Step onto a Cambus on any given Wednesday, and the driver is likely wearing a Hawaiian shirt. It’s a bright spot on often glum days as riders and drivers navigate the COVID-19 quarantine. UI student Bryan Mulrooney credits his closet for the idea.

Mulrooney’s knack for team-building, his fun-loving disposition, and his vast collection of Hawaiian shirts gelled into “Aloha-Shirt Wednesdays” during the summer of 2018. Mulrooney noticed the Cambus crew typically gathered after work on Wednesdays, so he began convincing others in the department to join him in wearing Hawaiian shirts midweek. The tradition grew over time, and now Cambus orders branded Hawaiian shirts in Hawkeye colors for its drivers to wear.

“Cambus has a well-established workplace culture, but it is up to the supervisors and support team maintain this culture as time goes on,” Mulrooney says.

Mulrooney has accepted that challenge in a significant way, says Mia Brunelli, Cambus operations manager. In his role as Cambus dispatching and bionic supervisor, Mulrooney selects, trains, and supervises 10 student dispatchers; indirectly supervises 90 fixed-route student drivers; and oversees the operation of the paratransit Bionic Bus service and its 75 drivers. This includes training drivers, creating rider schedules, and handling rider concerns. The paratransit service provides more than 600 rides per month to UI students, staff, and faculty with temporary or permanent disabilities.