Olegkha Posted July 4, 2009 Share #1 Posted July 4, 2009 Dont have time to write detailed essay on the first two weeks, but if any one interested ask a question and i will do my best to answer it ( I will try to write brief description later on today, will see if i get couple of free minutes ) GOOD luck to the next class July 6 ( Monday ) DONT BE LATE !!!!!!!! they will make fun of you if you are late !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locomotion69 Posted July 4, 2009 Share #2 Posted July 4, 2009 Dont have time to write detailed essay on the first two weeks, but if any one interested ask a question and i will do my best to answer it ( I will try to write brief description later on today, will see if i get couple of free minutes ) GOOD luck to the next class July 6 ( Monday ) DONT BE LATE !!!!!!!! they will make fun of you if you are late !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought they would only make fun of you if you fell asleep in class,lol. So on what day did you qualify on? Congratulations,keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovelyDay Posted July 4, 2009 Share #3 Posted July 4, 2009 Dont have time to write detailed essay on the first two weeks, but if any one interested ask a question and i will do my best to answer it ( I will try to write brief description later on today, will see if i get couple of free minutes ) GOOD luck to the next class July 6 ( Monday ) DONT BE LATE !!!!!!!! they will make fun of you if you are late !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please tell us how you are doing first and then tell us how things went as you can. congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted July 4, 2009 Share #4 Posted July 4, 2009 Wait so what are you training for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2Julio Posted July 4, 2009 Share #5 Posted July 4, 2009 Wait so what are you training for? Bus Operator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olegkha Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted July 5, 2009 5025 is BO test I ended up qualifying on day 7 Monday day 0 Everyone gets to fill out 10 application papers for the whole 8 hours that we were there. Some people had to redo some papers more than ones, because they made mistakes, and crossing out is not permitted Tuesday Day 1 Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 4 people per bus, 1 instructor. We got to drive about an hour and a half on the first day . No traffic area, very simple left right turns. MTA Bus and TA people all mixed together. Just trying to get used to the damn mirror on the right side of the bus ( MTA wants you set up that mirror so you can see the rear right tire. That means you cannot see nothing next to the bus. So blind merging is FUN ! ) Wednesday Day 2 Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 4 people per bus, 1 instructor. We drove the bus from Flatbush depot to Bronx and drove around in Bronx for a bit. Highway driving and Local Streets driving for every one. Again with the damn mirror on RTS bus. It’s a Bit#$. Thursday Day 3 Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 4 people per bus, 1 instructor. Drove around more to get used to the driving a long bus. Still trying to get used to the damn mirror. Hit a curb couple of times but nothing major ( a big no no ) Friday Day 4 Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 4 people per bus, 1 instructor. We were reassigned to the new depot, and new instructor. Drove to Brooklyn, Coney island from JFK depot. Did some El Pillars ( Driving in between column of the elevated Train ) ( 86 street in Brooklyn, Coney island ). Interesting, but strange experience, coming in and out of traffic to get practice of driving in-between the darn things. Monday Day 5 / QUALIFICATION DAY 1 ( Must do 2 days out of 3 in order to pass this time around ) Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 3 people per bus, 1 instructor. Yep only 3 people, Some one already was let go, This job is not for him. Drove to NYC Up-town around 120-96 streets. Somewhat heavy traffic, Did a lot of turns and bus stops. Drove around about 2 hours per person Tuesday Day 6 / QUALIFICATION DAY 2 ( Must do 2 days out of 3 in order to pass this time around ) Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 3 people per bus, 1 instructor. Drove to NYC down town, 10-36 streets WHAT A BIT$#. Especially going east on 14 street and making a left turn on Park Ave. There is no room to make that turn especially with a stupid cab just parking in my lane and leaving the car standing there ;( Had to back up ( day failed ;( ) drove around for 45 minutes ( we all were upset about the road we took and all of us screwed up on it ) Wednesday Day 7 / QUALIFICATION DAY 3 ( Must do 2 days out of 3 in order to pass this time around ) Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 3 people per bus, 1 instructor. Drove to Bronx (not sure where we were, but it’s up in 150th street or so ) very short , but very hard track. We had to make a left turn that 2 other people did not make. I have no clue how I made it, but I had 3 inches from curb to left rear tire, and 1 inch from Light Pole to right front bumper. ( I later Learned that all other people went to other places and had a short easy time on day 7, nothing like we did, very unfair ! ). Then went back to Zerega Ave depot, and did parking and back up ( easy ) . I Passed qualification (I drove the bus 5 hours before I got to MTA) Another person who never drove the bus before Passed qualification Third person who got 5 years school bus experience failed ( but passed on day 9 ) Thursday Day 8 Whoever failed the qualification are taking their 1 free training day, and the rest of us are hanging around and driving a new Hybrid bus ( what a piece of cake that bus is, easy in turns, mirrors are great, shorter wheel base, awesome bus ) Friday Day 9 Whoever failed the qualification are taking their 1 day to qualify ( if they will fail again they will have last chance to get the job on Monday morning, but they will have 2 instructors instead of 1, and it will be their last chance ) . We are doing our First Aid class, and hanging around, waiting for the rest of the folks to catch up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Messino Posted July 5, 2009 Share #7 Posted July 5, 2009 Thanks for the informitive post! Its a great look behind the scenes during a B/Os training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ht347 Posted July 5, 2009 Share #8 Posted July 5, 2009 Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20) Congrats, Olegkha n Lovely Day! Is there parking up around Zerega? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locomotion69 Posted July 5, 2009 Share #9 Posted July 5, 2009 Thanks for the informative post Olegkha. About the right side mirror,where do you look before you make a right hand turn? through the windows on the side of the bus? When you hit the curb,you felt that didn't you? Driving in Manhattan has to be the hardest. I thought the hybrids were 45ft and with more stuff to learn on the bus(electronics). What was the condition of the RTS bus that you guys trained on? Did they make you clean the inside of the bus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olegkha Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted July 5, 2009 Parking around Zerega is not a problem ( just go down past the security gate and make first or second right turn ) Where do You look before making a right turn ? well you look at the right mirror, but because it is pointing down at the tire, you cannot really see nothing, You would have to lean down and to the right ( towards the fare box ) and you will see just alittle behind the bus , also the mirror that is inside just above windshield is helping alittle bit. When you hit the curb on the corner you are not driving 100 mph, you are driving 1-5 mph, so it is not very violent hit , but not allowed. Hybrids are a bit longer, but the wheel base is shorter ( between front and rear tire ) so that makes it easier to turn The first RTS bus we had in Flatbush depot was actualy a good one, almost no noise while driving down the road, the one we got in JFK depot OH BOY !!! we had to floor it down the road 90% of the time (it would not move other wise ) and forget about holding a conversation in the back of the bus, too much banging and squiking aaa scary bus B) . both of these buses were working buses, so people cleaned them at night, we got them prety clean most of the times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPBO Posted July 5, 2009 Share #11 Posted July 5, 2009 5025 is BO test I ended up qualifying on day 7 Monday day 0 Everyone gets to fill out 10 application papers for the whole 8 hours that we were there. Some people had to redo some papers more than ones, because they made mistakes, and crossing out is not permitted B) Tuesday Day 1 Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 4 people per bus, 1 instructor. We got to drive about an hour and a half on the first day . No traffic area, very simple left right turns. MTA Bus and TA people all mixed together. Just trying to get used to the damn mirror on the right side of the bus ( MTA wants you set up that mirror so you can see the rear right tire. That means you cannot see nothing next to the bus. So blind merging is FUN ! ) Wednesday Day 2 Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 4 people per bus, 1 instructor. We drove the bus from Flatbush depot to Bronx and drove around in Bronx for a bit. Highway driving and Local Streets driving for every one. Again with the damn mirror on RTS bus. It’s a Bit#$. Thursday Day 3 Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 4 people per bus, 1 instructor. Drove around more to get used to the driving a long bus. Still trying to get used to the damn mirror. Hit a curb couple of times but nothing major ( a big no no ) Friday Day 4 Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 4 people per bus, 1 instructor. We were reassigned to the new depot, and new instructor. Drove to Brooklyn, Coney island from JFK depot. Did some El Pillars ( Driving in between column of the elevated Train ) ( 86 street in Brooklyn, Coney island ). Interesting, but strange experience, coming in and out of traffic to get practice of driving in-between the darn things. Monday Day 5 / QUALIFICATION DAY 1 ( Must do 2 days out of 3 in order to pass this time around ) Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 3 people per bus, 1 instructor. Yep only 3 people, Some one already was let go, This job is not for him. Drove to NYC Up-town around 120-96 streets. Somewhat heavy traffic, Did a lot of turns and bus stops. Drove around about 2 hours per person Tuesday Day 6 / QUALIFICATION DAY 2 ( Must do 2 days out of 3 in order to pass this time around ) Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 3 people per bus, 1 instructor. Drove to NYC down town, 10-36 streets WHAT A BIT$#. Especially going east on 14 street and making a left turn on Park Ave. There is no room to make that turn especially with a stupid cab just parking in my lane and leaving the car standing there ;( Had to back up ( day failed ;( ) drove around for 45 minutes ( we all were upset about the road we took and all of us screwed up on it ) Wednesday Day 7 / QUALIFICATION DAY 3 ( Must do 2 days out of 3 in order to pass this time around ) Report to the depot, that you are assigned for training. 3 people per bus, 1 instructor. Drove to Bronx (not sure where we were, but it’s up in 150th street or so ) very short , but very hard track. We had to make a left turn that 2 other people did not make. I have no clue how I made it, but I had 3 inches from curb to left rear tire, and 1 inch from Light Pole to right front bumper. ( I later Learned that all other people went to other places and had a short easy time on day 7, nothing like we did, very unfair ! ). Then went back to Zerega Ave depot, and did parking and back up ( easy ) . I Passed qualification (I drove the bus 5 hours before I got to MTA) Another person who never drove the bus before Passed qualification Third person who got 5 years school bus experience failed ( but passed on day 9 ) Thursday Day 8 Whoever failed the qualification are taking their 1 free training day, and the rest of us are hanging around and driving a new Hybrid bus ( what a piece of cake that bus is, easy in turns, mirrors are great, shorter wheel base, awesome bus ) Friday Day 9 Whoever failed the qualification are taking their 1 day to qualify ( if they will fail again they will have last chance to get the job on Monday morning, but they will have 2 instructors instead of 1, and it will be their last chance ) . We are doing our First Aid class, and hanging around, waiting for the rest of the folks to catch up This is a great post on the first 10 days.....I would have thought we did this together if it wasn't for about 2 years have past......I remember not sleeping my first 7 days.....I just wanted it to be over so I could move on to the next phase......Welcome to the club...... Olegkha.....enjoy your weekends off for July....cause they will be the last you can remember for a long time......and that year probabation will be a killa.....glad my was only 3 months....:eek:.... Also just take it slow in the first year.....let the people cut you off....that was the biggest thing getting use to ..... and don't slam on the breaks with people in the bus for the first year.....keep a good bit of distance between you and the car ahead of you.....in that first year if someone falls on your bus while still a probi......forgetabout it!!!! and when you see a bus trying to make a turn in front of you....let the guy go.......he is trying to make it to the end for a break!!! See you in da streets kid!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olegkha Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share #12 Posted July 5, 2009 HEH thanks ! Yes sleep for the first 7 days was something very short. Was waiting for the qualification days some one wants to cut me off ? no problem I could care less B) That year probation is a killer, but hopefully will get through it. As i understood from instructors: Get out on time from the first stop, but if you are late to the last stop its ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabchi0909 Posted July 5, 2009 Share #13 Posted July 5, 2009 Great job & congrat! anyone with higher list numbers than 2795 in your class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olegkha Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share #14 Posted July 5, 2009 well the people i talked to all had number from 600 to 1200 or so i am sure some one was higher then that, but not by much Next class starts tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locomotion69 Posted July 6, 2009 Share #15 Posted July 6, 2009 Great job & congrat! anyone with higher list numbers than 2795 in your class? You know something the great gabchi? the 5025 list really doesn't end when they call up #4,881 which is the last eligible certified from the list. They will go back and comb through all of the "holds" from the list. Now this can go on and on all the way until the date of expiration(fall of 2011). So my question to anybody out there with the higher knowledge..."When does a list really end?":confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton Local Posted July 6, 2009 Share #16 Posted July 6, 2009 My list number is 4,070 or something like that... I think they're up to 2,795 now.. So hopefully it won't be too long until I hear from them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olegkha Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share #17 Posted July 6, 2009 Today ( Monday ) was day number 10 for some people Last chance to qualify for job. I seen some faces get off the training bus very happy , but some did not make it ... ;( New class came, i guess about 100 or so people ( Good luck to them ! ) We spend whole day siting in the classroom talking to HR people, and Union people, a lot of information. out of 100 people who started only about 50-60 left today. As i understand for the remainder of the week, we will still be siting in the class in zerega Paycheck for MTA Bus people came last week for 1 week, TA check comes in two days for two weeks I will try to post every day as the training will continue, maybe it will help some one in the future to know whats going on with training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainfan22 Posted July 7, 2009 Share #18 Posted July 7, 2009 Parking around Zerega is not a problem ( just go down past the security gate and make first or second right turn ) Where do You look before making a right turn ? well you look at the right mirror, but because it is pointing down at the tire, you cannot really see nothing, You would have to lean down and to the right ( towards the fare box ) and you will see just alittle behind the bus , also the mirror that is inside just above windshield is helping alittle bit. When you hit the curb on the corner you are not driving 100 mph, you are driving 1-5 mph, so it is not very violent hit B), but not allowed. Hybrids are a bit longer, but the wheel base is shorter ( between front and rear tire ) so that makes it easier to turn The first RTS bus we had in Flatbush depot was actualy a good one, almost no noise while driving down the road, the one we got in JFK depot OH BOY !!! we had to floor it down the road 90% of the time (it would not move other wise ) and forget about holding a conversation in the back of the bus, too much banging and squiking aaa scary bus B) . both of these buses were working buses, so people cleaned them at night, we got them prety clean most of the times. Was the bus from flatbush that you guys trained on was 9618? I always see that bus Driver Training around the city. Congats on passing the training process! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olegkha Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share #19 Posted July 7, 2009 I belive so. there were two training buses in flatbush when we were there ( 4 people in each bus ) each depot has at least one as i understand they are set up with a spacial connection for the brakes, and brackets for the mirrors BTW for the people who are just starting training, MTA wants you to set mirrors a spacial way, BUT if you pull the black tubular bar that the right mirror sits on, towards the rear of the bus ( towards the front door ) you will be able to see more in the mirror Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locomotion69 Posted July 7, 2009 Share #20 Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks Olegkha,may good karma come your way for helping all of us out. So for that class of 100 that you guys started 2 weeks ago, I wonder how many list numbers they had to go through.....would you say that most of your class was TA? Did they give you a tour of the Flatbush depot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olegkha Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share #21 Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks Olegkha,may good karma come your way for helping all of us out. So for that class of 100 that you guys started 2 weeks ago, I wonder how many list numbers they had to go through.....would you say that most of your class was TA? Did they give you a tour of the Flatbush depot? Thanks man ! Not doing it to get good karma back, just happy to help. if someone can can use this info i am glad. When i started all this , i could have used day by day play, so hopefully some one can use it. The only tour of the depot i got was the directions to the bathroom ( 15 steps from the entrance gate ) I think the highest number in my class right now is 1100 something, next class is going strong already, and one of the instructors sad they are already planing for the next class, He sad that they will have classes till the end of summer for sure. I hear today on the radio that there will be a NYC hire freeze, i dont know how this will affect MTA http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=avlhdgyIfGgc Today was simple day, for the first 4 hours we had a Cop talk to us about terrorism, and then for the rest of the day we had some one come in and measure us for uniform, ( it will come in the mail some time in the future) Tomorrow should be first paycheck as well as depot pick ( will see ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabchi0909 Posted July 7, 2009 Share #22 Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks man ! Not doing it to get good karma back, just happy to help. if someone can can use this info i am glad. When i started all this , i could have used day by day play, so hopefully some one can use it. The only tour of the depot i got was the directions to the bathroom ( 15 steps from the entrance gate ) I think the highest number in my class right now is 1100 something, next class is going strong already, and one of the instructors sad they are already planing for the next class, He sad that they will have classes till the end of summer for sure. I hear today on the radio that there will be a NYC hire freeze, i dont know how this will affect MTA http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=avlhdgyIfGgc Today was simple day, for the first 4 hours we had a Cop talk to us about terrorism, and then for the rest of the day we had some one come in and measure us for uniform, ( it will come in the mail some time in the future) Tomorrow should be first paycheck as well as depot pick ( will see ) Another freeze? You kidding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOB2RTO Posted July 8, 2009 Share #23 Posted July 8, 2009 Another freeze? You kidding? If it's the city, that has nothing to do with MTA, which is a state agency...... Thanks Olegkha,may good karma come your way for helping all of us out. So for that class of 100 that you guys started 2 weeks ago, I wonder how many list numbers they had to go through.....would you say that most of your class was TA? Did they give you a tour of the Flatbush depot? For 100 people, they would go through 300-400 or more just to get 100. Now as stated, they had about 50 people left. That is why list numbers mean something, but not alot. MTA will go through many to get a few. When I came out as a B/O in 2006, there was 150+ for a class of 50+. When we graduated, we had 35+ left of us, then it went less than that after graduation....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabchi0909 Posted July 8, 2009 Share #24 Posted July 8, 2009 If it's the city, that has nothing to do with MTA, which is a state agency...... For 100 people, they would go through 300-400 or more just to get 100. Now as stated, they had about 50 people left. That is why list numbers mean something, but not alot. MTA will go through many to get a few. When I came out as a B/O in 2006, there was 150+ for a class of 50+. When we graduated, we had 35+ left of us, then it went less than that after graduation....... Thanks for explaining! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locomotion69 Posted July 8, 2009 Share #25 Posted July 8, 2009 Glad to see our founding father of the B/O's,Mr DOB2RT0. "Tomorrow should be first paycheck as well as depot pick ( will see ) Be careful Olegkha,some people are going to play games. The ones with higher list numbers than yours. Don't fall for it,they will try to convince you to go to a depot so the depot that they want to go has an available slot. If somebody keeps saying good things about a certain depot that is a dead giveaway,why does this person want you to go there so bad? The lowest list number in your class gets 1st depot pick,but since you have a mixed bag of bus divisions,it should be ok. 26 depots throughout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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