Jasmine Goldband/TheIncline.com (PITTSBURGH) — Stepping onto this Pittsburgh city bus is like taking a ride on Santa’s sleigh.
For more than a decade, driver Bill Sanfilippo has decked out his bus in head-to-toe Christmas decorations.
“People love it. It puts a smile on their face,” the 12-year veteran of Allegheny County Port Authority told ABC News.
Every year, the decorations get more elaborate, and this year was no exception.
“I play music on the outside of the bus — Elvis Christmas music through the microphone,” he said. “And I got a sled on there and a fireplace I made. I play Christmas movies on there every day, too. I have a portable DVD player that I put behind my seat and I have a speaker so everyone can hear it.”
But that’s not all. Sanfilippo, 47, also included a 5-foot-tall Santa, a 4-foot-tall Christmas tree, and enough stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling, Christmas lights, fake snow and stickers to turn even the biggest Grinch into a true Christmas angel.
As his passengers board the bus, “They’re in shock,” said the big kid at heart. “They can’t believe it. It puts them in a lot better spirits, the holiday spirit. People will come on in a bad mood and then they’re much happier when they get off.”
Sanfilippo absolutely loves Christmas and pours all his energy into spreading holiday cheer to his riders. He doesn’t, however, deck the halls at his own home.
“I live in an apartment. That’s a lot of work,” he said. “I do it all on the bus so a lot more people see it. The kids love it. Senior citizens love it. I’ve got glitter and snowflakes all over the place.”
For this festive bus driver, his holiday presents come in the form of passengers.
“They call me the ‘Candy Man’ because I used to bring a bucket of candy on the bus all the time for people,” said Sanfilippo. “I saw they were always happy to see candy on there, so I said, ‘Well, I’ll decorate the bus for them.’”
And boy he did. During the holiday season, riders will wait in the cold just for a chance to hop on Santa’s sleigh.
“They wait for the bus,” he proudly said. “They’ll let another bus pass to wait to get on my bus. They don’t even get on if they see my bus coming.”
This year it took him 15 hours to decorate the bus.
“I did it on a Saturday at 9 in the morning and I was done at midnight,” he recalled. “Last year it took nine hours, and I had a bubble machine and a sled moving around.”
Sanfilippo said he’s happy his bosses let him do his decorating every year.
“He decks out the bus on his own. It’s not a PR stunt of any kind,” said Jim Ritchie, the port authority’s communications officer. “It’s just something this one individual employee does because he really loves the holiday season. He loves when people jump on his bus and get the biggest smile in the world.
“He does talk with his supervisor so they know he does it,” he added. “From our standpoint, as long as customers are still able to get on and off the vehicle and he’s not impeding anything, then we’re fine that.”
And that’s a good thing because Sanfilippo has no plans on pulling the Christmas plug.
“I’m already working on stuff for next year,” he said. “I got an old sled with the red and green fabric to make a scenery.”
Sanfilippo doesn’t work on Christmas day, but he lets another driver takes over the reins so passengers can still enjoy his traveling winter wonderland in his absence.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.