Leaders/TWU President Say Part Time Bus Ops will Put Community at Risk

[engineerboy6561]

And yet, Boston's Subway is much cleaner and doesn't look like its falling apart like many of the NYC Subway stations do. The oldest trains in their fleet (not counting the PCCs on the Mattapan line) are from 1981, vs our anchient relics on the and dating back to the Johnson and Nixon administrations. If you use the CharlieCard vs the paper/mag stripe CharlieTicket, the fare in Boston is cheaper than New York.

 

 

Boston also only has 80 or so subway stations ( counting the Green Line trunk from Kenmore east and the "D" Branch) and a bunch of little light rail stops on the "B", "C" and "E" lines, has far less track mileage than we do, and shuts down at night for routine systemwide maintenance. The old Orange Line stock is also pretty beat to hell, and I'd say that our R32s and R42s ride just as well as the older Orange (and some older Red) Line trains. I would argue that trying to emulate Boston's approach to rapid transit (including when it comes to OPTO) would be a serious mistake.

 

That said, I am pretty interested in seeing how Interested Rider's proposal would work out; have your scheduling people, diversion mappers, runcutters, and so on take swing shifts on routes in the divisions they're responsible for. It kills three birds with one stone; it allows a limited supply of people who are already receiving full pay and benefits to take extra work, thus addressing union concerns about loss of pay and benefits or eventual job erosion, it allows the to get the extra work done without spending all that much extra money, and it stands a decent chance of creating more realistic schedules and runs that work for everyone.

[youngblaze]

Don't tell any MTA bigwigs to go to Boston because the MBTA just became all OPTO (they call it SPTO) within the past year, and some stations don't have station attendants (Boston's equivalent of S/A's) at all. What's scary (for TWU's sake) is that the Orange line trains are 65ft x 6 cars (390 ft) and the Red line trains are about 69.5 feet x 6 cars (417 feet), above MTA's 300-foot policy. Sure the MBTA system is smaller than the NYC subway system, but the precedence is there.

 

The MTA wishes they can get away with what Boston has gotten away with.

 

 

Yeah, but do their ridership numbers equal ours?

 

All of this corporate downsizing is fueled by two groups of people...the big wigs who want to pocket a larger profit and the less fortunate who can't stand but see some one of their same provenance do good for them selves and are trying to do something positive. All of this is nothing but a vicious cycle if you ask me. Sure part-time B/O's and all OPTO service looks good on paper (to the brass) but in reality it is not feasible. Not to mention if the union allows it what else will the authority try to propose? "Wage cuts to better accommodate our current economic stance"? Who knows.

 

 

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Again, this may all just be a media ploy by the authority to make the union represented workers seem selfish during the contract negotiation period. Personally I think we could take 3 zero's this contract and keep our healthcare intact or reduce the contribution rate...but come next contract they should be prepared to pay up some big money...

[NX Express]

I can name many systems worldwide that have OPTO and even have higher ridership - Moscow and Tokyo being just two examples.

 

So there's no real reason why OPTO can't be adopted - and yes, some of these systems also run 10-car trains.

[Interested Rider]

My thanks to engineerboy6561 for taking my suggestion that the MTA require certain groups of employees that I mentioned (and he added some others) to become the part time bus operators.

 

Now, I will take it to the next step and to create our control group which will be established by the MTA and the union.

 

Next If you are working in the titles that were mentioned, you must be able to work as a part-time bus operator as the job specifications have changed and there are no exceptions.

 

if you are not qualified to drive a bus at this time, then you must take the courses necessary to become a bus operator. As this will be phased in over a period of time, it will afford the person an opportunity to take the courses and tests over a reasonable amount of time to qualify for the position of part time bus operator. As the job specifications have changed, you now must be qualified as a part time bus operator to keep your present position.

 

Once the employee has met the qualifications for bus operator, then the employee will pick a part time run that he/she will drive every day that they are working in addition to their regular duties.

 

This suggestion offers an opportunity for bus operators as well to move into those positions that were mentioned and for MTA to provide additional opportunities for its operators to work outside of the bus area. It also gives the MTA additional personnel to be available for emergencies and other crises that may develop at any time within the system.

[Shortline Bus]

My thanks to engineerboy6561 for taking my suggestion that the MTA require certain groups of employees that I mentioned (and he added some others) to become the part time bus operators.

 

Now, I will take it to the next step and to create our control group which will be established by the MTA and the union.

 

Next If you are working in the titles that were mentioned, you must be able to work as a part-time bus operator as the job specifications have changed and there are no exceptions.

 

if you are not qualified to drive a bus at this time, then you must take the courses necessary to become a bus operator. As this will be phased in over a period of time, it will afford the person an opportunity to take the courses and tests over a reasonable amount of time to qualify for the position of part time bus operator. As the job specifications have changed, you now must be qualified as a part time bus operator to keep your present position.

 

Once the employee has met the qualifications for bus operator, then the employee will pick a part time run that he/she will drive every day that they are working in addition to their regular duties.

 

This suggestion offers an opportunity for bus operators as well to move into those positions that were mentioned and for MTA to provide additional opportunities for its operators to work outside of the bus area. It also gives the MTA additional personnel to be available for emergencies and other crises that may develop at any time within the system.

 

 

That the compromise right there. Plus they can be used for driving many of the Manhattan Express Bus route that run rush hours only and also during subway weekend go's/detours as well.

[lilbluefoxie]

Boston also only has 80 or so subway stations ( counting the Green Line trunk from Kenmore east and the "D" Branch) and a bunch of little light rail stops on the "B", "C" and "E" lines, has far less track mileage than we do, and shuts down at night for routine systemwide maintenance. The old Orange Line stock is also pretty beat to hell, and I'd say that our R32s and R42s ride just as well as the older Orange (and some older Red) Line trains. I would argue that trying to emulate Boston's approach to rapid transit (including when it comes to OPTO) would be a serious mistake.

 

They do a much better job with what they have, their system is proportionate to their city size, theyre also a smaller city than New York City. I honestly believe the nighttime shutdowns are a good thing, you could run night owl buses along the routes at a lower cost than a subway train, and you won't need so many weekend GOs to get system work done. Those Orange Line trains are much better than the 32s and 42s, they are comparable to the R46. I believe that OPTO is the future. The MTA gravy train has to stop eventually, people cant afford such lavishness from a public agency.