Whoever was driving 73/02 today you can expect a SIP for denying a ride to our buddy Jason who requested a ride from the jail back to the center street garage today. Jason was on the 73 bus when it got to the jail and the operator kicked him off even though Jason asked for a ride back to center street. Jason had to walk over a mile to find another bus stop. This is the kind of behavior that justifies the destruction of employee pay and benefits.
Last I heard operators are in service including dead heads where customers request a ride back to the garage.
8 comments:
That is unacceptable. It's all about "who you know". So, Jason should call Neil or Mary directly..they know Jason.
Wow..the response above sounds like a wound-up & frustrated TriMet manager or director.
Sure hope it's not a frontline TriMet employee.
I find it hard to find any sympathy in this situation, given that Jason has repeatedly defending TriMet despite numerous complaints about TriMet's service (specifically, the 94 in snow/ice conditions continuing to run express, even though printed and posted timetables explicitly read that the 94 serves all 12 stops in snow/ice conditions.)
Further, I have never, ever found it to be a policy of TriMet's to run "hidden routes" when buses deadhead back to the garage. I do know that some transit agencies do in fact have "hidden routes" - these are routes that are signed and that bus headsigns will display them, but they are not published and there are no printed timetables for them. And frankly it's a good idea...after all the buses are on the road and the drivers are getting paid, so why not? But...I have never known TriMet to do this. Drivers who accept riders on deadheads do so at their own risk and I've been lead to believe it's actually discouraged. After all, if you do it for one person, shouldn't it be done for everyone else?
That said...back when I was living in Beaverton in the late 1990s I can say that on one particular day I was sick but had to go into the office so it was several hours after I normally went to work - at that time the 50s didn't run and the 67 was I believe hourly. A deadhead made the stop and gave me a ride to Merlo where I could catch MAX. Nice driver, very nice. But I didn't expect it.
On the other hand, I've been passed up by MANY "XXX GARAGE"/"NOT IN SERVICE" buses more times than I can count. Not that I expected a ride because...well...the bus is not in service. And it seems more and more frequently I see buses whose headsign reads "NOT IN SERVICE" as opposed to "GARAGE".
Bottom line is that unless the bus was "NOT IN SERVICE" when it was supposed to be in service (i.e. displaying the wrong headsign)...I don't have any sympathy here. It seems Jason is wanting special treatment only when it comes to his needs...but when it comes to anyone else TriMet is always, always, ALWAYS in the right.
I'm more interested to know why he was in jail.
Erik - blah blah blah, who cares about your opinion... The issue here is about following a policy, which is pretty cut and dry.
I don't know what the SOP is for TriMet, but I believe King County policy says that you have to pickup in this situation.
Erik, jeez your Jason rants are getting boring.
Fact: it's TM policy to honor the customer request. This customer was already on the bus. If following DH or regular route before garage detsination, notify Dispatch you are transporting a rider.
Last I heard it was policy of Trimet to allow boarding if a customer requests to go to the garage
Max- That is correct, Metros policy is from the Base gate to the base gate, you are in service. While this commonly happens like in Jasons case, at the end of the line, its not heavily publicized. The other catch is, you can only be dropped off at a bus zone along your deadhead route....for example one route I had ended at the last stop before I got on the freeway, If you want to go 3 blocks, I wasn't able to accommodate due to no zone (Its a safety/Liability thing). Terminals and layovers are considered zones unless posted otherwise.
I do believe that First Transit (Operates Community Transits Commuter service, and North End ST service) policy says no pick ups at terminals, on deadheads etc.
Thank you for your nice story, Erik.
I really didn't mind it that much. It just meant another 1-1.5 miles of walking on a nice day (I had already walked from the beach).
But the relevant SOP, B603, says:
"Operators...pick up or carry passengers on a deadhead trip under any of the following conditions:
...
-A customer boards while in revenue service and wants to continue to a destination on the deadhead route."
The real issue (besides safety, if that's one) is that if every operator picks up everyone they saw along their deadheads, it would cost much more time and money.
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