MaBSTOA B/O Exams - No Fee to Apply!! (Open Until Further Notice)

[Romeo Bennett]

2 hours ago, DEE123 said:

If I’m not mistaken, if it is the 2nd to last page where it says for a supervisor to sign is the MTA HR supervisor, not yours.  Your employer doesn’t need to fill anything out on that form. 

 

1 hour ago, lornaevo said:

As @DEE123said. Your current employer doesn’t have to fill anything. It’s for you and the mta HR to complete. That being said. Anything you put on that form will be denied. Mta doesn’t allow dual employment for safety sensitive position.  So I filled out my info and put N/A for everything else. 

Ahh ok I got you thanks for the update @DEE123 and @lornaevo Highly Appreciated.

[Frenchie]

Hey @+Young+ sorry for the delay. Yeah I found it now.

As far as boroughs... I'm not all that comfortable with all of them...but definitely not manhattan / staten island / queens for sure. Any reason for that question?

And lastly, yes I do see the private messaging logo in the navigation bar.

 

[+Young+]

21 hours ago, Frenchie said:

Hey @+Young+ sorry for the delay. Yeah I found it now.

As far as boroughs... I'm not all that comfortable with all of them...but definitely not manhattan / staten island / queens for sure. Any reason for that question?

And lastly, yes I do see the private messaging logo in the navigation bar.

K, I just sent you a Private Message (PM). When you get a chance, can you please send me a reply? You should be able to simply click on the "bubble" icon.

Thank you!!

[Harlem]

I've lived in NYC much of my life and ride buses regularly but I can't figure out why bus operator is such a difficult position to fill. Before the test the examiner at 180 Livingston told us they were hiring 800 bus operators. That's a very high number. Can someone explain why this position is so hard to fill. Is it the hours? Is it the pay? Or, is it the stress of the job? I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into. Thanks. 

[gr1mee]

High stress and lackluster pay for rookie operators. Senior guys have the easiest routes. There is a shortage of bus operators nationwide....it isnt just the MTA.

[DEE123]

On 9/24/2023 at 9:19 PM, Harlem said:

I've lived in NYC much of my life and ride buses regularly but I can't figure out why bus operator is such a difficult position to fill. Before the test the examiner at 180 Livingston told us they were hiring 800 bus operators. That's a very high number. Can someone explain why this position is so hard to fill. Is it the hours? Is it the pay? Or, is it the stress of the job? I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into. Thanks. 

A lot of people are retiring or getting promoted. 

[lornaevo]

34 minutes ago, DEE123 said:

A lot of people are retiring or getting promoted. 

 Not to mention they are still recovering from the hiring freeze during COVID. 

[DEE123]

16 minutes ago, lornaevo said:

 Not to mention they are still recovering from the hiring freeze during COVID. 

Yeah exactly. 

 

On 9/24/2023 at 9:19 PM, Harlem said:

I've lived in NYC much of my life and ride buses regularly but I can't figure out why bus operator is such a difficult position to fill. Before the test the examiner at 180 Livingston told us they were hiring 800 bus operators. That's a very high number. Can someone explain why this position is so hard to fill. Is it the hours? Is it the pay? Or, is it the stress of the job? I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into. Thanks. 

I want to add that You’re just getting on the job at the right time. It’s not always gonna be easy like this. Like a month ago, I was looking at posts on this website on forums from 2010-2013 where NYCT bus operators were laid off because there was no need for them, and either they started fresh at bus company depots, or were at home and possibly didn’t get re hired. I can’t find the exact forum location, but it was on this website. I also saw NYCT bus operator exams from around 2017 where there were about 5,000 people on the list and it took like 2-3 years for people that got 90% on the exam to get called. You just happened to be coming at an opportunity where the MTA is extremely short of operators.
Yeah the job can suck at times, but what other job doesn’t even require high school diploma and still pays you 100k a year? I don’t have any college, or any type of valuable experience, a job like this is a life saver for people like me coming from 10 years of minimum wage jobs where I made no more than 50k a year. 

[lornaevo]

Anyone here training in college point/whitestone area today?

[DEE123]

3 hours ago, lornaevo said:

Anyone here training in college point/whitestone area today?

All b/o’s hired in my class 9/10 were in Zerega today. They start line training tomorrow. All Bus Company operators are going to JFK, Far Rockaway, or Spring Creek. There was also no availability for Queens for the new TA operators either. They all got sent to Brooklyn or Staten Island and have to wait for next pick. 

[lornaevo]

3 hours ago, DEE123 said:

All b/o’s hired in my class 9/10 were in Zerega today. They start line training tomorrow. All Bus Company operators are going to JFK, Far Rockaway, or Spring Creek. There was also no availability for Queens for the new TA operators either. They all got sent to Brooklyn or Staten Island and have to wait for next pick. 

Next pick is in a few months. So not to long of a wait. 

[Harlem]

Has anyone been hired from this exam recently. I took the exam and am still waiting for the score. Some people say get your CDL first, others say wait and let transit pay for it. 

[DEE123]

On 10/3/2023 at 6:46 PM, Harlem said:

Has anyone been hired from this exam recently. I took the exam and am still waiting for the score. Some people say get your CDL first, others say wait and let transit pay for it. 

I got my CDL B today from MTA. Before getting the job, I paid $5,000 for CDL School for my CDL A but MTA called very fast, and I wasn’t able to finish on time. I am going to get my A license another time, but the MTA CDL school in the eastchester depot is excellent compared to the private driving schools, It’s not comparable. You’ll have a lot more time behind the wheel performing your backing maneuvers than you would at a traditional CDL School where there’s like 40 people waiting in line and just standing around doing the “pre trip” on an old and broken bus that isn’t even equipped with the parts that you’re supposed to be inspecting . Out of the whole day, you would probably have 30 minutes behind the wheel and the instructors don’t  help much. That’s how most private schools are laid out. The MTA instructors have a very high Passing rate. You would have to do something outrageously crazy to not get your License, or get kicked out and told to resign. I highly recommend using the MTA to get your license. 

One more thing I would like to add is people that were already licensed school bus drivers, and tractor trailer drivers had a rough time transitioning to this job.
 

Your best bet is to go in day one with zero bus knowledge because so many school bus/ Truck drivers either didn’t make initial day 10 or had difficulty qualifying because of bad programming not even necessarily because they were bad drivers, it’s because nearly everything is different on these buses compared to all commercial vehicles. There is nothing like driving a NYC MTA bus even compared to other transit buses in the country. Literally you’ll need 100% control of how soft or hard to put your foot on the accelerator and brake. The second you put your foot on the accelerator without 100% control, the bus can jump to like 10 MPH almost instantly and then you can’t suddenly take your foot off the accelerator or else the retarder kicks in and now your instructor and classmates, or passengers standing can lose balance and fall right to the front of the bus. 

[Harlem]

19 hours ago, DEE123 said:

I got my CDL B today from MTA. Before getting the job, I paid $5,000 for CDL School for my CDL A but MTA called very fast, and I wasn’t able to finish on time. I am going to get my A license another time, but the MTA CDL school in the eastchester depot is excellent compared to the private driving schools, It’s not comparable. You’ll have a lot more time behind the wheel performing your backing maneuvers than you would at a traditional CDL School where there’s like 40 people waiting in line and just standing around doing the “pre trip” on an old and broken bus that isn’t even equipped with the parts that you’re supposed to be inspecting . Out of the whole day, you would probably have 30 minutes behind the wheel and the instructors don’t  help much. That’s how most private schools are laid out. The MTA instructors have a very high Passing rate. You would have to do something outrageously crazy to not get your License, or get kicked out and told to resign. I highly recommend using the MTA to get your license. 

One more thing I would like to add is people that were already licensed school bus drivers, and tractor trailer drivers had a rough time transitioning to this job.
 

Your best bet is to go in day one with zero bus knowledge because so many school bus/ Truck drivers either didn’t make initial day 10 or had difficulty qualifying because of bad programming not even necessarily because they were bad drivers, it’s because nearly everything is different on these buses compared to all commercial vehicles. There is nothing like driving a NYC MTA bus even compared to other transit buses in the country. Literally you’ll need 100% control of how soft or hard to put your foot on the accelerator and brake. The second you put your foot on the accelerator without 100% control, the bus can jump to like 10 MPH almost instantly and then you can’t suddenly take your foot off the accelerator or else the retarder kicks in and now your instructor and classmates, or passengers standing can lose balance and fall right to the front of the bus. 

Congratulations on the CDL! Thanks for the info I agree with your analysis. It seems easier to get the CDL through the MTA. Do you know if they are still calling people quickly from the MABSTOA exam? I have to choose between TO and BO. Took the OA exam in September but haven't heard anything yet.

[DEE123]

23 hours ago, Harlem said:

Congratulations on the CDL! Thanks for the info I agree with your analysis. It seems easier to get the CDL through the MTA. Do you know if they are still calling people quickly from the MABSTOA exam? I have to choose between TO and BO. Took the OA exam in September but haven't heard anything yet.

Yes. A lot of my classmates are mabstoa from the recent exam only issue is they’re being forced to work at fresh pond and East NY as they’re insanely short right now. I have no idea why how or what’s going on with them but yeah I can see you getting called in the next 90 days or so. 

[Harlem]

56 minutes ago, DEE123 said:

Yes. A lot of my classmates are mabstoa from the recent exam only issue is they’re being forced to work at fresh pond and East NY as they’re insanely short right now. I have no idea why how or what’s going on with them but yeah I can see you getting called in the next 90 days or so. 

Thanks DEE. That helps a lot. Are you only able to transfer depots once a year? It would be difficult to commute to Queens or Brooklyn regularly. Seems like an interesting job but not if the commute will be a couple hours each way. 

[DEE123]

43 minutes ago, Harlem said:

Thanks DEE. That helps a lot. Are you only able to transfer depots once a year? It would be difficult to commute to Queens or Brooklyn regularly. Seems like an interesting job but not if the commute will be a couple hours each way. 

I don’t know how transfers works but hopefully you get something close by. 

[DEE123]

On 10/3/2023 at 6:46 PM, Harlem said:

Has anyone been hired from this exam recently. I took the exam and am still waiting for the score. Some people say get your CDL first, others say wait and let transit pay for it. 

Any update? I go in Monday for proccessing

[Harlem]

2 hours ago, DEE123 said:

Any update? I go in Monday for proccessing

No updates yet. I took the exam after you- 4111. Still haven’t got score yet. Nada. I was also called for train operator and should have gone in for that. It seems like they’ve slowed down. I would prefer bus operator over train operator because the depots are closer and as a train operator you spend a lot of time commuting. 

Will you have to do the whole process over? 

[DEE123]

16 hours ago, Harlem said:

No updates yet. I took the exam after you- 4111. Still haven’t got score yet. Nada. I was also called for train operator and should have gone in for that. It seems like they’ve slowed down. I would prefer bus operator over train operator because the depots are closer and as a train operator you spend a lot of time commuting. 

Will you have to do the whole process over? 

I don’t know. Probably which is fine with me. 

[DEE123]

On 10/14/2023 at 9:27 PM, Harlem said:

 

Will you have to do the whole process over? 

So I got some intel, if MTA Bus Calls you first and you take it, but you want mabstoa instead, you can do the 7-10 day initial training with bus company, get your license, start line training. assuming you don’t get into any incidents, you should be ok to transfer over and all you’re gonna need is line training for your new depot. 

[Harlem]

11 hours ago, DEE123 said:

So I got some intel, if MTA Bus Calls you first and you take it, but you want mabstoa instead, you can do the 7-10 day initial training with bus company, get your license, start line training. assuming you don’t get into any incidents, you should be ok to transfer over and all you’re gonna need is line training for your new depot. 

Sounds easy. So will you switch to OA? I didn’t sign up for the Bus Company so i guess it’ll be a long wait. Which depot is nearest for you?

[DEE123]

1 hour ago, Harlem said:

Sounds easy. So will you switch to OA? I didn’t sign up for the Bus Company so i guess it’ll be a long wait. Which depot is nearest for you?

I’m switching over to OA. Im close to all the Bronx depots, gunhill is walking distance from me and I already know approx 70% of the routes. It would be sweet if I make it there. 

[Harlem]

16 hours ago, DEE123 said:

I’m switching over to OA. Im close to all the Bronx depots, gunhill is walking distance from me and I already know approx 70% of the routes. It would be sweet if I make it there. 

Hope it works out for you. Thanks for the update. 

[Moorelow]

On 10/14/2023 at 9:27 PM, Harlem said:

No updates yet. I took the exam after you- 4111. Still haven’t got score yet. Nada. I was also called for train operator and should have gone in for that. It seems like they’ve slowed down. I would prefer bus operator over train operator because the depots are closer and as a train operator you spend a lot of time commuting. 

Will you have to do the whole process over? 

I also took this exam 4111. On 9/19 no word yet with any results.