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Pete A. Bedard of Fall River may seem like your average bus driver, but last week he was praised as a hero by nearly 20 Martha’s Vineyard residents and visitors on a mission to catch the last ferry out of Woods Hole.

Mr. Bedard was driving his usual route for Peter Pan Bus Lines onto Cape Cod late at night on Thursday last week, May 25, when he realized that he would not make it to Woods Hole in time for his passengers to board the last boat at 9:45 PM.

The bus had been delayed by Memorial Day weekend traffic and poor weather, caught in mixed rain showers and thunderstorms. It was then that Mr. Bedard decided to improvise in order to get the weary travelers home on time.

Falmouth resident Gudrun Bjarnarson—who was aboard the bus on her way home from a trip to Copenhagen—said Mr. Bedard explained the situation and asked the passengers headed to Falmouth central whether they would be willing to let him drive directly to Woods Hole, skipping their stop. “So, of course, we didn’t have anything to say against that,” she said.

Doing his best not to speed along Woods Hole Road, Mr. Bedard arrived at the Steamship Authority parking lot with one minute and 30 seconds to spare. As he pulled in, the entire bus reportedly burst into applause.

“It was just wonderful that a person would think about that, instead of having 18 people sitting down there in Woods Hole, not knowing what to do,” Ms. Bjarnarson said.

“I’m just still happy about what he did, because that’s what we should all do to help each other.”

Photo Cred Gene M. Marchand/Enterprise

Article written by Brittany Feldott