Thursday, February 23, 2012
The check is NOT in the mail!
If operators are expecting some sort of payment to be forthcoming you are in for a big disappointment!
It could be quite some time before any money is received as this winds its way through the system
Via Jeff Ackerson
Fred's mail piling up
Our $15k/mo man has sold his nw condo (at significant loss)!
He provided the wrong forwarding zip code so all his mail is piling up at the post office!
He provided the wrong forwarding zip code so all his mail is piling up at the post office!
Tony driving "training bus"
That's right. Operator involved with Tigard crash being "retrained". He is in this bus. 
Regarding those 1,100 jobs.....
A conservative (which I am far from being) would do the math and
misleadingly say that 1,111 jobs from a $1.5 billion project means each
job cost over a million dollars to create. This would be misleading
because it doesn't factor in the cost of the raw materials nor does it
consider the value of the finished project or product. Since Trimet,
however, is a transit agency, the real questions should be more about
the fact that these are largely temporary construction jobs as opposed
to permanent transit jobs. The one dimensional, one trick pony aspect of
more and more light rail sacrifices creativity and resources that could
better be used to build a robust transit agency. A modern total transit
system, conveniently serving all neighborhoods of the region, would
build ridership and revenues through frequent and reliable service.
Implementing bus rapid transit as well as electric trolley buses are
just a couple low cost (relative to rail) ways Trimet could go about
improving it's service and sustainability while creating good, permanent
transit jobs. The federal matching funds for doing this are there,
management needs only to go after them.
JC VANETTA
He was in the background of the speakers at the TriMet board meeting!
His name is JC Vannatta.
His name is JC Vannatta.
THINK YOUR JOB IS STRESSFUL?
Zook used to drive a bus for an urban transit district in Northern
California. There was much about the job that she loved, especially the
economic rewards -- decent pay, good family medical benefits, and a
great pension. But after 10 years behind the wheel, Zook hit the wall.
Squeezing a 20-ton machine through city streets rife with traffic jams,
potholes, road construction, jaywalkers, bike messengers, double-parked
trucks, and often heedless motorists had taken its toll. The job's
day-to-day stresses on her body and nerves had built up over the years
and emerged in clenched muscles and crying jags.
FULL ARTICLE HERE!
FULL ARTICLE HERE!
Insightful commet left at Portland A-Foot
THIS COMMENT was left on Michael Anderson's blog in his interview with Cynthia Chilton:
The financial problem has been a long time in the making. Ask any employee of TriMet's Training Department, and you can discover that this is a hole dug by TriMet management a long time ago. Three decades ago, full retirement was at age 62, with a 20 year vesting for Union employees. The pension was tiny. But there was the promise of improving seniority over time, and health care in retirement. Employees could retire early at age 55, but with a much-reduced pension -- out of compassion for drivers who developed health problems and could no longer drive. It was hard to survive retirement at 55 with no social security until 62, and a tiny pension. TriMet is not part of PERS.
The financial problem has been a long time in the making. Ask any employee of TriMet's Training Department, and you can discover that this is a hole dug by TriMet management a long time ago. Three decades ago, full retirement was at age 62, with a 20 year vesting for Union employees. The pension was tiny. But there was the promise of improving seniority over time, and health care in retirement. Employees could retire early at age 55, but with a much-reduced pension -- out of compassion for drivers who developed health problems and could no longer drive. It was hard to survive retirement at 55 with no social security until 62, and a tiny pension. TriMet is not part of PERS.
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