Mark Kitzerow grew up in the shadow of the Nicollet Garage, riding his bike through the bays and taking the bus nearly everywhere. Often, he’d accompany his mom on the bus while she commuted to and from her job at Northwestern Bell downtown. “The bus was always second nature,” he said. “I’ve been riding them all my life.”

It’s not surprising, then, that when it came time to start a career that Kitzerow found himself working in that familiar environment. After working for a paratransit company, he applied at the Metropolitan Transit Commission and was hired as an operator out of the old Nicollet Garage. He later worked at the old Snelling Garage and at the Heywood Garage, where he spent most of his years as an operator.

In 1989, a manager took note of his perfect driving record and encouraged him to become a route instructor. He became a full-time instructor in 1992. Those roles, he said, provided a welcome opportunity to teach people in the same way he’d been coached while going to the Minneapolis Boys Club growing up. “Every day that I instructed I had a gift to give to somebody,” he said. “It was a great chance to be creative, to find out how people learn and to let them know they could really build a career here.”

Kitzerow took on a new role as a Safety Specialist in 2008, and in 2016 became the manager of Bus System Safety. Those jobs brought the added challenge of working with operators who’d been involved in collisions, and the need to sometimes deliver bad news. But they also offered chances to make a larger impact. During his time in the Safety Department, Kitzerow helped develop a new training program that utilized video of real-life scenarios to make an impression early in an operator’s career. He was also heavily involved in annual Bus Roadeo competitions, which expanded to more than 100 competitors by the time Kitzerow retired.

While things were always changing, Kitzerow’s advice to operators remained consistent throughout his career. “You need to know when to pull back,” he said. “It’s a tough discipline to master, but you have to learn to not let the schedule or a difficult scene get the best of you.”

Reflecting shortly before retirement, Kitzerow said he was grateful for all the mentors who helped him along the way and described himself as a proud product of what he called “Metro Transit University.” He also said he appreciated the exposure to different cultures and the stability of the work, which allowed him to save for retirement and put a son through college at the University of Minnesota. “I’m ending my career in the very office I was interviewed in so that tells you the kind of evolution you can have if you take advantage of the opportunities,” he said. “If you treat workers with respect and don’t bang up the bus magic happens.”

In retirement, Kitzerow said he plans to spend more time traveling, playing the guitar, working on his home and catching up with old friends.