The Stress Among Passengers when Service Changes
Wednesday, February 14, 2007 2:32 PM
Three times a year, METRO changes its bus service by adjusting routes, adding stops or deleting underused stops.
The changes occur in January, May/June and August/September – coinciding with the beginning and end of the school year.
For bus drivers, it’s a chance to sign up for a coveted route. Drivers get their pick based on seniority.
For some passengers, though, these times can be stressful. The first week of change, the bus is often late. Passengers on the 131 Memorial Express complained the week of Jan. 21 that the bus was late many mornings the first week – but since then, the driver has mastered the nuances of the road conditions along that route – and is on time.
A bus that runs a few minutes late doesn’t bother me because I’m usually running up to the bus stop, barely making it. What I miss is the morning greeting from Deshundra Washington, who surprised us almost weekly with a new hair style or color and sent us to work with a smile as we left her bus.
But consider the case of Mary Weins, a 46-year-old executive secretary at Exxon Mobil who rides the bus in a wheelchair. Her bus wasn’t just late – it never showed up the two times she tried to board on Jan. 23 and Jan. 25.
“The bus never picked me up in the morning because the driver was not familiar with the route,” said Weins. “It was so cold. It irritated the heck out of me. This week, after I complained and talked with the superintendent at the garage, he told the driver what was what, and he managed to find me. But it was a big hassle.” Weins had to roll herself back home and ask her husband to drive her to work downtown. “Drivers should not be put on the route unless they know it or have driven the route with a driver who has driven the route,” said Weins.
So I asked Pete Lapuyade, director of operations training. What kind of training do drivers get when they switch routes?
”Once they come on board full-time, if they need additional training, they can contact the safety coordinator at the new garage, and that person will take them out there and show them the new route. It’s up to the driver,” said Lapuyade.
“They can go out there, and the regular driver will show them the route. Every time there’s a change on the regular route, there’s a detour that’s posted in the operators’ Ready Room. So they always know exceptions. They’re required to check the Detour Board,” explained Lapuyade.
Lapuyade said METRO does not have enough training instructors to individually show the 1,600 drivers their routes. “The operators are required to know where they’re going. If they tell us they don’t know, we will help them. If they don’t tell us, we assume they know where they’re going.”
Lapuyade agreed with Weins that passengers should not have to tell the drivers how to get from here to there. When drivers get lost, that’s a rule violation, and they do get written up.
“There’s nothing more embarrassing than to have 50 people on your bus and have to ask them where you’re going,” said Lapuyade.
He said sometimes drivers are not as familiar with a particular route because he or she is an “extra-board operator.” That means if someone calls in sick or late, a supervisor has to send in “extra” driver who is not assigned to a regular route. Other times, during peak hours, part-time operators will be assigned to shifts that only last 90 minutes to two hours.
But whether a driver is a METRO employee or a contract driver, the same requirement stands: Know your route, and don’t get lost.
Those who are reprimanded twice in 12 months are suspended – and typically for three days.
As for Weins, the passenger who was passed up, her bus has been coming right on time now. “They’ve figured out the route, so that’s good,” she said.