MTAhopefullMatt

@goukix, glad to hear things are moving.

Approx where are you in the list? Range?

Good luck with the 2nd P/E.  

The TWU isn't the strongest union around, that's for sure.

It's probably most effective in maintaining decent pay rates and OT rules and pensions for its members - it's not a strong advocate for individual members, only collectively, and does basically nothing until the member is tenured.

Re 1-year probation, that's become pretty standard with state jobs in NY.  

MTA/NYC Transit is effectively a state (not a NYC) job.

@The Batcave, that's crazy.

I don't understand how a public agency can just decide to increase or decrease its hires (school car class) at the very last minute.  It would be nice if they were consistent and decided to have classes of a consistent size for a year at a time.

Good luck with your current (old) job.  

And hopefully you will make the next class.

This should be a good gig when and if you get it, but the recruitment process is messed up.

@Young,

personally I'd start with the head of Transit - people in government are sensitive to hierarchy and expect the chain of command to be followed.  Even starting with Byford there's probably two or three people below him that you "should" ask for reconsideration - the broader issue is that Transit just doesn't owe much due process to anyone who doesn't actually have tenure on a job with Transit.

@young, good luck with your appeal.

I could very well face a similar situation myself.

Transit seems to have a lot of discretion with hiring, much more than with termination after tenure has been obtained - in this they're very similar to other government employers.  I'd start the process with Mr Byford.

Well, if they're only bringing on a class or two at a time than it almost seems like a waste of resources - just very inefficient.  Not that that's a key concern for Transit, but still - it would make sense to take a break from hiring and then start again with much bigger classes - make full use of the space and facilities and TSS assigned to school car. Hopefully when they do hire again classes are at least 75-80 people.  I do recall that towards the end of the last open competitive list they were putting something like 80-90 conductors through school car with classes twice a month.

@STAYMATIC, was your score 96?  or 95?

I'm 95. but far down the list, just past 5000.

@dman1455, thanks for the info.  Any idea why the hiring pace seems a bit slow? I thought they were sending far more people through school car a year or so ago, when the old open/competitive list was winding down.

I wonder if the last open/competitive list got off to such a slow start.

I recall that it ended with a huge surge of hiring, two classes per month, something like 150 conductors in school car per month.

Oh, well - if I get called that will be great, if not I'll just have to do something else.

@Jchambers2120, congratulations.  Roughly what list number are you?

@Mohamed, for what it's worth the Exams Unit told me last week they've reached list number 5,000 for purposes of scheduling the OPA. That means everyone from 1-,5000 should have taken OPA by now or be scheduled to take it, via letter in the mail.

My list number is 50XX. They did not advise me of when I might receive notice, just to contact them by the end of the year if I hadn't received my letter by then.

@Jrwave, thanks for the update. Is school car for you mostly 7a-3p or is it evening shifts? 

@Over1, in the past with other lists they've brought as many as 150+ conductors per month into school car.  This happened towards the end of hiring for the last open-competitive conductor exam. So it's possible to have very large groups, and I think they even had new school car classes every other week occasionally.  But neither has yet happened with this list.

BTW, my understanding is that Transit has now called for OPA the first 5000 people on the list. Not that everyone through that point has actually taken the OPA, only that they've been notified of upcoming appointments if they haven't already taken it.

What I'm not clear about is whether that number (5000) is significant in the sense that Transit may take a little break to process the people who've already been screened, or whether they'll continue going down the list without interruption.

@Cathy, approximately what range is your list number?

I may need to follow up with Transit, but it can wait a few weeks, until the kids and my wife, a schoolteacher, are done.

@Cathy, congrats on getting the notice.  I also scored 95 and I'm waiting for the OPA notice.

Transit should have my current address, I updated them and they acknowledged the change of address, so maybe I'll receive an OPA notice myself in the next few weeks or months.

Transit hiring is I believe all done at 160 Livingston Street in downtown Brooklyn, pretty much across the street from the downtown Brooklyn Macy's. I believe it's Transit HQ which is down the street at 180 Livingston Street.

@NAT212, yes, much better to disclose things.  There are people on the job who've served 5+ years in prison for felony convictions.  Not disclosing looks like dishonesty to Transit and if/when they find out they'll try to terminate you even if you made it through your probationary period and your job performance is fine.

On a different note, I'm 50XX and I haven't received my OPA invitation yet.  Are they skipping around?

@N1CKR, it's very much "hurry up and wait."

It will happen when Transit wants it to - best just to keep busy with everything else in our lives.

It is frustrating.

@Victorious29, thanks for the update.

Good luck with the OPA and further processing.

I'll just have to wait and see, and focus on my current job and other prospects in the meantime.

I'm in the 50xx range.  I'm trying to get an estimate of when I might get called for OPA.  The Exams Unit did respond to my email in a timely manner, which was great, but they simply said they can't provide an estimate. They did say they try to give ten days notice of the OPA date when they do notify you.

At how fast a rate are they doing the OPA testing and processing?

Does it seem likely that I might be scheduled for the OPA this summer or fall? 

Has the first 6601 class started yet?

Good luck to everyone waiting for medical.

The part of Brooklyn (south Brooklyn) where school car is located isn't particularly hard to find street parking by NYC standards.  Much easier than downtown Brooklyn or Park Slope or Williamsburg, or just about anywhere in Manhattan or most of Queens. 

Getting stuck in traffic (e.g., on Belt Parkway or Staten Island Expressway or BQE) is a bigger consideration, and something bosses will not have any sympathy for. So, yes, if you drive get an early start and aim to be there by 6, based on mapping calculations that account for traffic. Lots of people do that. You can stop for coffee/food/bathroom at Dunkin down the street or nap/study in your car until Security will let you in to the school, at a little past 6:30a. The other issue is that any parking violation in NYC is now at least $100 or so, but just pay attention to the signs. 

Because school car is so far into South Brooklyn it's difficult for people from deep in Long Island or places like Dutchess County or eastern Queens or the northern Bronx to reliably get there by 7 a.m. - you'd probably want to be at Penn or Grand Central by 6:00 or Atlantic Terminal by 6:15 to be there on time.  If school car started at 7:30 or 8 a.m. the public transit commute would be a lot easier and more reliable. This is why some people drive - it can mean leaving the house an hour later, getting more sleep, etc.

Either way, driving or taking the train, you'll probably arrive at School Car at least a half hour early every day. If you assume your drive or transit commute will get you there by 6:50a you're cutting it too close, although at least with the train you can write down the car number and based on the scheduled arrival time you'll probably have a valid excuse.

@peacemak3r, what's your score?

I want to see if they're getting close to calling people with a 95 score for OPA, and I didn't have the list handy.

Thanks.

@EgyptianEyez, thanks for the response.  My score is 95 but my list number is 50**. Many people scored the same as I did.  

I haven't yet received an invite to come in for OPA.

@XBht26, what list range and score are you? I'm trying to estimate whether I'll be called for OPA any time soon.

@LIRRMedford, good news about the class schedule.

Hopefully they'll be sending at least 75 conductors to school car every month on a stable basis.

I think they were hiring at least that many people on average every month during the last few years of the prior open competitive list [8094].

@noekozz, that's the problem.  Being a union doorman is a great job - there are just very few openings for that position.