Life as a driver

[trainman8119]

In response to the discussion between Buslover25 and Busjack in the thread CTA 5300's tired buses or tired drivers, I can say in defense of Buslover that there are times when there are simply not any buses available for relief. In my days at Pace, there might be 2 or 3 spare buses in the garage, and often they were used at one time of the day on trippers or part time runs. Sometimes there weren't any available...either they were all having somekind of mechanical meltdown that was being reparied, or they were out getting bondo at the body shop.

Also, there are many times when there are service cuts that are not made openly known to the public...usually a minor schedule change or run cut. This means that there are less buses out picking up the same amount of people. What this means Buslover, is that what you experienced today is likely to be the norm rather than the exception and that quite simply you're gonna have to get used to it. All I wanted to be when I was growing up was a bus driver. I would not trade in the 2+ years I had doing it for anything. But it is a very stressful time. You have people against you, supervisors against you, motorists against you, the weather against you, and occasionally, other bus drivers against you. If you are expecting praise in this business, forget it. Although it does happen, it is quite rare. You will probably have 5 demerits before you get an attaboy...and this is if you get one at all. It can be a lonely world on the street.

I love transit, and I think that Chicago has one of the best systems around. But after nearly 15 years on the inside, sometimes I wonder if it is really worth it. Right now there is too much politics and not enough good leadership...too much giving in...not enough brass tacks.

Buslover, I wish you all the luck in the world in your adventure. I only hope your passion will still be there down the road.