience to respond to all kinds of unexpected situations, such as traffic jams. Once hired, you receive one to two months of training before starting work, learning how to treat passengers, practising driving on the road, and learning each route and the local area. You start work after passing a practical test at your depot at the end of training. Many people keep driving until retirement age, but some move into operations management or office work and become depot managers. For office or management roles, some companies have internal exams.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Route Bus Driver?

No particular level of education is needed, but you need a large vehicle Class 2 licence (the licence for carrying paying passengers in large vehicles). To sit the test for it you must, among other things, hold a set licence and have at least three years of driving experience in total. Because of this, many drivers used to come from other driving jobs, such as tour bus, truck and taxi driving. With today's driver shortage, more companies are actively helping staff get the large vehicle Class 2 licence, and in that case you can be hired without the licence on condition that you get it after joining. Companies are also making more use of recruitment agencies and holding joint interview events with several bus operators. Partly as a result, more people are joining from other industries or with no industry experience, not only professional drivers changing jobs. A change to the rules also means you can now get a large vehicle licence from age 19 by completing a set number of hours of special training, making it easier for young people to join. In hiring, companies look not only at driving skill but also at aptitude, such as attentiveness and accurate, quick coordination between eyes, hands and feet. You need a strong safety mindset and respect for traffic laws, and because you serve customers, good communication skills and a polite manner. On the job you need the flexibility and resilience to respond to all kinds of unexpected situations, such as traffic jams. Once hired, you receive one to two months of training before starting work, learning how to treat passengers, practising driving on the road, and learning each route and the local area. You start work after passing a practical test at your depot at the end of training. Many people keep driving until retirement age, but some move into operations management or office work and become depot managers. For office or management roles, some companies have internal exams.

How much does a Route Bus Driver earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,530,900 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Bus drivers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Route Bus Driver?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 11% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Route Bus Driver?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026