SubwayGuy

So then see my previous post. I don't post misinformation here. If you just ask a random T/O or C/R, they may not know. They are not associated with the hiring process. I do my own legwork to stay informed on the issues I post on. You'll never see me answering things or giving info in a bus operator or station agent discussion for example, because I don't know the answers on those titles.

The buffs will never understand this. Like a bunch of alcoholic gamblers who wake up hungover in Vegas after last night's bender with those hookers who were doing blow on the roof of their hotel until 6AM only to discover it's Super Bowl week, they will argue incessantly over all the "odds" by creating hypothetical permutations of car moves, even though it demonstrates no actual knowledge and ultimately creates no usable information for archival purposes later in life. Then they will argue back and forth on this topic for literally years, until something actually happens, although it is reasonable to expect that something else may change between now and then also, rendering ALL of the railfan, um, "proposals" obsolete. All this, so that in the unlikely event that nothing else actually does change, one of them can be crowned "king of the turds" when the MTA makes a decision that has not been reached at this time which loosely coincides with a post that by then will be many years old. And as a reward for their oddsmaking prowess, the King of Turds can post "I told you guys" on a discussion board at some future date. But I guess you said it more diplomatically....

No. The promotional list is made up of permanent MTA employees who were in an eligible title (Conductor, Tower Operator, or Bus Operator) by the cutoff date for that particular exam (typically last day of filing). OR MTA employees in an ineligible title who've passed a certificate program to sit for the exam (this applies for non-competitive civil service titles like cleaners typically). Even probationary employees can take promotional exams provided they meet the criteria for the NOE, as long as they were "permanently" appointed, even if they are probationary and therefore haven't reached permanent status yet. Probationary =/= provisional (provisional would disqualify an employee from taking a promotional exam). The only exception to this is exams that require service time in a particular title to sit for the exam (for example Train Service Supervisor requires 2 years as a Train Operator, 1 of which must have been in passenger service AKA road). If the NOE does not specify a requirement for time in title, there isn't a requirement other than being appointed to a permanent title by the cutoff date for the exam. All promotionals take the same exam, although theirs are scored differently since their total service time to Transit is a component of their score. Once the promotional list is established, ALL of the promotional employees who are not disqualfiied (usually for sick time) will be called in order before the FIRST open competitives are hired.

Part of that info is correct, part is not. C/R promotes to a lot of titles and many have been taking promotions (to Tower Operator, ATD, and Train Operator) leaving a void to fill. There are also a lot of C/R's retiring, as well as a lot of ATD's and Tower Operators, creating vacancies in all of those titles. T/O only promotes to Dispatcher (TD) or TSS (Train Service Supervisor). While there have been retirements in both titles and Train Operator, it is not to the degree there has been in C/R, ATD, and TW/O. A lot of fairly new C/R's have also taken tests for other civil service positions and resign from C/R if called for those other positions because of the higher starting pay. Train Operators have much higher starting pay that is closer to top pay and therefore this is less likely for them. They do NOT call "2000" CR's a year. Yes, it's true, the vast majority don't get appointed, that's true for all service. People move away, get sick, die, become uninterested in getting the job, fail drug tests, forget to update their mailing address or follow up, miss their call date despite getting the letter in the mail and fail to follow up, decide the job isn't for them after coming in for the call, get rejected through medical, get rejected based on their personal history or faulty paperwork. It happens. In a "full" month of hiring, typically 40 C/R's are hired a month, although I've been told that sometimes that number goes higher. 40x12 months = 480 CR's are offered employment. Again, this would be just about the maximum possible. To generate that many in a class, somehere between 1200-1500 would receive letters to come in. Mind you, it's extremely rare for 12 months of full 40 C/R classes getting hired. So in reality the number has been closer to 900-1200 a year called in, for the duration of the current C/R list*. *Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes on future lists

Work experience is typically required by the date of the exam OR the end of the filing period for TO exams. Not "the day you apply". Not "the date of appointment" (which only historically has applied to C/R's who need a HS diploma by the date of appointment) Of course, all of this is subject to change. Read the NOE. As for getting disappointed if you're not eligible, don't stress it. You already missed the Tier 4 boat, and it seems Tier 6 is here to stay, so just wait for the next exam for a title that promotes to an RTO title if you want to work in RTO. That means station agent, bus operator, or conductor when it comes around again since that ship sailed. Take all the exams. It's easier to move around once you work here and can take the promotional and get out of the pool of 25,000+ and into a pool of a few hundred.

Also one more comment on this. DO NOT WAIT until the filing to request the IRS or SSA to pull your records. There is a turnaround time on this and you'll want the info on hand by the filing date. So if you don't remember everything, get your request into IRS or SSA ASAP.

Employment must be paid. That means on the books. So if you got paid off the books, it doesn't count. Remember that when you fill out any paperwork and leave the off the books stuff off. You can contact the IRS and have them pull your tax returns, or contact Social Security for your wage history and use those if there are things you can't remember in your on the books work history. Good rule of thumb...if your earnings don't show up there, they don't count. Also in the past school credits have counted...I believe it was 30 credits = 1 year of work experience, up to a maximum of 4 years. So even with a million years of college, you still need 1 year of work experience.

That's why, as I've said, if you want to protest...you really need to go to the session.

While this is true, it is imperative to go to the protest session because without it you will not have the questions or the answer choices and their associated letters. Additionally, you will need to bring "supporting material" to make your case, which can be difficult without the question or the paragraph the questions are pulled from, as source material.

This is legitimate, and official, and you can take this with you to the bank. If a question is successfully protested, it does NOT have to be thrown out. However, more than one answer may be accepted based on the protest (up to and including all 4 being accepted). If answers that were marked incorrect before the protest, would now be marked correct following the outcome of a successful protest, they will be marked CORRECT FOR EVERYONE, regardless of whether or not that person was involved in the protest. If answers that were marked incorrect before the protest, are still going to be marked incorrect following the protest, they will continue to be incorrect. Example: Question. Answer is A. Person protests saying B should be right. Protest is granted. A and B are correct. -Everyone who put A has already gotten credit for the question when it is graded. There is no change to their score. -Everyone who put B gets credit for the question being correct where they didn't previously. Their scores go up. -Everyone who put C or D is still wrong.

It varies. It depends on when the next class is, how many slots there are, and how many people are still ahead of you that have to be considered since there is often a lag with hiring if people take a long time to get their paperwork done and get medically cleared. There isn't any one answer to this question, and anyone who tells you otherwise (unless it's someone that works in MTA HR at Livingston St) is BSing you.

Don't overestimate the intelligence of the human population. If 25,000 people FILE for the test...approximately a quarter will fail or no-show the test. Start with that. By the time you work your way all the way up to 100 or better, you're usually looking at less than 300 people.

When you are new, no to steady shifts. You will bounce around your subdivision at the behest of the Crew Office, although they may try to keep you close to home, or on a preferred tour with preferred days off (at their discretion). Once you have the seniority to pick a job, if you are able (and desire) to pick regular jobs, you can. There are some assignments that are picked that don't have regular jobs, some people prefer these. Overtime is complicated, and there are numerous scenarios that can play out, and each is governed by particular rules. There are too many to list here. There will always be the possibility of mandatory overtime when you come to work, even when you have the seniority to pick regular assignments. However, until you pick, or if you pick an assignment that doesn't have a regular job, the number of ways you can be forced to work mandatory overtime are greater than when you pick a regular job, although it does boil down somewhat to the specifics of exactly which job you pick. If you like money, there is overtime here. If you don't, then you can turn down voluntary overtime, but mandatory overtime will still pop up from time to time. "Needs of the service," it's the nature of the job. And a sacrifice you need to make if you want a defined benefit pension in an age where they are disappearing as fast as the middle class is.

Just be careful. You can only use vets credit once. So if you apply for multiple exams, when you are hired, you will use your vets credit, and it will be removed from any other exams you took. So if you take the C/R exam, then the T/O exam, and are a vet, you can only get the 5 points once. If you apply it to C/R, and are hired as a C/R, you will have to "give up" 5 points off your T/O score when that comes out and your list number will be adjusted higher accordingly.

Go at the terminal each time before you make a trip.

All of this will be covered when you start, and you will have plenty of time to practice and study. Every single train car is different. The same car will handle differently from its two ends. What you need to learn in schoolcar is how to operate by feel, and to practice train control. This will give you general guidelines which trains perform in, then it will be up to you to adjust your operation for the specific car and consist that you are operating. This means how grabby or how slack the brakes feel, how quickly they apply, how quickly they release, the point at which dynamic brakes switch to friction, and where exactly on the brake valve all of these actions take place. Car Equipment (who maintains the trains) has thresholds for performance that the train has to meet in order to be OK for service. Once it meets them, the rest (the finer points) is up to you.

Read the Notice of Examination for the exam when the filing period begins. It will specify all of the requirements, as well as the dates those milestones need to be completed by, in order for you to be eligible for the position. The Notice of Examination will be able to viewed at that time without actually filing for the exam firsthand. Requirements sometimes change from test to test, so the best way to find out is to wait for the NOE to come out. NOE's for previous tests do not guarantee the next one will be exactly the same.

A word to the wise, and I'm sure you're just asking a general question here, so this is not directed at you specifically, but rather to everyone. Please do not discuss test questions here. Other people have yet to take the test. While there will be different questions on different tests, some may be the same or similar, and you do not want to be able to be accused of (key phrase) cheating, helping others, or having prior knowledge of the questions because of comments made in a public forum. You also do not want your co-test-takers to be able to be accused of same, because of something you inadvertently posted.

There are actually several photos from the mid 1960s on NYC subway showing the changeover you're talking about: (old style) (soft seats) (both styles mixed)

It's been done in the past but it depends on the facility. It was done in Jamaica Yard once, and in Hillside (LIRR). But they're not going to let people climb up. There are staircases cars & shops uses to access the cars kind of like the ones at Home Depot the clerks use to reach items on high shelves, that line up with the door thresholds. If those are available, they may (at the discretion of cars & shops) allow guests to board a subway car, and incorporate it into their tour. If not, fugheddaboudit.

Ha! You'd be surprised. Believe it or not, a huge number of people will FAIL. But the goal for anyone serious about getting hired isn't just to pass, but to pass with an extremely high score - 95 or better, if not 100. Sanitation (as well as FDNY) gives "city residency credit" on the exam. So in essence, the highest score is 105, not 100, and lots of people can achieve it because most of the people taking exams for city jobs will be city residents. Transit tests give veterans and legacy credit, but the people who have those are fewer, so getting a couple questions wrong isn't as big of a deal on that test, but you should still try for 100. But on a transit test for T/O or C/R, scoring 100 or better and not getting called is unheard of. Normally once hiring opens up from that list, those scores will get you in during the first year.

Military time is simple math. If you can't doing that, you lack the basic intelligence necessary to work in RTO.

...up to a maximum of 4 years (120 credits). regardless of how educated you are you'll still need 1 yr work experience

Just study and learn to understand them as well as the definitions. You need both, and it will make it easier. That test is probably the single most stressful part of schoolcar, and unfortunately now you new folks have to take it twice. But it's really not hard. There are probably some 50 signals or so, but it's not bad, and many of them are related, so once you learn signal A, and signal B, it's easy to come up with meaning for signal C. Don't stress about it, just give your best. While you're in schoolcar, time spent worrying about the outcome would be better spent studying or reviewing. Remember that. You will have plenty of time to go over the signals and ask questions to get any needed clarification before you actually have to sit for either signal exam.

Focus on the things that you can control, and tune out the things you can't. You control your test score, and that's it. Don't worry about how many people are taking the exam, it does you absolutely no good at all. Just focus, make sure your reading comprehension, NYC area geography, and military time are up to snuff, and knock it out of the park. All the rest is noise.