Metro Transit - Operators' Perspective

Roads - Rails - Sidewalks - Bikeways
intercomnut
Rice Park
Posts: 404
Joined: April 23rd, 2015, 1:04 pm

Metro Transit - Operators' Perspective

Postby intercomnut » August 24th, 2015, 12:34 am

Understandably, we tend to approach our transit discussions exclusively from the point of view of riders - and sometimes planners. But, probably because they don't want to be outed, we don't really get the driver's perspective or learn about how these projects or even the quarterly route changes affect them.

I recently stumbled upon this online archive of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 Newsletter. I'd recommend sitting down sometimes and reading through it. It's interesting and has a lot of small news things you can't really get anywhere else.

Link: http://issuu.com/seconvp/docs

Some things I noticed (and this is entirely the perspective I've seen in the newsletters, not my own):
*MT drivers don't like kids. They see them as unruly troublemakers who are more likely than others to assault them
*There's some dislike for rail operators held by bus operators
*Rail operators are watched very closely compared to bus operators and don't have nearly as much recovery time
*Operators are very concerned about assaults on them, especially on routes 5, 19, 22
*Probationary drivers can be fired for essentially anything and the union can't really fight for them
*First Transit is trying to cut pay in Rochester

If you hear stories from a driver, have something interesting from these newsletters, are a driver yourself, or just have something to offer from a driver's perspective, it'd be great if you'd post it here!

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