16-year-old attempting to ride every bus route in Greater Victoria in numerical order

Victoria -

Atticus Dachsel Kerr is on a quest of sorts that began at one of the music lessons he’s been attending since elementary school.

"[Music] just kind of got really big ever since," he says. Atticus says he’s planning to pursue music at university.

Although the 16-year-old spends most of his time studying for his high school classes and striving to master both piano and wood instruments, he "wanted to do something a lot bigger."

While taking transit between all his extra-curricular activities, he wondered about embarking on an epic bus challenge.

"What if I could try to ride every single route in numerical order in one year?" Atticus recalls thinking.

So he filled a white board with a list of all 88 routes around the region, before boarding number one.

Atticus also started documenting the trips on his busvictoriabc Instagram page.

He created short videos detailing his observations about each route, from "This is an important route for those working at the hospital," to "I enjoyed the scenic views of Beacon Hill Park."

All of them are accompanied by an eclectic soundtrack of music, ranging from orchestral to jazz to pop.

And if Atticus were to compose a soundtrack for his ambitious bus adventure?

"It would start calm and then it would increase with intensity," Atticus says. "And then it would have this victorious ending."

Although each video ends with Atticus crossing the route numbers off his white-board list, this is not a race to the finish.

There’s one video that shows Atticus relishing his ride in a double-decker bus for the first time.

"I love these buses so much. It’s almost hypnotizing riding up in the front seat!" he says.

No matter the height of his view, Atticus is hoping to inspire his followers to think about the role transit plays in a community — from its socio-economic challenges, to its environmental benefits, to its mental health rewards.

"Sometimes you just got to take a look around you," Atticus says. "And just appreciate where you are at the moment."

Like the silence between the notes that make a song, Atticus is inviting us to make the most of the journey between the moments that make a life.