Thursday, April 28, 2011
IS TRIMET VIOLATING ORS 659A?
This will be the basis of my BOLI complaint if HR fails to do the job properly on my complaint.
659A.203 Prohibited conduct by public employer. (1) Subject to ORS 659A.206, except as provided in ORS 659A.200 to 659A.224, it is an unlawful employment practice for any public employer to:
659A.203 Prohibited conduct by public employer. (1) Subject to ORS 659A.206, except as provided in ORS 659A.200 to 659A.224, it is an unlawful employment practice for any public employer to:
(a) Prohibit any employee from discussing, in response to an official request, either specifically or generally with any member of the Legislative Assembly or legislative committee staff acting under the direction of a member of the Legislative Assembly the activities of:
(A) The state or any agency of or political subdivision in the state; or
(B) Any person authorized to act on behalf of the state or any agency of or political subdivision in the state.
(b) Prohibit any employee from disclosing, or take or threaten to take disciplinary action against an employee for the disclosure of any information that the employee reasonably believes is evidence of:
(A) A violation of any federal or state law, rule or regulation by the state, agency or political subdivision;
(B) Mismanagement, gross waste of funds or abuse of authority or substantial and specific danger to public health and safety resulting from action of the state, agency or political subdivision; or
OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
In Libya, a NATO air strike has killed 12 rebels and wounded five in Misurata. The attack marks the second time this month NATO planes have mistakenly bombed the Libyan opposition. The United States, meanwhile, has ordered the expenditure of some $25 million in surplus government goods to support the rebel forces. On Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Gene Cretz, said the rebels are deserving of U.S. backing.
COURT OF BUSINESS INTERESTS (aka supreme court)
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled businesses facing arbitration can force customers or employees to pursue their cases individually rather than joining in a class action. The 5-4 decision reverses a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed customers to form a class with others, even if they had signed arbitration agreements barring class actions. The ruling could jeopardize a pending effort by at least 500,000 female workers to bring a class action sexual discrimination case against the retail giant Wal-Mart.
LET DARLA AND DAVID TALK TO US!
I'm in favor of this. Pair them with an operator or let them move freely at the transit centers! I would take either of them in a second around with me and let them see what our job really entails, and let them meet a bunch of us operators!
What's wrong with that?
What's wrong with that?
Station Agent pursues harrassment agenda at Powell garage
It has been brought to my attention that there is a certain station agent at Powell garage who has been targeting particular operators. The station agent vigorously looks for violations for these operators.
In the latest case, an extra board operator called in for his work assignment for the next day. The station agent went out of his way to look up this operators paddle and found that he might have been on the road somewhere.
With that information the station agent "wrote up" the operator for cell phone us and the operator received a 5 day suspension.
It turned out that the operator was on the route but the bus was stopped and secured at the time of the cell phone call.
As is always the case with our current management the discipline meted out does not fit the crime. There was a "technical" violation of the rules but absolutely no safety hazard, however the suspension is being applied.
The obvious problem is how to deal with power hungry station agents who go out of their way to find fault, and the executives who have no ethics.
Be wary operators, at all times, the executioner is looking for you next!
Trimet secrecy laws (aka HR rules) prohibit me from disclosing the name of the station agent.
LIGHT RAIL MESS
Trouble at the Interstate MAX station this morning: http://yfrog.com/gz70482117j #TriMet reports no service disruption; injuries unknown.
(Yesterday there were THREE max trains broken down at one time creating a huge mess reported to me by a max operator)
SAFETY AT TRIMET IS NOTHING BUT HYPE
You may remember Chris Day did an excellent post about a safety hazard on his route 4. If you missed it you can find it HERE!
He got the usual bullshit reply as us operators always do, here is his synopsis:
I must be missing something because I think it would have been a lot less confusing with the idea I have…. Plus as far as I can see no operator other than myself has done the “S” turn.
He got the usual bullshit reply as us operators always do, here is his synopsis:
So they are keeping the reroute as is and went this direction with it.
My first question is:
How does the regular cars that travel that street know that busses are allowed to travel the opposite way?
This is a perfect example about TriMet sticking to their set plan and not worry about the confusion it may cause. So rather than putting out bound routes on Wills and inbound routes on Arlington TriMet prefers to get permission from the City to go straight on a right turn only and to travel the wrong way on a single lane meant to go the opposite way. I am sure the residences that is use to the normal flow of traffic is enjoying this change. Unbelievable isn’t it…..
Now about the Safety Stop Sign…. It is one of our white and blue temporary stop signs that someone put up with the back side showing and had hand written with a sharpie “Bus Safety Stop” I will have to go and get a picture of it….
My final thought on this reply is that last part where it is stated that they will be adding an “except bus” to that right turn…. Why would they do that if this reroute expires on the 5th? Is this going to be the standard reroute used?
Bus Fleet 101 facts (from last night's board meeting)
Breakdown by age:
15+ years - 175 buses - 29.2% of fleet (161 buses are 18 years or older)
10-15 years - 264 buses - 44% of fleet
5-9 years - 121 buses - 20.2% of fleet
less than 5 years - 40 buses - 7.7% of fleet
240 high floor buses, 360 low floor buses, 425 have air conditioning and 175 do not
FTA funding for buses - eligibility is at 12 years.
Peer comparison - the average bus age at similar transit agencies is 7.4 years. Our average bus age is 12.
In the next meeting, there will be 2 contracts for bus procurement.
- among features of new bus models, better wheelchair accessibility - changes ratio of wheelchair ramps from 1:4 to 1:6
Board member Lehrbach - wanted to know if operators were involved in selection of new buses - answer was yes, bus models are brought to yard, operators can operate them in the yard or ride with a representative on the road
Board member Olanrewaju - wants to see money saved by replacing older buses with new ones to make sure it's worth it.
(Clearly board member Olanrewaju has never ridden in a 1700 series bus when it's 90 degrees out)
15+ years - 175 buses - 29.2% of fleet (161 buses are 18 years or older)
10-15 years - 264 buses - 44% of fleet
5-9 years - 121 buses - 20.2% of fleet
less than 5 years - 40 buses - 7.7% of fleet
240 high floor buses, 360 low floor buses, 425 have air conditioning and 175 do not
FTA funding for buses - eligibility is at 12 years.
Peer comparison - the average bus age at similar transit agencies is 7.4 years. Our average bus age is 12.
In the next meeting, there will be 2 contracts for bus procurement.
- among features of new bus models, better wheelchair accessibility - changes ratio of wheelchair ramps from 1:4 to 1:6
Board member Lehrbach - wanted to know if operators were involved in selection of new buses - answer was yes, bus models are brought to yard, operators can operate them in the yard or ride with a representative on the road
Board member Olanrewaju - wants to see money saved by replacing older buses with new ones to make sure it's worth it.
(Clearly board member Olanrewaju has never ridden in a 1700 series bus when it's 90 degrees out)
What's your vision of Lake Oswego? (to have a streetcar, or not to?)
A project “unlike any in the United States in both price and ambition to link a big city and a suburb by streetcar,” according to The Oregonian, deserves a vote by city council in favor of local taxpayers, not for a plan that hugely favors TriMet, Metro and Portland developers. Continue to develop Lake Oswego as a delightful suburban town, not as a district of Portland.
Lake Oswego Review
Lake Oswego Review
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