I know that many of my fellow drivers will be unhappy about this post but I spent 15 years at Trimet trying to undue the damage that these type of operators have done to the public and our public perception.
In this clip we will see that the driver of 73 train 2 on this last Saturday afternoon tells Jason to his face he doesn't care about the rules and he 'can call Trimet all he wants'.
We have already seen Trimet defend this operator in a previous clip and Trimet ignores my complaint, I am in the same league as Erik Halstead, two people that Trimet refuses to deal with because we show the side of Trimet that they refuse to acknowledge.
These horrible operators are more prevalent than you think. They have been dragging down this agency for years and I place full Blame on Trimet management for allowing these operators to function unimpeded.
The public should be aware that it is the management that has created this monster that has gotten beyond their control. Now they attempt to pass blame to the union due to their management incompetence.
16 comments:
I drive the #73 on August 5Jason.Come ride my bus and I will show you what customer service is all about on my bus.
The deadhead rule is stupid. We have that here in King County as well. It's impractical, not accounted for in schedule, and a rule that management uses to cover their ass with the public. Many deadhead routes travel through heavily servised run areas. Is every deadhead to operate as an in-service coach? This is ridiculous.
You don't care much about people do ya Jeff?
You've gotten hardened to your riders, people who aren't making $27 an hour.
YOU WORK FOR THE PUBLIC MY FRIEND.
It's painfully apparent you don't believe that.
ALSO JEFF-
YOUR RULES ARE NOT OUR RULES!
It's the right thing to do, it shouldn't have to be an SOP!
The last stop for the dead-head trip for the 75 is at SE 45th & Harney, but the route back to the garage follows the daytime 75 route up the hill for 6 more stops (~1 mile) before it leaves the regular route (to get to 99E).
Almost all operators will happily take you these few extra stops, but every once in a while we get an operator that won't -- it's really surprising!
Hey Al...
How many people did YOU transport on deadhead? Operator MAY transport..not MUST - it is N O T a requirement, no matter how you try to spin it. So then it's up to the operator & now all of a sudden they hate people? Wow.
Jeff W is right....it's a dumb rule..well, it would be IF IT WAS A RULE HERE!!!
Oh, they care about the rules when it means being a dick to one or more of the passengers. There is one particular driver on the 17 who I really, genuinely hate. I've seen him speed off from stops without letting passengers on (not in drop-off only mode, bus not even close to full) and then yell at a pregnant woman with her toddler to get off the bus if she can't fold her stroller. Any TriMet drivers who hate their lives, understandable. But don't take it out on the people who PAY YOU, that means ME and everyone else who rides TriMet.
I should also add that any time I've called to complain about a driver (and it really takes a lot for me to get to that point), the customer service people couldn't have cared less. Obviously the previously mentioned jerk still has a job. Not sure why.
See earlier comment under the Dan Schenck post.
What is revealing is this particular operator's absent understanding of his most important job..which is to provide the very best possible service to a customer.
TriMet used to be heralded for the extrodinary customer service by frontline Operators. Not by the glitz of the Ed Rosney's during packed Blazer games..but by the simple day in and day out real customer service from Operators.
How sad to hear this operator say.."You can call TriMet all you want..I don't care."
To transit riders like Jason and so many others, perhaps this operator never understood or experienced how a simple act of kindness or courtesy continues the generous act of paying it forward.
Yeah, bet that same driver takes candy from babies
and steals Christmas every year. Give me a break. As the wars rage on, as the 1% steal and hoard trillions, as our world burns down, as drought dries
up food supplies and millions go hungry, let's be infantile and blame it all on city busdrivers whom we know have such lavish and cushy jobs.
Point of info:
In 15 Years I never said no to anybody that needed a ride at the end of the line-at the very least I took them to a place where they could catch another bus.
I would never have come to my mind to leave someone stranded at the jail and just go dead head back to the garage.
As far as I am concerned that kind of person needs to be gone from this type of work.
Ok Al...we are not as far apart on this as it seems.
To me, Steve Fung deserves a medal, but that's not the point here.
Right, wrong or indifferent to you- there is NO RULE, NO REQUIREMENT that operators take pax on a deadhead. I personally would do it on a case by case basis, as I did on the #6 going back to the yard. I would only do it from the end of the line to the yard-no stops in between (I made that point clear before taking them).
It's like the "rule" never get out of your seat. There is no such rule. It's a guideline, but not a rule anywhere I have found on paper.
Being a jerk to passengers is not cool. I don't buy into the argument 'I pay your salary" because the same can be said about the author of the post; I pay their salary. I give to my passengers almost exactly what I get from them- if I get a pleasant attitude from them, they get it from me. If they get unpleasant with me, I start out being pleasant but if they persist on being rude, THEN I'm rude back. And NO...it IS NOT my job to put up with the attitude ANY MORE than it is the passengers.
The whole point is you can still be courteous to your passengers without providing the deadhead ride as it IS the operators option. Just because they don't offer that doesn't make them wrong from this line of work. If they are TRULY stranded..ok, that may persuade my decision..if I'm not the last means of them getting home that night becsuse they didnt plan their trip better...
You get paid to SERVE the public-you have a job BECAUSE OF THE PUBLIC-While you are behind that wheel if you can be of service TO THE PUBLIC THEN THAT IS WHAT YOU DO.
The PUBLIC IS NOT HERE TO SERVE YOU!
Your too tired to provide a ride back on the dead head then you don't deserve to be in a JOB THAT REQUIRES YOU TO SERVE THE PUBLIC.
This driver here is why we are getting creamed by the press and the public.
There are too many drivers who DO NOT DO THE RIGHT THING.
Here's my two cents here:
This policy opens up TriMet to a huge can of worms. What if one driver consistently gives a rider a ride, but one day the trip is filled by an extra board Operator who blows past the rider?
What if the deadhead usually takes a particular route, but instead uses a different route another day?
What if a deadhead route picks up riders, and then becomes a crush load? Is there an obligation to call a extra bus?
What if a mechanic - not an Operator - is driving the bus on a road test?
What if the out-of-service bus is going in service, picks up riders, and then is delayed as a result?
What if the out-of-service route is actually going between routes?
I think this policy is well-intentioned, but ultimately causes far too many problems.
Instead, TriMet should work to ensure buses stay "in service" as much as possible by creating in-service and out-service routes between the route and the garage so that there is a predictable service (if only a route, stops, and service expectation, not necessarily a schedule), and clearly distinguish to both Operators and riders the difference between a bus that has a "deadhead" route headsign and one that reads "NOT IN SERVICE" which should clearly mean the bus is not in service, and is not accepting riders.
I think Jason is wrong to be forcing the matter personally on an Operator. If I were an Operator I'd probably tell him the same thing - it's not my job to take marching orders from him. If he has a policy problem with my work there is an established procedure to handle it; and clearly Jason is acknowledging that the process that hasn't worked for me or for so many other riders of TriMet's service doesn't work for him either. But that doesn't mean I'm going to take it out on the Operators - they're as stressed out dealing with shit equipment, a non-supportive management structure, and the overall public themselves.
It's also apparent that the word "may" opens up discretion in the policy, which means the policy is probably designed to the management advantage to use it to punish the Operator at management's discretion, rather than the Operator's discretion.
I appreciate Al's dedication to serving the public and I wish more public servants had the same attitude to help the customer, no ifs, ands and buts. And I think TriMet, in the public interest, needs to keep buses in service longer, because empty buses don't serve anyone. But there should be, and is, a better way to do it. The current process in my opinion is flawed.
Bus driving is simple- Drive your bus as if you are a rider on your own bus, as if your depending on it to go where you need to go.
The "deadhead" rule is simple, take customers to any stop they request on your deadhead route (our deadhead routes are published in our book). If I was asked to accommodate a passenger, I would let them know where I can stop, and see if that works for them. If not, I try to give the information they need to continue. Like in Jasons case, this commonly happens at the end of the route, and they just need to go a bit further. The other handful of times is when someone got on the wrong bus, and didn't realize it till the end of the line. I have never seen anyone try to flag me down.
Its not that difficult to provide customer service, doesn't have to be great , but no need to be a grouch. Would you want your pissy attitude if you got on your own bus? Probably not.
My apologies for the late responses, but:
-If it's nice out on the 5th, I may come. I use the 73 to go to the beach across Marine Drive from the airport.
-As a reminder, I didn't really mind not being able to ride. I did the follow-up at Al's coaxing. However, the issue is people who are less able/willing to walk than I am.
-No, someone should not rely on a deadhead, especially on a daily basis (except if they get officially notated on the schedule).
-There's a Line 17 run that ends at the end of downtown but then continues on the regular route to go to the garage. I saw it dropping off passengers on the way.
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