In article , "Kim W5TIT"
writes:

I tired mass transit when I first started working downtown. Nothing
convenient, friendly, safe, or good about it at all. It was scarey because
of the drivers, inconvenient because I had to work my schedule around
theirs, unfriendly people getting on and off knocking others with their
asses or briefcases, and I'll never do it again.

Kim W5TIT


Here's a little known fact that much of the travelling public would never be
able
to guess: There are no regulations at the state or federal level which govern
how
many hours a transit operator (bus driver, motorman, paratransit operator,
etc.)
can work within a 24-hour period. It is common practice for transit operators
to
work inordinate amounts of voluntary overtime, sometimes putting in double
shifts on a daily basis. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) governs the
amount of hours truck drivers can be on duty during a 24-hour period, I believe
the present limit is 10 hours of continuous duty with a mandatory 8-hour rest
period thereafter. Log books documenting time at the wheel and at rest are
required, and in the case of single-operator trucks, the rest periods must be
verified by time and mileage records that are a part of their log.

Since transit vehicles operate within a closed region, as opposed to
interstate, they are not covered by such rules. Therefore, the bus you board
could be being driven by a person who has been on duty for 10, 12, or 14 hours
-- or more! I recently attended a meeting of my local union in which our own
local union President claimed that he routinely worked in excess of 100 hours
per week as a fixed-route bus driver. Keep in mind, there are only 168 hours
in a whole week! This is obviously a shocking hazard to public safety, and
legislation is obviously needed which establish and enforce reasonable operator
duty limits within the transit industry. "Scarey
drivers" indeed, Kim. Who wants to ride a bus being driven by a zombie?

73 de Larry, K3LT