2019-2020
Alexis ZhouCo-Founder / Co-President / VP Business Development
Hometown: Chongqing, China Years on MustBus: 2019-2022 Class of: 2022 Why did you found MustBus?
You could say that I was so traumatized by Greyhound and Port Authority that I started MustBus just so McGill students wouldn’t have to go through the same thing. Traveling around Quebec, Canada, and New England by bus or rail was such a headache— it felt impossible sometimes. Every time tickets sold out or prices shot up to ridiculous levels, I kept thinking how Canada has some of the worst intercity transportation in the world. I was reading Better Buses, Better Cities by Steven Higashide at the time, and it inspired me to stop whining and do something about it. So I thought, “Why not create our own intercity bus network at McGill, just like FlixBus, but non-profit and student-run?” I ran the numbers, saw it could work, and that’s how MustBus/McGill Bus Co-op got started. The rest is history. What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? Not being on the bus per se, but definitely running into a MUSTBUS by accident. The first time I saw one by chance was at the Vermont border, then again at Boston South Station, and another time, I even took one back from New York. Seeing MUSTBUS grow and actually run a better service than Greyhound and Megabus in many ways really made me proud. I thought, “We did it, MUSTBUS.” The best part is that most of its success now has nothing to do with me—MUSTBUS lives on, with continuity, regular funding, and an established network of routes. It’s become part of McGill’s social fabric. It's now an institution. What's your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? In February 2020, just before COVID shut down the world, was our first MustBus trip to New York. As our bus emerged from the Lincoln Tunnel, seeing all the traffic and buildings and people in front of us, another volunteer and I were listening to ‘Empire State of Mind’. That moment felt surreal—MUSTBUS actually made it to Manhattan. Our first bus to New York was $29 USD one-way per person, and we broke even. What are you doing now? Non-profit, journalism, community organizing, etc. I'm in a transition period in my life, so trying to figure it out. How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career? Right after MustBus, I landed a full-time job at a Silicon Valley-ish bus start-up—without any networking, no LinkedIn, not even a CV. I literally just sent them a cold email, and they were so impressed by the concept of MustBus that they took me on (that's how much MUSTBUS helped me). Granted, it was a stroke of luck that most likely won't happen again today. The job was incredible—I got to strategize about buses, plan bus routes, and spend a lot of time taking buses across North America. I went from a social media NUMTOT to the centre of action in the North American intercity bus industry. Definitely one of the most exciting and meaningful jobs I’ve ever had. |
Matteo TrulliCo-Founder / Co-President
Hometown: Paris, France Years on MustBus: 2019-2021 Class of: 2021 Why did you found MustBus?
I founded Mustbus because I realized with Alexis a real need for traveling within North America. What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? Creating everything. Initially Mustbus was a startup legally created. Then when we started having too many buses chartered, because there is a legal monopoly given to Greyhound, I had to change the legal identity to a travel agency and then before leaving Alexis and I changed it to a coop within McGill and launched the fundraising through SSMU. What are you doing now? I am working in an accelerator and managing the acceleration of 3 startups per month all over the world. Inovexus.com How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career? Mustbus was my first experience in entrepreneurship. I loved creating a team, a logo, and working on a project that could enable people to travel as much as possible. I am super proud of what it has become and what you guys are furthering. |
2021-2022
Arthur MarcelCo-President / VP Finance
Hometown: Paris, France Years on MustBus: 2019-2022 Class of: 2022 Why did you join/found MustBus?
I felt at the time like I hadn’t gotten involved enough in the McGill community. And I felt like I wanted to leave a bit more of an imprint, a bit more of a legacy. Leave something that was still up and running that was still having an impact on students for after I left the university. What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? First of all, the impact we had on students. There clearly was a strong demand for our services and there clearly still is. And I liked the ability to be able to provide students with the ability to travel, discover North America through a low carbon / low emission transportation system. I know for the trips to New York we allowed a lot of students to go back to their hometown, potentially see their family and all that for very affordable prices. So the impact on students and also the ability to be working with really cool people from different nationalities, academic backgrounds. The relationships and the people I met throughout that experience was great. What's your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? So as I said earlier, Dimitri and I, we became presidents right after Covid. We actually had a meeting at the end of the school year in 2021, so the end of my 3rd year, and there was pretty much only three of us left. We had already done a trip, so we knew there was a high demand for our services, but during Covid a lot of the bus companies went bankrupt, all the borders closed, so we pretty much hadn’t done anything for almost a year and pretty much didn’t have anybody anymore. And so what we did was we decided we wanted to build up the club, build it up from what it was (which was pretty much nothing), and recruit a team. And so we did that, we recruited a team, and actually I think some of the members that we recruited are still currently on the team, including the president, who I had the chance of meeting on an online platform at the beginning of that year, my fourth-year. That was definitely the most empowering and interesting thing we got to do, was rebuilding the team and also trying to power up the brand and secure funding from McGill University. What are you doing now? I’m currently working at the Green Climate Fund in South Korea and what we do is we are funded by UN countries to invest in climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries. How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career? I learned a lot, especially holding a leadership position. I learned a lot about creating a team, working on creating an inclusive work environment and also a productive work environment. And working with people from different cultures and different working styles, I think that taught me a lot. |
Dimitri YangCo-President / Senior Advisor
Hometown: Surrey, BC Years on MustBus: 2019-2023 Class of: 2022 Why did you join MustBus?
Mustbus had just started when I joined. I saw a lot of potential in it as an initiative. At the time, I also had a really bad recent experience with Greyhound and wanted to be involved in providing students with affordable and reliable transportation. What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? It was my first time working on an entrepreneurial project and I enjoyed bring a part of a small team where you feel involved in every step of it. What's your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? Building up a passionate and hardworking team that took the initiative to the next level. What are you doing now? Currently in my 3rd year of mcgill med. How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career? It was really my first leadership experience which helped me in other roles I've had later on. |
2022-2023
Raif HaddadCo-President / VP Finance
Hometown: Syria & Mississauga, ON Years on MustBus: 2021-2023 Class of: 2023 Why did you join MustBus?
Loved the idea of MustBus as I used to struggle both financially and in the terms of availability to go back home and see my family in Mississauga! Affordable transportation was very interesting to me and I loved the community-oriented goal MustBus had. What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? I loved how much MustBus was desired by our students and how many people believed in us! We grow super quickly and that was a joyful event for me. What's your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? Although I never want to claim as something to be a personal achievement as everything we did was team work, I was very involved in securing our funding and running negotiations with SSMU. I established the bank accounts and the government affiliations, then secured a contract with SSMU to lend us the money with 0% interest, as we get the fees late from students. Again, I can't claim it to be a personal accomplishment, but I was on the front line of its communication and application. What are you doing now? As of right now I run a Premed company (follow my page pls would love the support at @premedmentors_inc!) and I am a full time dental student at McGill as well (glad to be back!!) How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career? To be honest MustBus was a major part of my resume! I find myself working with so many diverse people who taught me a lot about communication and leadership! Being a large scale association set my skill to lead my company right now and of course MustBus left me with many of my favorite memories ever! |
Sharleen SasisCo-President / VP Social Media / Marketing Coordinator
Hometown: Vancouver, BC Years on MustBus: 2019-2023 Class of: 2023 Why did you join MustBus?
I was a first-year student who wanted to get involved on campus and a friend approached me at BMH and pitched the beginnings of MustBus to me! What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? The camaraderie and the celebrations at Gerts - there’s something extraordinary about working alongside people who are driven by the same shared vision. What's your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? Helping with the launch of the first ever MustBus trip to New York City. I remember the days where it was just an idea - lots of brainstorming, and planning. As one of the junior members on the team at the time, I was in awe of how the more senior members handled challenges with such calmness. It reinforced for me how much teamwork and mentorship matter when bringing something like MustBus to life. What are you doing now? Working in environmental finance! How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career? As co-president, I focused on coordinating a joint effort, where we leveraged individual skills and worked together toward achieving goals. This has been key in my professional life, as it reinforced the importance of effective teamwork and how a collective effort can lead to success. |
2023-2024
Chester ChauCo-President / VP Operations
Hometown: Hong Kong & Vancouver, BC Years on MustBus: 2021-2024 Class of: 2024 Why did you join MustBus?
It was 2021, my first year on campus and my first time in Montreal thanks to the Covid lockdown. Eager to get involved in campus life, I was casually browsing the different societies to join at McGill, and to be honest, it was not “love at first sight” with MustBus. At first, I was rather confused as to what it stood for and what it was about exactly. It was only after some time that I realized how fun it could be. After all, the co-op is about transportation, so is my major - Urban Studies! Having grown up in Hong Kong until my early adolescence, I really wanted to bring Hong Kong’s ease of travel to Canada, and I thought to myself, “maybe this could be the start!” Knowing that they were recruiting, I decided to give it a shot, and voilà. Totally no regrets. What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? Definitely witnessing how MustBus has grown over the years both as a co-op and as a team! I still vividly remember the countless challenges we faced while trying to regain funding and student support for our first post-Covid trial trip in 2021. Yet, we persevered and quickly became one of the most popular student services on campus within less than two year.Along the way, we also learned to build a stronger organization, from streamlining operations to becoming a full-fledged co-op with internal activities like the annual retreat that helped us grow closer as a team. Seeing how our McGill fellows appreciated our services and knowing that our hard work paid off always made my day. What's your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? Passing the Winter 2024 referendum to double the SSMU levy fee for more trips! Despite the fact that the levy fee was only established in 2022, we experienced exponential growth in demand and skyrocketing inflation within a year. This made expanding our services an urgent necessity, and I’m proud to have laid the foundation for more trips at lower prices in the years to come. Although having multiple members, including myself in the Netherlands, away on exchange made things more challenging for the team, we turned this disadvantage into an advantage by learning from Europe and introducing new features such as group tickets. This is just the beginning, and I’m excited to see what else we can introduce going forward. What are you doing now? I’m currently working remotely for a German transport software company called PSI Transcom and I plan to apply for master’s in Urban Planning after working for a year or two. How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career? A lot! In fact, one of the key reasons why I got hired by the German company was because of my experience at MustBus. Instead of just hiring a random student, they were looking for someone with relevant experience in transportation. My work with MustBus definitely helped check the box. |
Henry ShapiroCo-President / VP Media
Hometown: Watford, UK Years on MustBus: 2021-2025 Class of: 2025 Why did you join MustBus?
I was searching for clubs to join during my first semester at McGill, but because it was still the COVID-19 pandemic, Activities Night was held online on a platform which kept crashing. I was about to give up on club searching but came across the MustBus breakout room and spoke to Arthur Marcel, the Co-President at the time. We made a great connection, and he explained the vision behind MustBus: an affordable inter-city transportation service for McGill students. Being a newcomer to Montreal with a strong passion for anything travel, transport, and geography-related, I was instantly interested and agreed to apply as a First Year Rep to help make the vision of MustBus a reality. Little did I know I would go on to spend the remainder of my 4 university years at MustBus, rising up the ranks to VP Media and then Co-President for 2 years. What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? During my first couple of years on the team as a First Year Rep and then VP Media, my favourite moments revolved around the rapid growth of our reach, audience, and operations. There was a distinct sense of novelty and excitement as we doubled the size of our team, passed a referendum to secure funding from SSMU, ran our first-ever trips with consistency, and grew our social media following from a couple of hundred to over 1000. At the time, I enjoyed how innovative and entrepreneurial the team felt - to be younger than 20 years old, working in a fast-paced, dynamic, and chaotic start-up environment was a truly formative experience. What’s your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? Spending all 4 of my university years at MustBus makes it tough to choose my favourite memory! Being the only Co-President to be in the role for 2 years (thus far) allowed me the chance to build on the previous year's work. From my first year as Co-President, I am most proud of MustBus' operational and financial accomplishments. When I became Co-President, I wanted to tap into the demand for leisure trips as I knew that, like myself 2 years prior, there were so many incoming students new to Montreal who wanted to explore the regions surrounding Montreal but couldn't afford expensive planes, trains, or car rentals. I planned and executed our first-ever all-inclusive trip, whale watching in Tadoussac, which included transportation, accommodation, and an activity. I also oversaw the running of many brand new day trip destinations such as Vermont (Ben & Jerry's factory tour), Sutton (apple picking and chairlift ride), and Bromont (skiing). I feel proud to have realised my goal of transforming MustBus' offerings to more of a 360-degree, multi-faceted service which goes beyond just transportation. Along with an increase in the quantity and variety of trips came a dramatic increase in following as we began to garner multiple thousands of followers online and sell out out trip tickets within minutes. Making MustBus a well-known name and hugely popular service at McGill is what I am most proud of. What are you planning to do after university? Starting in September 2025, I will be working at L'Oréal Canada in downtown Montreal. Following my internship there in 2023, I will be building on the connections and work I started 2 years prior. I will be working in commercial sales in the Luxe division as part of the Management Trainee Program. Later in my career, I plan to shift to working in a more entrepreneurial environment having enjoyed the start-up experience working at MustBus. How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career?MustBus has helped set up my career and develop my skillset in countless ways. Being a 20-year-old in charge of tens of thousands of dollars, running a team of 10+ student volunteers, and planning, marketing, and running over 20 bus trips per semester has provided me with no shortage of challenges and learning opportunities. I have had to overcome cash flow problems between our bus suppliers and our funding from SSMU, deal with students not being able to cross the border into the US, manage internal team disputes, and much more. All of these challenges have exposed me to a variety of unstructured leadership, teamwork, and business problems, which, in the future, I will feel much more prepared to face wherever my career takes me. Overall, working at MustBus in a leadership position for 2 years has forced me to become a strong decision-maker who can manage high levels of stress and responsibility. |
2024-2025
Drew CassettyCo-President / VP Operations
Hometown: New York City, USA Years on MustBus: 2023-2025 Class of: 2025 Why did you join MustBus?
As someone who travels to and from New York pretty frequently, I am well aware of the immense (fiscal and environmental) costs of air travel. But for some time, the next best alternatives were the incredibly unreliable Amtrak or the horribly unpleasant Greyhound. I therefore immediately recognized the value of MustBus when I first heard of it, and was eager to join. What was your favourite part of being on MustBus? My favorite part of MustBus is the team dynamic. Despite the fact that everyone comes from such different backgrounds—in terms of discipline, geography, etc.—we are all united by our shared love of buses :). In seriousness, we all function so well together as a team, which not only makes work that much more fun, but it fosters open collaboration and communication, which ensures that everything runs so smoothly. What’s your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? I am really proud of the growth that MustBus has seen during my time there. After we successfully raised our opt-out fee levy from 2 to 4 dollars, we were able to meet our goals of raising trip volume while simultaneously lowering ticket costs. Additionally, I helped establish partnerships with hotel and hostel chains operating throughout Northeastern cities, which allowed MustBus to provide customers with discounted accommodation in addition to travel. Before I joined, MustBus was a small club that had the funds to run only a few trips per semester. Since then, that number has more than quintupled, and the trends of growth that I helped put in place over the last year are expected to continue into next year and beyond. What are you planning to do after university? Good question! Concrete plans are up in the air, but I’m hoping to find a job back home. How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career? Working with MustBus taught me so much about leadership and responsibility. I realized early on in my presidency that creating an inclusive team environment was essential for productivity. Also, working at such a large scale—wherein so much could go wrong on the planning and execution side of things—has helped me learn how to balance different projects and responsibilities, and sharpened my capacity for on-the-fly decision making. |
Henry ShapiroCo-President / VP Media
Hometown: Watford, UK Years on MustBus: 2021-2025 Class of: 2025 What was your favourite part of being on MustBus?
While I had enjoyed the novelty and excitement of my first two years at MustBus, when I became Co-President in my final two years, my favourite part of MustBus was the increase in stability, standardized procedures, and popularity we experienced. I loved hiring new team members during these two years as it felt like I was building up MustBus in my own way with people who shared the same passion for the club as myself. By the end of my time at MustBus, the organisation was running almost completely self-sufficiently with minimal help from myself or my fellow Co-President. This marked change in the stability and ease of running the club is a testament to the hard work put in as Co-President during my two years in the role. What’s your favourite memory/thing you accomplished while in MustBus? Having spent 1 year already as Co-President in the 2023-24 year, I had successfully led MustBus to increase our fee-levy from $2 to $4, increasing our total funding per semester, spearheaded all-inclusive trips to Tadoussac and Niagara Falls, organised our first ever team retreat, and managed the team even while on exchange in Italy for 1 semester. In my second year as Co-President, I was able to take a step back from the operations and focus more on growing the MustBus brand, partnerships, and internal team dynamics. I am most proud of hiring 6 terrific new team members in September 2024, creating 5 partnerships with hostels in our 5 Reading Break destinations, forging connections with other McGill institutions such as the McGill Outdoors Club and the Gault Reserve, and overall leaving MustBus in a very strong and stable financial position with a well-oiled team who will continue the MustBus vision for years to come. What are you planning to do after university? Starting in September 2025, I will be working at L'Oréal Canada in downtown Montreal. Following my internship there in 2023, I will be building on the connections and work I started 2 years prior. I will be working in commercial sales in the Luxe division as part of the Management Trainee Program. Later in my career, I plan to shift to working in a more entrepreneurial environment having enjoyed the start-up experience working at MustBus. How do you think working on MustBus helped set you up for your future/career?MustBus has helped set up my career and develop my skillset in countless ways. Being a 20-year-old in charge of tens of thousands of dollars, running a team of 10+ student volunteers, and planning, marketing, and running over 20 bus trips per semester has provided me with no shortage of challenges and learning opportunities. I have had to overcome cash flow problems between our bus suppliers and our funding from SSMU, deal with students not being able to cross the border into the US, manage internal team disputes, and much more. All of these challenges have exposed me to a variety of unstructured leadership, teamwork, and business problems, which, in the future, I will feel much more prepared to face wherever my career takes me. Overall, working at MustBus in a leadership position for 2 years has forced me to become a strong decision-maker who can manage high levels of stress and responsibility. |