KDGallagher

Reached out to get my name put back on the list a few days ago and received this email today from the MTA: I've emailed DCAS first and a day after I reached out via email to a few people over at the MTA. I assume this email is a result of me reaching out to the MTA as they say they're contacting DCAS on my behalf. For those interested in reinstating your name, I recommend going the route of reaching out to the MTA. Posted their email as there's info in it that may be helpful to others. Two people I reached out to were Ms E. Rivera & Ms Patricia Lodge. Looking forward to starting the process

After emailing them, should I expect a response/confirmation? Only thing I've received has been an automated email response saying they're out of office and a bunch of DCAS email addresses to email if I need certain services

Does anyone know how to restore my name to the list for this exam? My list number is 7*, I assume this list is in the 500s-600s by now, would I be placed at the top of the list assuming I'm put back on the list? How does list restoration work? edit: Forgot I had emailed the MTA back in December about this and they sent me this:

Did everyone you train with graduate day 7?

Congrats!!

How does this work? They just pick people who they view as a "risk"? I looked at the symptoms, I don't believe I have it. Do you see a doctor and they tell you whether you have it or not or is this 30 day 70% thing the way you prove you don't have it?

Why are they sending you for the sleep study? if you don't mind me asking, how much do you weigh/height? I've read on here if your neck is larger than a certain size they automatically send you for that test, wonder how true that is.

What did you do to correct the drifting?

How many people are you training with? how was it driving the bus for the first time? What did they have y’all doing today?

Does the MTA still do tuition reimbursement? http://twulocal100tuf.org/tuitionreimbursement.php Is there a catch or do you simply bring a copy of your grades and they pay up to $4k of the bill every year?

Thank you. Been exhausting those videos, thank you for posting them on your channel, memorized the ALSAPS test and starting to take notes on the wrap around and gauges.

Anyone know what model of bus we'll be training on?

How many operators are usually assigned to a bus route? And how exactly are you picking a run? From highest seniority to lowest, do they just go around with a list of bus routes, report/clear times, and days off and just allow you to pick what u want? How many slots for each run are there? For example how many people in your depot have a 7 am report, S/S off for the B4 bus route? Once 1 person pick it is it done and then crossed off and the next closest is 7:05 report, crossed off then on to 7:15 report .... all the way until all thats left is 2 pm report, Wednesday and Thursday off?

if anyone on this list or any other list is interested in getting their CDL for free, check out Red Hook on the Road. it's a free CDL program. I recently called them earlier in the week, they sent an authorization form for them to check out your driving record (no DUIs or tickets I assume), and after approval they'll email you to join a zoom call orientation / info session where they'll tell you more about to program and whatnot. It's a 4 week long program, 1 week in class, 3 weeks behind the wheel. I believe you need to be unemployed to quality https://bwiny.org/red-hook-on-the-road/overview/

That's good to hear , thanks for ya insight. Not that it really matters to me, when the time comes I won't be picky, but what are some examples of "high seniority" depots on the TA side? Examples of "low seniority"? I believe I read that Staten Island is where you're able to get better runs earlier in your career. Also, lets say I want to move to Rockland County (north of the Bronx) as a TA employee. Is it possible to pick into an OA depot in the Bronx? Would this make it so that I'm stuck there or will I be able to have flexibility?

How is the turnover for this position? Around how many years into the job are you able to pick from the more desired runs? By year 3? Year 7? Year 15? Any of you current B/Os, are there any other civil service jobs you'd leave TA for? For example Firefighter, Suffolk County police, etc

Does anyone know the cost to renew a CDL permit at the DMV? Been searching high and wide but can't find the info Also if I schedule an appointment to go in for the school bus endorsement, once I'm inside will they allow me to handle other things such as renewing my license or am I strictly allowed to just take the test and then leave?

Seniority order within a class is determined how? By list number?

Thanks for the informative answer So pretty much swing time is just free time? You mentioned your previous swings weren't long enough for you to go home... from an outsiders perspective that sounds so crazy So you can report at 6 am, drive for 3 hours until 9 am, have a 6 hour swing where you're paid for half that time, drive for another 3 hours, clearing at 6pm. That's 12 hours of your day, you only really worked for 6 of those hours, and you're paid for 9? I'm probably missing something but that's different lol

What are some reasons why those runs wouldn't get picked? And for your 1p-12a run, why wouldn't you pick it again? Lastly, swing time ... is that just time you're chilling in the depot? I assume you're still paid for that time but what do you do during your swing? How come you had two?

Guys again, thank you for the responses And @lornaevo it def makes sense to only to do minimum until you're off probation, secure the job, have as lil driving time as possible. I've read somewhere here a guy saved all his time off time and took the last week of probation off which was smart Is there a way to "research" the different depots? I understand its possible to be thrown any and everywhere but for the off chance that we're able to pick which depot we'd like to work out of, how can we research the different ones? Besides routes, I'm sure each have their own type of culture and the leaders have a different leadership style, if possible and without losing anonymity, are you guys who are on the job able to speak a lil on this?

Thank you guys for your responses highly appreciated. Last off topic question, and this doesn't just apply to bus operator but the TA in general How are guys able to damn near double their base salary? I go on seethruny and guys making $34 an hour which is a $71k base, but end up making lets say $130k I understand night differential and lets say they make another $1 for driving an articulated bus, that's still nowhere near $60k extra. Are some guys working 60-70 hours a week? I see dispatchers at $95k salary but bringing in $180k, thats crazy

Yes sorry, I took RDO as "random day off", I assume AVA is what I meant. Basically vacation days that can be used individually 1 or 2 days at a time. A few weeks ago I was in Colombia and met a train operator who said he uses his "RDO days" to travel, so I assume he adds a vacation day to his days off and does that I understand first year you're given a weeks worth of vacation time. Are AVA days in addition to the 5 vacation days? If so, how many are you given per year? And @lornaevo , how often are you allowed to do something like that? Lets say you randomly want to take a short trip to Mexico next month, your off days are Monday and Tuesday, is a month's notice too short to request an AVA for that Wednesday? Or are AVAs already picked ahead of time for the year? And thanks guys for your responses, highly appreciated

Not employment related but how often are your off days going to be back2back? Monday-Tuesday, Friday-Saturday, Sunday-Monday, etc? Is it possible to use RDO days right before or after your off days to make a 3 day off scenario?

Probably won't get an answer to this but does anyone know the sensitivity of the drug screens? 50 ng/ml? 5 mg/nl? And which company is used to handle the drug screening?