Now, after more than 1.1 million kilometres behind the wheel of ACTION buses, he says nothing has changed.

''Bus driving is one of the jobs where you want things to be dull and boring,'' he said. ''Excitement is not a word you want to hear. When it does come the excitement is usually provided by other road users and, on occasion, your passengers.''

The cheerful 60-year-old, who has no intention of giving up any time soon the job he says he was born to do, has had more than his share of ''I can't believe they did that'' moments.

''Even as recently as today [the day of our interview] I had an incident with a tradie driving a ute and a trailer,'' he said.

''The guy was not just inattentive; he almost deliberately didn't want to look. I was coming down Commonwealth Avenue and heading over the bridge. The driver was trying to merge and he never even made eye contact. I've been on the road for quite a few years and you develop a sense after a while. You know when they [the other motorist] are going to try something on.''

Mr Appleby is amazed that almost every time there is an altercation between a bus, which is more than 2.8 metres high and 2.5 metres wide and up to 18.5 metres long in articulated form, and a car, the first thing the car driver usually says is, ''I didn't see you.''

''I just scratch my head,'' he said.

He is proud of the service's safety record and, like the other members of the ACTION team, is looking forward to the introduction of a new and significantly more luxurious fleet over the next few years. ACTION is planning to spend $41.1 million on 77 new buses to be supplied by Scania Australia in conjunction with Custom Coaches (the body fabricator). This is in addition to the 13 new articulated buses that have already been delivered.

All of the new machines are airconditioned, something which is not true of the long-serving Renaults they are replacing.

The changeover program will also mark the end of the road for the surviving handful of Macks, which were introduced into service in the 1980s.

Mr Appleby said that despite their age and mileages that would not look out of place on a space shuttle, the Macks were still the favourite of most of the drivers.

''They've certainly won the most hearts,'' he said. ''They've been the favourites for a long time.''

While lacking mod cons such as height adjustable suspension and four- and five-speed gearboxes, the Macks are the most fun to drive.

''Although they only have a three-speed automatic gearbox, their strength is they are designed to be able to climb anything in second gear - and with a lot of load aboard,'' Mr Appleby said. ''You need a strong bus - 12 people adds up to a tonne.''

While at first glance the buses sound expensive, with the new ones averaging about $500,000 apiece, they work out as pretty good value.

Designed to be driven 16 to 20 hours a day for up to 25 years, they are built to do huge mileages under conditions that would kill a normal family car in a fraction of the time.

''Some of our new Scania gas buses have already gone over the 1 million kilometre mark,'' he said. ''The Macks have done many times that. Twenty million kilometres would not be out of the question.''

When Mr Appleby joined ACTION, first as a washer and then as a driver, the last of the MANs that had been rolled out in the 1970s were just leaving service.

''They had replaced the AECs which were used during the 1950s and the 1960s. They were a real clunker of a bus. I remember them as being pretty slow, very basic inside and with an average ride - even on Canberra's roads,'' he said.

''There was vast difference between them and the Macks that came next.''

The same cannot be said of the Renaults that have been Canberra features since the late 1990s.

''They're easy to drive and have been reliable but they are not a brilliant bus,'' he said.

Mr Appleby said that in the years since he had started driving for ACTION, Canberra had grown and changed in many ways.

''I have seen Canberra become a very multicultural city,'' he said. ''The international university kids are where the [bulk of] the diversity has come from. They are very nice; they come from different worlds and if you carry them as regular passengers for a while you get to know them and break the ice.''

While English is sometimes a problem, the international students are good customers and passengers.

''You've got to have some empathy with their situation; how would you feel [trying to get around in a strange land]? It is about good customer relations.''

Not all the passengers are as friendly or as easy to get along with.

''You do get people who expect a free ride; I like to hear the story and I've probably heard every possible story more than once. I've had a lot of experience at working out whether or not it [the excuse] is true.''

The favourite line is ''my wallet/purse is in my other clothes''.

''If I could find out where all the lost wallets have ended up I'd be a very rich man,'' he said.

What sets ACTION apart from the bus services in some larger cities is its very democratic customer base.

''You'll see people who are obviously senior public servants and, from time to time, a face you recognise from the news,'' Mr Appleby said.

''The bus service is practical, convenient and cheap. On a MyWay ticket it is $2.92 from Gordon into the city. You couldn't pay for the petrol and the parking for that.''