My first piece of advice is to have a practice run on the bus. Take it to the school with the gifted program, explore the school a bit (even if only from the outside), and then ride the bus home again. What does he think about doing that every day?

FWIW, I used to commute by train and loved it. I taught myself French on that train by reading novels. The bus could actually be a plus (e.g. it could be a good time to get homework done).