If Perry gets elected president.
I hope to god that is a joke, because if it's not, we're screwed. All we can hope for is that Amerikans are smart enough to not vote for this guy.
Friday, September 16, 2011
United States of Paranoia
Koin Local 6: BREAKING: Suspicious device during robbery evacuates US Bank in Portland.
I swear...it must be just about every week or so that something happens around Oregon that they call a 'suspicious device' and freak out over. I wonder what it was this time? A plastic bag?
Update @ 7:02pm: Portland bank robbed, suspicious device forces evacuation | Koin Local 6
Update @ 7:02pm: Portland bank robbed, suspicious device forces evacuation | Koin Local 6
Buses to the Rescue!
4:43pm, Sept. 16: Due to an auto on the tracks NE Grand and Holladay, MAX service is disrupted. Shuttle buses will carry riders between the Old Town/Chinatown and NE 7th Ave stations. Riders should expect delays.
5:07pm, Sept. 16: The auto on the tracks at NE Grand and Holladay has been cleared. MAX service is resuming. Riders should expect delays as trains return to regular schedule.
Come save us, buses! We, at TriMet, need you to save MAX once again. Please come and bail out our brilliant light rail line!
Now the workhorses of the transit fleet get pulled out of their regular routes and the bus riders pay the price for light rail's failures. Thanks alot, TriMet.
5:07pm, Sept. 16: The auto on the tracks at NE Grand and Holladay has been cleared. MAX service is resuming. Riders should expect delays as trains return to regular schedule.
Come save us, buses! We, at TriMet, need you to save MAX once again. Please come and bail out our brilliant light rail line!
Now the workhorses of the transit fleet get pulled out of their regular routes and the bus riders pay the price for light rail's failures. Thanks alot, TriMet.
Why Bus Drivers are worth the pay they get
BY ERIK HALSTEAD
Think of it this way:
Do you want some schmuck making $7.25 an hour (or whatever the minimum wage is) driving around a big 40,000 pound, 40 foot long brick on wheels?
Anyone theoretically could drive a bus. Turn the ignition, pop in the air brake valve and hit the gas pedal.
But, can that untrained schmuck off the street drive the bus safely and on route, on schedule, while NOT getting into any collisions or breaking laws, taking care of the passengers (yes, transit bus drivers do have to wear the customer service hat - they have to take fares, issue transfers, and assist customers with where they are going)...?
The real question - one that has been skirted around by most everyone - is why is TriMet's benefit package so expensive. The union doesn't buy the insurance, TriMet does. The union simply agrees to a benefits package that states what benefits will be offered. That's it. TriMet agreed to it. It's a no-brainer that health insurance for a bus driver is going to be more expensive than some Metro pencil-pusher - you're outside, in traffic, breathing God knows what, dealing with some passengers who treat you like garbage. Your risk profile is higher.
But no one, no where, has actually compared the cost of TriMet's benefits package to similar transit agencies elsewhere. How does TriMet stack up to, say, the Utah Transit Authority, or Denver's RTD, or Seattle's Metro Transit? Nobody knows, and nobody has investigated it. All we know is that TriMet's health insurance is more expensive than Metro. Well, duh! It isn't hard to insure pencil-pushers who sit behind a desk all day and are encouraged to ride their bike to/from work (even if it means they only work from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM for a "full-time" shift.) TriMet drivers are all but required to drive to work (it says so in the driver's application when the position is offered) because drivers must be able to report for work in the early morning hours when there is no public transportation available and it's a really bad idea to be on a bike at that time of day. As an office worker I have a nice luxury of having access to a gym (no I do not work for TriMet) but a Bus Driver isn't always returned to Center Street Garage on their lunch time to use TriMet's gym facility.
The bottom line is that you get what you pay for. If TriMet drivers aren't worth $20/hour with benefits - fine. We'll see a lot more bus-versus-pedestrian incidents, a lot more collisions, a lot more unsafe situations, a lot more "bus went the wrong way" situations... It is not unlike the difference between the mainline airlines and the regionals - the ones whose pilots often make less than $35k/year and are often reported flying to the wrong airport, causing the runway incursions, crashing... You don't hear about too many 747 or 777 captains making those mistakes.
Do you want some schmuck making $7.25 an hour (or whatever the minimum wage is) driving around a big 40,000 pound, 40 foot long brick on wheels?
Anyone theoretically could drive a bus. Turn the ignition, pop in the air brake valve and hit the gas pedal.
But, can that untrained schmuck off the street drive the bus safely and on route, on schedule, while NOT getting into any collisions or breaking laws, taking care of the passengers (yes, transit bus drivers do have to wear the customer service hat - they have to take fares, issue transfers, and assist customers with where they are going)...?
The real question - one that has been skirted around by most everyone - is why is TriMet's benefit package so expensive. The union doesn't buy the insurance, TriMet does. The union simply agrees to a benefits package that states what benefits will be offered. That's it. TriMet agreed to it. It's a no-brainer that health insurance for a bus driver is going to be more expensive than some Metro pencil-pusher - you're outside, in traffic, breathing God knows what, dealing with some passengers who treat you like garbage. Your risk profile is higher.
But no one, no where, has actually compared the cost of TriMet's benefits package to similar transit agencies elsewhere. How does TriMet stack up to, say, the Utah Transit Authority, or Denver's RTD, or Seattle's Metro Transit? Nobody knows, and nobody has investigated it. All we know is that TriMet's health insurance is more expensive than Metro. Well, duh! It isn't hard to insure pencil-pushers who sit behind a desk all day and are encouraged to ride their bike to/from work (even if it means they only work from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM for a "full-time" shift.) TriMet drivers are all but required to drive to work (it says so in the driver's application when the position is offered) because drivers must be able to report for work in the early morning hours when there is no public transportation available and it's a really bad idea to be on a bike at that time of day. As an office worker I have a nice luxury of having access to a gym (no I do not work for TriMet) but a Bus Driver isn't always returned to Center Street Garage on their lunch time to use TriMet's gym facility.
The bottom line is that you get what you pay for. If TriMet drivers aren't worth $20/hour with benefits - fine. We'll see a lot more bus-versus-pedestrian incidents, a lot more collisions, a lot more unsafe situations, a lot more "bus went the wrong way" situations... It is not unlike the difference between the mainline airlines and the regionals - the ones whose pilots often make less than $35k/year and are often reported flying to the wrong airport, causing the runway incursions, crashing... You don't hear about too many 747 or 777 captains making those mistakes.
Timepoints
So as always (and I know it’s not what people want to hear), if you want to be on a particular train, be at the platform ready to board before it gets there, and allow a little extra time if you’re at a stop that isn’t a timepoint. And by “ready to board” I mean have your fare paid and everything – if you wait until the train is approaching the platform before starting to buy a ticket from the ticket vending machine, you’re not going to make it.
http://maxfaqs.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/timepoints/
http://maxfaqs.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/timepoints/
Check out this guy's comments.
http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/blackfloydphish/index.html
He's got some good ones
He's got some good ones
MR. MAC RESPONDS TO THE RECENT RULING
In August, ATU filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) against TriMet with the Employee Relations Board (ERB). A ruling on part of the ULP that addressed TriMet’s Final Offer submitted July 20, 2010 to the ATU was just issued. The ruling determined that some of the proposals in TriMet’s Final Offer did not “logically evolve” from earlier negotiations and, therefore were improperly included.
The ruling means that TriMet must delete those items from its Final Offer that will be considered by an arbitrator scheduled in mid-January 2012.
The ruling means that TriMet must delete those items from its Final Offer that will be considered by an arbitrator scheduled in mid-January 2012.
As always, TriMet remains open to resolving open issues with the ATU.
Neil"As always, TriMet remains open to resolving open issues with the ATU." Since when?
Another transit district dumps the free ride area
Wake up, TriMet! Get in the game. Just dump the Free Rail Zone already.
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