Tales of an Aspergian Bus Driver

9/11, Bus #911, and Moonlight

CyRide no longer has a bus #911. "September 11th" as the major historical event was 3 years ago. Someone from *somewhere* (nobody actually seems to know who or from where) decided a week or so ago that having a bus 911 was offensive, or something. So, as of Thursday, CyRide no longer has a bus 911. We do, however, have a new bus 900. Nobody was told of this change - drivers & dispatchers all found out about this change when they saw a bus that CyRide doesn't have (#900). Yes, scary as it is, most drivers know all the bus numbers (or at least know when a number doesn't exist).

My problem with this is not that the bus number was changed (though that does really bother me). My problem is with the Orwelian method it was changed. I saw a memo on the maintenance whiteboard (the only written evidence of a change occurring I've seen) that belonged in the department of History from 1984. In a nutshell, "Effective immediately, bus 911 is bus 900. Change all references, everywhere, to reflect the change." Nobody was told in the "main operations staff (dispatchers/drivers)", it was just changed, and all references to the old bus are deleted.

Now, onto my issues with Moonlight. The new arrangement of mostly shuttle routes seems to be working moderately well for moving people. The "behind the scenes" changes are frustrating almost all the old Moonlight drivers to the point that none of us really feel like driving it anymore. A meeting was called to discuss this... but most of the old Moonlight drivers weren't invited. Among other things that are particularly annoying, in no particular order:

Over a noisy communications channel (radio on a loud bus), "A", "B", "C" don't work. "B" and "C" sound very similar (to the identical point). So, one particular Friday, it was suggested that using "Alpha", "Bravo", "Charlie" would work. It was tried, and worked perfectly even over the noisy channels. This was apparently suggested at the meeting as a solution that worked well, and was firmly vetoed by one particular dispatcher who had initially had his own pet names for the shuttles. These were rejected, so he wasn't going to allow anyone else's idea to be used.

Many drivers don't like being switched between busses. You get used to a bus, get the seat & mirrors set properly, and... then get swapped out, and put back into another bus, where you have to start the process all over again. This has been pointed out multiple times by a wide variety of drivers, and hasn't changed.

There's also a much more "official" training program. This is probably a positive change, though it removes some of the informality of it. It also means I can't train, due to the complaints from last year (YAY - I really hate training and would rather be driving). But, it's very rigid and structured now. The whole arrangement is just getting very "corporate" feeling. It's no longer anything special, just more fixed routes that are annoying schedule-wise and involve dealing with lots of drunks. There are also obscenely long endpoints at silly locations on one of the routes that involves picking up people from downtown, driving for 5 minutes, and then sitting for 10 minutes before leaving again to get them to Welch area. Bad idea!

The general atmosphere of Moonlight is changing. It's losing what makes it special (and worth driving), and is just migrating into a particularly annoying fixed route shift. There aren't going to be any Moonlight drivers in the near future!

There are also other changes. Full time positions are on a freeze, and won't be replaced. The ultimate goal is to have an entirely part time workforce... it's cheaper that way. It also removes any real incentive to stick around... if there's no full time positions available, why stick around for a number of years?

I'm just getting unhappy with the whole arrangement. I really enjoy driving a bus... but I'm not enjoying working for CyRide as much. I've been a bus driver for 2.5+ years... maybe it's time for a change again?

-=Russ=-

Posted by rgraves at September 11, 2004 12:15 PM