Erik travels around the world to spot our discarded public transport buses

Brabant fire suits in Ukraine, DAF buses in Cuba and old buses in Eastern Europe and Africa. Items from our province can be found all over the world. Erik Kanters from Veghel travels all over the world and has already spotted more than 3000 Dutch buses in 34 countries.

Erik started spotting buses at a young age: “As a little man I was already looking at buses along the road.” Just in his birthplace Veghel.

As he got older, Erik started traveling and still sees Brabant buses all over the world. He also has a number of buses at home and a lot of photos from his travels. “For example, a photo of an old American car from the 1950s, under a tree in Cuba and behind it a Dutch bus with the final destination still visible.”

“A bus driver in Cuba asked if I could help him.”

Erik has plenty of stories to tell. The same goes for a bus driver in Cuba. “That man came up to me and asked if I could help.”

The roll of place names was still in the box but there was a small problem. “He had obtained a map of the Netherlands and he had already found Gilze, Breda, Tilburg and Den Bosch. Only he could not find ‘No service’ and ‘Extra line’. I explained that to him then.”

“Sometimes a driver asks how the air conditioning works.”

During his travels, he can also give tips to the drivers who do not yet know the buses very well, because Erik himself knows the buses through and through. “Sometimes a driver asks how the air conditioning works, for example.”

Erik thinks it is fantastic to see how public transport is organized in other countries. “And yes, it is also just fantastic to see how buses from Brabant drive around the world.”

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