Family and friends paid their respects Sunday to the bus driver who was stabbed to death on the job last Monday.

Edwin Thomas was driving a B46 bus in Bedford Stuyvesant when police say Horace Moore entered through the back door without paying and asked for a free transfer. Police say when Thomas refused, Moore stabbed him to death.

Moore is being held without bail on second-degree murder charges. He reportedly has a long rap sheet, including an attempted murder conviction.

The mayor, friends, family, and hundreds of fellow drivers and co-workers all funneled into the Andrew Terregrossa & Sons Funeral Home Sunday to attend the wake.

Outside the funeral home sat a city bus draped in purple and black funeral bunting in his memory. A memorial banner with his photo and a message honoring and thanking Thomas for his seven years on the job replaced where an advertisement would sit on the side of the bus.

"This guy is a guy who is always working hard," said bus operator Rony Lavieriera. "Today is really sad."

Former colleagues are not only remembering a man they say was fun-loving and valued his job, but they also say Thomas' death is a harsh reminder about on-the-job safety.

"I know how it was," said bus operator Joe SantaMaria. "I had an experience also when I had a knife put in my side on the bus. It could have happened to anybody."

"We're all bus operators. It's a disgrace what happened," said Cookie Seregily, a fellow bus operator. "I feel we don't have the right protection. Anything could happen to us. They put a sign that it's a crime, but we don't have protection."

The Joint Bus Operators Assault Committee is already discussing installing Plexiglas shields, similar to what is currently in place in taxi cabs, to protect drivers. In the wake of Thomas' death, legislation calling for more bus driver protection was also introduced in the City Council.

Thomas is survived by his wife and two teenaged children. Last week, his grieving 18-year-old son said he could not believe his father was killed over a $2 bus transfer.