Jump to content

Bus Operator (TA) Exam #9618


+Young+
Message added by +Young+

40px_exams_nyct.png.71b36a2103f0305bdbdc1fc057f33cd1.png

Bus Operator, Exam No. 9618

List Status:  This list has been established as of September 8, 2021, with an expiration date, as of now, of September 8th, 2025.

Pay: Starts at $26.19 and increases to $37.42 in the sixth year of service.

List Number Called: For initial Pre-Employment: () - For Medical: ()

Next Training Class: To Be Determined in 2023 (Last one was September 25th, 2022)

Resources: To find out your list number, click here and type either your last name or "9618" into the search box on the top right hand side of the screen.

If you need help getting your Class B Commercial Learner's Permit (CLP), I would encourage you to check out cristcdl.com Remember, the multiple-choice exams that you need to take and pass, at minimum, are General Knowledge, Air Brakes and Passenger Endorsement.

For those of you who wish to restore your name to the list, you must do so by sending an e-mail to certificationunit@dcas.nyc.gov. In your e-mail, state your full name, exam number, list number, the last four of your social security number, and a brief reason why you're restoring your name to the list. You don't have to go into full detail in the e-mail.

Good luck!!

(Updated November 5th, 2022)

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 853
  • Created
  • Last Reply

So I recently got home from the exam. For those of you who might have seen me, prior to the exam I was standing outside wearing a blue "Swissport" fleece jacket, and, after the exam, while waiting for a friend, I was primarily at the intersection of East 26th Street and Campus Road talking to a former co-worker wearing a denim long sleeve shirt.

As far as the exam is concerned, except for the memory questions which caught me a little "off-guard," I thought it was fair. There were a few questions that were tricky, however, since I recently look Exam 9604 this past December, I tackled those questions I knew were going to be easy at first,  then I tackled the 'harder' questions...especially one of those map questions, ouch!!

Any other questions? Comments? Just please be careful as far as what you post on this open website. Thank you!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, +Young+ said:

So I recently got home from the exam. For those of you who might have seen me, prior to the exam I was standing outside wearing a blue "Swissport" fleece jacket, and, after the exam, while waiting for a friend, I was primarily at the intersection of East 26th Street and Campus Road talking to a former co-worker wearing a denim long sleeve shirt.

As far as the exam is concerned, except for the memory questions which caught me a little "off-guard," I thought it was fair. There were a few questions that were tricky, however, since I recently look Exam 9604 this past December, I tackled those questions I knew were going to be easy at first,  then I tackled the 'harder' questions...especially one of those map questions, ouch!!

Any other questions? Comments? Just please be careful as far as what you post on this open website. Thank you!!

Hahah yea the memory caught me off guard too.... I went over it back n forth for the 10mins then once the 10 was up, my mind went BLANK!!! Ugh.... The rest of the test was abit of challenge for me but all n all i think i did OK. The Map questions and the report questions were abit tough too. Like you said... OUCH!! lol

I just moved here from Los Angeles too. Training now for paratransit... not the greatest but it's a job to tie me over till i get on with NYCTA. Ima pay the $68 tonight for MTA Bus tonight. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, HeadhunterCali said:

Man it was alot of people today at the school!!

That's normal, especially in today's society...

1 hour ago, HeadhunterCali said:

I just moved here from Los Angeles too. Training now for paratransit... not the greatest but it's a job to tie me over till i get on with NYCTA. Ima pay the $68 tonight for MTA Bus tonight. 

Offhand, you have a Class B CDL, right? If so, have you considered looking at this thread? Depending on where you live, there are some good opportunities to gain experience with those full-sized buses compared to those mini-paratransit buses...

And, by the way, welcome to the Forums!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah it was a lot of people and umm i am never going to arrive early for any exam like this again. Esp if they have it at Midwood. I stood there for a while. They either let me use the elevator or let me stay on the 1st floor. Which they did today. 🤣 This exam was a lot easier than 9604 albeit familiar, the incident report questions didnt bother to read the whole thing just looked for clues. I think I was the only in the room who understood the test, it seems it was the first time for the rest of people. The invigilator wasnt explaining  the test properly (poor thing). It was like 10 or so people in the room.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, +Young+ said:

That's normal, especially in today's society...

Offhand, you have a Class B CDL, right? If so, have you considered looking at this thread? Depending on where you live, there are some good opportunities to gain experience with those full-sized buses compared to those mini-paratransit buses...

And, by the way, welcome to the Forums!!

Thank You Young!! Yes i do have my CDL with the endorsements. I'm in BedStuy Brooklyn for now. I would love to find other opportunities with full size buses.... I'm really like whatever on paratransit but i liked the $20hr part.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, HeadhunterCali said:

I'm really like whatever on paratransit but i liked the $20hr part.

As you'll see, that's just to get people to work for them...I wouldn't be surprised if they have a high turnover, whatever carrier you choose to work for.

Even though all the companies I've worked for pay less than $20/hour, the experience you get is invaluable, the co-workers are more nicer, more friendlier, etc.

Edited by +Young+
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took the exam yesterday at Midwood.  The line was so long like wow. But I appreciated that as you were about to entered the building you were given your ticket to head straight to the classroom. I remembered one time we sat in the auditorium, a long speech then get in line.  I was surprised and caught off guard that MTA decided administered both regular test and the physiology test both on the same day. I think it is better that way but wow. As for the test, the memorization caught a lot of us off guard. Some questions were like hmmm but overall indeed, not that bad. Came back home questioning myself some of the questions and what I answered. God is in charge now.

Edited by sisslims29
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, misslo said:

Yeah it was a lot of people and umm i am never going to arrive early for any exam like this again. Esp if they have it at Midwood. I stood there for a while. They either let me use the elevator or let me stay on the 1st floor. Which they did today. 🤣 This exam was a lot easier than 9604 albeit familiar, the incident report questions didnt bother to read the whole thing just looked for clues. I think I was the only in the room who understood the test, it seems it was the first time for the rest of people. The invigilator wasnt explaining  the test properly (poor thing). It was like 10 or so people in the room.

Those are always the easiest for me. Now I am sitting here I think my map questions I might has read and answered it incorrectly. Hahahaha. Oh well.

Edited by sisslims29
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, sisslims29 said:

I took the exam yesterday at Midwood.  The line was so long like wow. But I appreciated that as you were about to entered the building you were given your ticket to head straight to the classroom. I remembered one time we sat in the auditorium, a long speech then get in line.  I was surprised and caught off guard that MTA decided administered both regular test and the physiology test both on the same day. I think it is better that way but wow. As for the test, the memorization caught a lot of us off guard. Some questions were like hmmm but overall indeed, not that bad. Came back home questioning myself some of the questions and what I answered. God is in charge now.

Honestly I think it was much better than 9604. Granted after a while I started getting bored and lose interest, esp with the incident report questions, sequencing/order questions and the 'what would a bus driver do' questions. The memory part wasnt as bad. The diagrams/matching pics parts was ok. The map part was fun to do. I am just glad they remove the part where you had to figure out "what time the next bus will arrive" questions.

Sixty questions is just enough. Any more than that and I would have lost it. The Boss part was easy breezy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took the 2:30 at Midwood yesterday and there was one question for the memorization that really caught me off guard. I really did not expect for the shape of the route to matter. It's my first time taking the exam tho so I really didn't know what to expect. Does anyone know when we get our results?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ryamix said:

I took the 2:30 at Midwood yesterday and there was one question for the memorization that really caught me off guard. I really did not expect for the shape of the route to matter. It's my first time taking the exam tho so I really didn't know what to expect. Does anyone know when we get our results?

As far as the official results, if I had to take an educated guess, I would say at least two years. The reason why is because Exam 4600 expires this January, Exam 7612 expires in October of 2022, and this past December, they administered Exam 9604, all for Bus Operator. So it'll be a while.

As far as the unofficial results, according to the "Candidate's Record of Answers" sheet, the proposed answer key will be available on this page on July 18th in the afternoon. Therefore, if you made the effort to record your answers, you'll know how you did in approximately a month from now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm also worried about the having to have your license for "3 Years in NYC" requirement for MTA Bus. I just moved to NYC in April of this year. So idk if it's even worth it taking the MTA Bus exam??? I took the TA one yesterday so oh well with that. I thought that requirement changed.... but looking at the MTA Bus posting, it's still a requirement. Any tips or advice?? This sucks.... I really want to become an NYCTA Bus Operator. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, HeadhunterCali said:

I'm also worried about the having to have your license for "3 Years in NYC" requirement for MTA Bus. I just moved to NYC in April of this year. So idk if it's even worth it taking the MTA Bus exam??? I took the TA one yesterday so oh well with that. I thought that requirement changed.... but looking at the MTA Bus posting, it's still a requirement. Any tips or advice?? This sucks.... I really want to become an NYCTA Bus Operator. 

I hope something change too but the number of years is arbitrary, I think it is for insurance reasons I think. Maybe someone can explain better. But I know i was on the b38 going on Fulton and i made sure to take a pic of the posting in the bus and it said to have DL and or CDL permit it made no mention of having 3yrs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, misslo said:

I hope something change too but the number of years is arbitrary, I think it is for insurance reasons I think. Maybe someone can explain better. But I know i was on the b38 going on Fulton and i made sure to take a pic of the posting in the bus and it said to have DL and or CDL permit it made no mention of having 3yrs.

It mentions it in the official exam notice in "requirements" sections. 😔 I looked it up today... mta.info or something like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, HeadhunterCali said:

I'm also worried about the having to have your license for "3 Years in NYC" requirement for MTA Bus. I just moved to NYC in April of this year. So idk if it's even worth it taking the MTA Bus exam??? I took the TA one yesterday so oh well with that. I thought that requirement changed.... but looking at the MTA Bus posting, it's still a requirement. Any tips or advice?? This sucks.... I really want to become an NYCTA Bus Operator. 

 

3 hours ago, misslo said:

Maybe someone can explain better. But I know i was on the b38 going on Fulton and i made sure to take a pic of the posting in the bus and it said to have DL and or CDL permit it made no mention of having 3yrs.

It's definitely worth taking it!! If anything, according to the fourth page of the Notice of Examination for Exam 9309, when they mail you your admission letter for the BOSS for that exam, you can e-mail them and request that your BOSS results from this exam be transferred to that exam, since it's the same exam. Even if you get in under MTA Bus, as per this post, not only will you not have to undergo the 10-day training session again, but you'll also gain some experience as well.

As far as the license is concerned, if you reside in New York, as long as your regular license for a car is at least three years old, and you have a permit, you'll be fine. If you transferred your license or your CDL from another state to New York, as long as you have the abstract from the other state which has to be less than 30 calendar days old, you'll be fine. If you live in New Jersey, Connecticut or Pennsylvania, they will only accept a CDL, no permit. Again, they will need abstract(s) which are less than 30 calendar days old from both states. I know that in New York you can obtain your abstract online (click here for more information), and in today's digital age, I'm assuming the other 49 states have something similar.

If you're still confused, let us know. Between the registered members and our guests, you're probably not the only one who's confused about this issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/10/2019 at 9:34 AM, misslo said:

Honestly I think it was much better than 9604. Granted after a while I started getting bored and lose interest, esp with the incident report questions, sequencing/order questions and the 'what would a bus driver do' questions. The memory part wasnt as bad. The diagrams/matching pics parts was ok. The map part was fun to do. I am just glad they remove the part where you had to figure out "what time the next bus will arrive" questions.

Sixty questions is just enough. Any more than that and I would have lost it. The Boss part was easy breezy.

Yes lol, I dislike the Time stamp questions and glad it wasn't there. The Boss I hope I did okay. I was upset because for exam 9604 I was a little late and was not allowed in. Sunday people were arriving late and still had the opportunity to take the test. And make it worst parking in the area is horrible. So that took up time but hmm. Next year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, sisslims29 said:

Yes lol, I dislike the Time stamp questions and glad it wasn't there. The Boss I hope I did okay. I was upset because for exam 9604 I was a little late and was not allowed in. Sunday people were arriving late and still had the opportunity to take the test. And make it worst parking in the area is horrible. So that took up time but hmm. Next year.

Yeah next time if they have it at midwood again dont arrive that early. The line wraps around, thank God it is summer. For the BOSS exam after taking a few just answer how they want it, think of it like "best interest of the company" 

what is the appropriate number of time should an employer be late? none

how would your co-workers o supervisor describe your work ethic? Meticulous- pays attention to details.

how confident are you talking with strangers? very comfortable

do you talk behind other people's back? neutral

got an assignment but no deadline? start on it immediately.

Basically portraying yourself in the best light possible. I did put a few neutral as answers for the Part Time Boss and I got 100%

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, misslo said:

Yeah next time if they have it at midwood again dont arrive that early. The line wraps around, thank God it is summer. For the BOSS exam after taking a few just answer how they want it, think of it like "best interest of the company" 

what is the appropriate number of time should an employer be late? none

how would your co-workers o supervisor describe your work ethic? Meticulous- pays attention to details.

how confident are you talking with strangers? very comfortable

do you talk behind other people's back? neutral

got an assignment but no deadline? start on it immediately.

Basically portraying yourself in the best light possible. I did put a few neutral as answers for the Part Time Boss and I got 100%

 

 

Okay. So you always do great on the Boss exams? From what I see here I already got all those questions wrong. Lol....Oh, pull it down because the moderate dont want that up there.

Edited by sisslims29
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, sisslims29 said:

Okay. So you always do great on the Boss exams? From what I see here I already got all those questions wrong. Lol....Oh, pull it down because the moderate dont want that up there.

Misslo, do you mind if I ask you a question off this forum? If yes, you can forward to me your email address.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, sisslims29 said:

Misslo, do you mind if I ask you a question off this forum? If yes, you can forward to me your email address.

you can private message me here. The first one i did, i did not pass cuz i never took one before and so i never took it seriously granted i never pass the personality test for retail work either. So after I failed that one, I got an idea on how the test is. Plus I said to myself there are too many bus drivers out there for me not to pass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, misslo said:

you can private message me here. The first one i did, i did not pass cuz i never took one before and so i never took it seriously granted i never pass the personality test for retail work either. So after I failed that one, I got an idea on how the test is. Plus I said to myself there are too many bus drivers out there for me not to pass.

Okay. Its the physiology question that have me wondering how I did. Does the physiology test has a score # or % passed? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.