Harlem

1 hour ago, Trini2 said:

I was placed on medical hold and now when reached back out for final processing they said there’s no upcoming classes do any one know after feb19 class when will be the next class after this .

Don’t worry. No class in March but classes every month in the spring. You’ll get called for the April class.

3 hours ago, goliver28 said:

Yup your primary doctor gotta right a referral and then you do the sleep study. After you get the results you gotta go back to medical and see what they say from there. If January isn’t the last class you’ll be fine as long as you clear medical hold within 90 days 

This is misinformation. You do not need to see a doctor for the sleep study. You can order it online. They will ship it to your house after a brief tele-medicine interview. You wear the device for one night and upload the results in the morning. A certified sleep doctor reviews the results and determines if you have sleep apnea or not. You need to have an AHI score under 15 to qualify as mild sleep apnea. If your case is mild or negative you’re good.

January is not the last class from this list. A new list has not been established yet and they’re always hiring conductors. Don’t believe the hype. Youve got time. It takes a few weeks to complete the study. 

Hope this helps.

1 hour ago, DEE123 said:

Yeah I don’t understand what the drama is about. All you need is a GED, for a job that gives you full benefits and 120k a year, and literally all MTA asks of you is to not call out sick and not make any mistakes just like any job. Idk what these guys expect from the agency. It’s like this in almost all government agencies where people with seniority can legally screw you. 

Dee. Respectfully. This job is not as simple as you’re imagining. In school car today we learned that we won’t be doing AM’s. Now our classes will be PM’s. So one has to study. Balance time with family. Worry about mastering a new skill and commute for an extra half hour each way because trains don’t run regularly at night. If the job was as easy as you imagine they wouldn’t be hiring so many people. Respectfully.

Congrats. You're probably 5 or 6 weeks away from being hired if your experience is anything like mine. Make sure you have any documentation you might need for the medical and you're golden. 

3 hours ago, Jay-Oh said:

The plan is for there to be classes every month for the time being. They’re promoting TSS like crazy in order to meet the demand for instructors. 
Approximately 100 CR and 100 TO every month.

3 hours ago, ix360xi said:

Anyone know if there will be a class for January?

I asked about the January class last week. People at 180 hadn't heard about a January class for TO's. Was told the January class is for conductors. Maybe there is a January class but it's not official yet. 

4 hours ago, DEE123 said:

For sleep apnea, if you’re over the BMI, but your neck is smaller than 16 inches and you don’t snore or have any other problems, do they still hold you for an apnea test?

i can only tell you my experience. I’m healthy, like a lot of big guys, but outside of the range they find acceptable. Sleep like a baby. Exercise regularly. I had to do a sleep study anyway. 

Don’t count on your neck size saving you. If they think you need to do a study a 16’ neck will not stop them from putting you on hold. Any of the conditions which point to sleep apnea (age, bmi, blood pressure, snoring etc.) can trigger a hold. 

I was sworn in recently but the process of clearing the hold is not simple. You can do an at-home study which will cost about 300. 200 for the study and 125 for the letter from the doctor. 

If its negative you make another appointment and hand in the letter and the report. You blood pressure is checked again and the doc signs off. Should take a few weeks to get a negative report and a letter.

If its positive you will probably have to add your name back to the list because the ninety days you get to clear the hold will fly by. It will take a while to order the cpap and have the required time using it. This process may take several months.

Its been said many times on here by more experienced guys but its worth repeating. If you have a condition get the letter from your doctor. It seems like this medical process is really about liability. Maybe they’re really concerned about having another doctor sign off on you just in case something goes wrong. Thats understandable.

I’d imagine a lot of people will get a call this week to do the medical. There’s a class that starts on the 26th.

Good luck.

Anyone had to clear a medical hold. Do you have to do the medical tests (Blood pressure, weight, urine etc) again? Thanks.

1 hour ago, Stacy121 said:

Does anyone know if having accidents on your MVR will disqualify you

They do ask about it on the application. As with most things Transit it probably depends on the nature of the accidents. 

22 hours ago, SchoolCarMasochist said:

i'm OC too.  if u don't mind....how long ago did you went through this?  perhaps they were more lenient back in the day?
is there someone or a department I can speak to, to ask this question?  thanks

This list is governed by city laws. It prevents you having to depend on an individual. The law seems clear here. If you came from an open competitive list and you resigned before probation ends you lose everything. Start from scratch. But thankfully you can start again because the law allows you to restore yourself to the list and be hired again. 

3 hours ago, Frenchie said:

Yeah same, I got called in as well. I took the test on the sept 21st.

Do you actually get interviewed?

Or do they just want you to fill our paperwork and drug test?

There is no interview. First, you do the drug test. Then, you do the medical and if you pass the medical someone goes over your paperwork and job history. Thanks for the update. Did you guys get a list number?

On 10/17/2023 at 8:11 PM, DEE123 said:

I’m switching over to OA. Im close to all the Bronx depots, gunhill is walking distance from me and I already know approx 70% of the routes. It would be sweet if I make it there. 

Did you switch over DEE? We still haven't got our results yet. Any word?

3 hours ago, SchoolCarMasochist said:

Question for those of you who Graduated school car, but never passed probation, quit and left, and then Re-hired to come back into School Car....

  - Did you got to Keep your Seniority # when you came back?

   - Did you kept your Vacation progression?  or did you had to restart from scratch?
     AKA - the 4 weeks vacation after 3 years deal, did you had to restart that?

   - Did you pick working in the other Division so that it's something new and now you can say that u have experience in both Div??

Thanks in Advance.

You lose everything when you quit. Start from scratch. Wouldn't it be better to pick close to home. A two hour commute quickly becomes exhausting. 

12 minutes ago, Uptownsocialite said:

I looked all over for a gray shirt like even in the men’s department in several stores and NOTHING ! I hope they don’t say anything to me about it and my boots need to be exchanged 😩 this is a lil overwhelming right now.

You can find a grey shirt on Amazon. They will give you a hard time the first day if you dont have one. You’ll have to find one before day 2.

16 hours ago, DEE123 said:

I’m switching over to OA. Im close to all the Bronx depots, gunhill is walking distance from me and I already know approx 70% of the routes. It would be sweet if I make it there. 

Hope it works out for you. Thanks for the update. 

13 hours ago, SchoolCarMasochist said:

I know the MAC measures our neck size...the GIRTH.....if it's too big we need the sleep apnea tests.
Do they measure anything else regarding "girth"?

No. There is no other measurement. I think they only measure your neck if your BMI is too high. But it might really depend on which person sees you. 

11 hours ago, DEE123 said:

So I got some intel, if MTA Bus Calls you first and you take it, but you want mabstoa instead, you can do the 7-10 day initial training with bus company, get your license, start line training. assuming you don’t get into any incidents, you should be ok to transfer over and all you’re gonna need is line training for your new depot. 

Sounds easy. So will you switch to OA? I didn’t sign up for the Bus Company so i guess it’ll be a long wait. Which depot is nearest for you?

2 hours ago, DEE123 said:

Any update? I go in Monday for proccessing

No updates yet. I took the exam after you- 4111. Still haven’t got score yet. Nada. I was also called for train operator and should have gone in for that. It seems like they’ve slowed down. I would prefer bus operator over train operator because the depots are closer and as a train operator you spend a lot of time commuting. 

Will you have to do the whole process over? 

56 minutes ago, DEE123 said:

Yes. A lot of my classmates are mabstoa from the recent exam only issue is they’re being forced to work at fresh pond and East NY as they’re insanely short right now. I have no idea why how or what’s going on with them but yeah I can see you getting called in the next 90 days or so. 

Thanks DEE. That helps a lot. Are you only able to transfer depots once a year? It would be difficult to commute to Queens or Brooklyn regularly. Seems like an interesting job but not if the commute will be a couple hours each way. 

1 hour ago, Blitzer120 said:

Would someone still have to submit their HS Diploma if they have higher forms of education?

No. You just take your degree and that is enough. As long as it's a US degree you have no problems. If it's a foreign degree I think you have an additional step. 

19 hours ago, DEE123 said:

I got my CDL B today from MTA. Before getting the job, I paid $5,000 for CDL School for my CDL A but MTA called very fast, and I wasn’t able to finish on time. I am going to get my A license another time, but the MTA CDL school in the eastchester depot is excellent compared to the private driving schools, It’s not comparable. You’ll have a lot more time behind the wheel performing your backing maneuvers than you would at a traditional CDL School where there’s like 40 people waiting in line and just standing around doing the “pre trip” on an old and broken bus that isn’t even equipped with the parts that you’re supposed to be inspecting . Out of the whole day, you would probably have 30 minutes behind the wheel and the instructors don’t  help much. That’s how most private schools are laid out. The MTA instructors have a very high Passing rate. You would have to do something outrageously crazy to not get your License, or get kicked out and told to resign. I highly recommend using the MTA to get your license. 

One more thing I would like to add is people that were already licensed school bus drivers, and tractor trailer drivers had a rough time transitioning to this job.
 

Your best bet is to go in day one with zero bus knowledge because so many school bus/ Truck drivers either didn’t make initial day 10 or had difficulty qualifying because of bad programming not even necessarily because they were bad drivers, it’s because nearly everything is different on these buses compared to all commercial vehicles. There is nothing like driving a NYC MTA bus even compared to other transit buses in the country. Literally you’ll need 100% control of how soft or hard to put your foot on the accelerator and brake. The second you put your foot on the accelerator without 100% control, the bus can jump to like 10 MPH almost instantly and then you can’t suddenly take your foot off the accelerator or else the retarder kicks in and now your instructor and classmates, or passengers standing can lose balance and fall right to the front of the bus. 

Congratulations on the CDL! Thanks for the info I agree with your analysis. It seems easier to get the CDL through the MTA. Do you know if they are still calling people quickly from the MABSTOA exam? I have to choose between TO and BO. Took the OA exam in September but haven't heard anything yet.

Has anyone been hired from this exam recently. I took the exam and am still waiting for the score. Some people say get your CDL first, others say wait and let transit pay for it. 

Anyone had to choose between Bus Operator and Train Operator? I made a list of pros and cons. Am I missing something?

Bus Operator (Pros)

- Not working in tunnels/Get to see sunshine

- Less supervision and drama

- Friendly coworkers

- Depot within walking distance of home

Bus Operator (Cons)

- Low starting pay ($12 less hourly)

- Bad for your body

- Dealing with customers

Train Operator (Pros)

- Good pay at start

- No customers

 Train Operator (Cons)

- Heavy supervision/High drama

- School Car

- Terminals Far Away

- In tunnels all day

I've lived in NYC much of my life and ride buses regularly but I can't figure out why bus operator is such a difficult position to fill. Before the test the examiner at 180 Livingston told us they were hiring 800 bus operators. That's a very high number. Can someone explain why this position is so hard to fill. Is it the hours? Is it the pay? Or, is it the stress of the job? I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into. Thanks. 

3 hours ago, DEE123 said:

I’m in Zerega doing training right now while waiting for 3601 to call me. I know I got a high score on my exam, but I’m not expecting a call until early next year as people are being processed from Mabstoa and Bus Company, each class can only hold a certain amount of people.

People from NYCTA that I’m training with are exam 2612 with low list numbers under 150. I recommend you take the mabstoa/Bus Company exam now, so by the time you get called by TA, your training would be finished. If you’re in Mabstoa, when TA calls you’ll probably even wind up staying in that same exact depot, Just with a new ID and your probation time will carry over. 

also You should not post your whole List number for security reasons. that’s why you see People usually put a star or # in the last digit or 2 such as  3** or 30* 3## or 30#

Thanks for this info DEE. I didn’t know it was that easy to change to TA. Are you training with Mabstoa now? If so have they mentioned the depot you most likely will end up in? Is it possible to choose Manhattanville after you finish training? Thanks.

4 hours ago, Zarric said:

Hey all, I am scheduled for medical/drug on Friday 9/15. I do not have my HS diploma ( I lost it) . I have been calling the last 2 days but no one answers or responded to my voicemail. Will a copy be acceptable? The most my former HS will give me is transcripts. Thanks in advance! 

Take what you have. A copy might be ok.