“There’s no way this is real—right?”

Not to play spoiler, but this is real. There is a little-known genre of sports that revolves around transit vehicles. Every year, there are several bus roadeos across the US, including a national roadeo (yes, it’s spelled like that). There is also a European Tramdriver Championship (Tram-EM), which is going to be the World Tramdriver Championship as of this year! Apparently, there’s even a backhoe roadeo for the construction equipment fans out there.

“So there’s a bus roadeo and a tram driving championship? But what are they really? There’s no way they’re anything interesting, even for foamers, who famously think anything transit is fascinating.”

Ah, but it is. It may even be for  people who aren’t necessarily transit enthusiasts but just like watching very contrived and amusing sports. These competitions aren’t lacking in that department, either.

“Okay, but what specifically do they have to offer? I’m mildly intrigued now.”

Excellent question! The bus roadeo is a contest for both drivers and maintenance crews to see who’s the best in their geographic area. The national bus roadeo in 2024 had events such as pre-trip inspections and an obstacle course for operators, and various component maintenance competitions for maintenance crews. The 2024 roadeo in New York City had the Bus Tug, a team event in which several bus operators and mechanics teamed up to pull a 40-foot, 31,000-pound bus. The pre-trip inspection competition involved bus operators finding eight defects planted by the committee, including things like faulty seats, license plates, or floors. The component maintenance competitions were all largely similar: fix some component in X amount of time. The obstacle course is where it gets interesting; the first part was a serpentine turn, in which the bus operator had to navigate a series of tight turns demarcated by cones. Then came the offset street, where operators had to drive from one narrow “street” into another, separated by a full lane’s width. There were a few simulated stops, hallmarked by the operator having to stop the bus at exactly the right spot.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Tram-EM had events such as tram billiards, where tram drivers deliberately knocked their tram into a mock pool cue in hopes of knocking a ball into the center of a circle on the ground. In another event, tram drivers had to stop short, as if a cyclist or pedestrian (or really anyone or anything who would get pulped by a tram) had just cut in front of them. There was also an event that involved stopping smoothly—so smoothly, in fact, that as little water as possible spilled out of a bowl mounted to the front of the tram. One of the Tram-EM’s most popular events is tram bowling, last played in 2023, in which tram drivers drive their tram into a giant inflatable ball and knock it towards giant inflatable bowling pins.

So, with this overview of what bus roadeos and the Tram-EM are, are you, reader, more convinced of their worth for non-foamers as well as foamers?

“Why yes, I believe I am.”