WEDNESDAY, 13 JULY 2011
Surveys and Shotguns
That's a pretty funny winning video on priority seating, in my humble opinion. The video was submitted by ten Algonquin college students, and is really quite well done. Now in real life, yelling Shotgun! on a transit vehicle might get you more attention than you wanted, but the message is well read. We live in a world where people's bags seem to get more priority than folks that need help standing up on a moving bus. Maybe shaming them into action with this video will have a positive effect. If that doesn't work, try yelling Grenade!
The video marks the start of a winning streak for OC Transpo that has been building steam for a few months now. OC Transpo seems to be doing a few things right lately in the PR department. The People Moving People campaign is a great idea from start to finish. If you've followed my blog, you'll know that I feel both OC Transpo and ATU279 need to do a much better job of promoting and encouraging the service side of their employees. We are a service company. We desperately need to promote that, both to the public and to guys like me who are providing the service. I would suggest that if we drivers strive for better service standards, we would be in a much better bargaining position, we would enjoy our jobs much more, and the city itself would benefit.
This is the "Culture" that OC Transpo needs to build, as mentioned by Mercier in his summary of the Survey results. Drivers, you can view that on DriversSeat. Joe Public, my apologies. Mercier explained that the one thing that should keep OC managers up at night is maintaining the "culture" at OC Transpo. Mmmm, close. What should be keeping OC Transpo managers up at night is building a culture at OC Transpo. The one thing the strike accomplished best was turning seniority groups into cliques, and the polarization of the bargaining unit against management. This culture in the garage is a little scary at times. I have heard more than a few people say they are just waiting for another shooting. That's a scary thought. I feel is is grossly exaggerated to suggest that the scheduling would trigger something like this. It is however, part of our culture at OC Transpo.
Our union needs to step into the development of a new culture. I don't expect much in the way of vision from these people though. It's all about contracts and arbitration with 279 these days. It's been that way for 25 years. I'd love to see the union partner up with some local groups to promote accessible transit. I'd love to see the union actively promoting the People Moving People campaign. I'd love to see the union get active in the retraining of employees who need retraining in service principles. We are a trade union, and we should expect our members to strive for higher service goals than private companies. It only benefits us to be known for great work. I don't need to explain how it benefits the community. The problem is changing the minds of 2,000 drivers who still feel offended, are are so very reluctant and resistant to change in any form.
The survey helped the company come to the conclusion that the culture is an issue at OC Transpo. I think it may have also come to the conclusion that tires work better with air in them. Subtlety is best described as the art saying something meaningful and getting out of the way before it is understood. I give kudos to the company for publicly promoting the wonderful service of its employees lately. It is subtle, but that is how culture is built. If only the union could follow suit, then we could build something great here.
In the meantime, feel free to yell shotgun on my bus.
Mom, Where's My Bus?
"Mom, Where's My Bus?"
What a fitting title. I can just picture the two of them, strutting around Ottawa after a lost night of debauchery, looking for their bus as they reconstruct the past two months of their lives. At the end of the movie, they realize that they had simply placed their craniums straight up their posteriors, thereby missing what has been one of the most-discussed topics in the history of Ottawa news.
What does my tattoo say mom? "SWEEEEEEET!"
"DUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!!!!"
Today is the "Soft Opening" of the new optimized transit network. It's a Sunday, and service is generally light. The rain is pouring down in buckets out there as I type this, and believe it or not, that's a good thing. There will be quite a few bus drivers out there who could use the lighter loads to learn their new routes, and a few less people means a few less questions and confrontations about the new service. I've noticed quite a bit of activity on message boards and in the editorial sections of the newspapers pertaining to the optimization, and the same questions keep popping up.
Catherine Boivin-Belanger in a letter to the editor (Ottawa Citizen, Sept 3) asks the question:
"I have to wonder therefore, if the drivers were consulted about these route changes. Further, how much consideration and weight were given to their opinions?"
The answer is yes, and not a lot. Contrary to common opinion, bus drivers have little to no input on schedules and routes. We are consulted, but there are mechanisms in place that place more weight on the political process of change at the service level than on consumer needs or employee feedback. It took a grassroots political campaign to reinstate the ring road at the Rehab center, for example. Simple complaints simply aren't enough to get changes made quickly. This process isn't unique either. Every department of the city works in much the same way. Front line paving crews don't have input on roads to be paved. Zamboni drivers don't set ice schedules. Lifeguards don't leave the pool open for an extra hour just because the pool is full. You need to be organized to make changes happen.
In my experience at this company, drivers' input isn't always constructive, either. If you were to ask ten drivers how to fix service on a particular route, you'll likely get ten different solutions. Some will be good and well thought out. Others will be outright confusing and self centered. The problem is, drivers don't see the service the same way a passenger does. Where I see numbers, timepoints, speed limits and traffic... a passenger sees a starting point, a destination, and whether or not he/she can make a connection, make an appointment, get a seat, get a driver that will let the AUG pass slide on Sept 2 because the lineup at the Rideau Center was like a new ride at Canada's Wonderland. In other words, passengers see their life's events connected by buses, drivers see their daily life on one bus, driving in circles, connected to a few regular passengers. It's apples and oranges, and for every driver that thinks they know what it's really like to commute by bus each and every work day, there's a passenger that just missed a connection and is currently trying to rearrange their schedule to make life fit again.
The sweeping route changes need a month or so to be tested out, and used in the real world before we can make an honest assessment of them. We need to see how the schedules fit to the actual driving. We need to see if passengers can still get to where they are going. We need to hear from the community as to how these route changes really affect them. All of the hyperbole of angry letters and what I expect to be angry customers on Tuesday aside, I plan to talk to passengers over the next month to get a sense of how these changes work in their lives.
It would be pointless to simply make the sweeping assumption that this is a disaster before it actually happens, especially seeing that I'm the guy that has to make this whole thing work. My attitude could make a real difference to the success or failure of this huge undertaking.
Over the next few weeks I expect to blog a little more about how these changes are affecting my life. I have received quite a few emails recently at drives1incircles@gmail.com asking me questions, and requesting interviews. Feel free to reprint anything you read here. As for interviews, please contact the PR department at OC Transpo. These opinions, these blogs, are solely my own opinions and thoughts, and I do not speak for OC Transpo, or ATU local 279.
If you have a specific question, feel free to email me.
What a fitting title. I can just picture the two of them, strutting around Ottawa after a lost night of debauchery, looking for their bus as they reconstruct the past two months of their lives. At the end of the movie, they realize that they had simply placed their craniums straight up their posteriors, thereby missing what has been one of the most-discussed topics in the history of Ottawa news.
What does my tattoo say mom? "SWEEEEEEET!"
"DUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!!!!"
Today is the "Soft Opening" of the new optimized transit network. It's a Sunday, and service is generally light. The rain is pouring down in buckets out there as I type this, and believe it or not, that's a good thing. There will be quite a few bus drivers out there who could use the lighter loads to learn their new routes, and a few less people means a few less questions and confrontations about the new service. I've noticed quite a bit of activity on message boards and in the editorial sections of the newspapers pertaining to the optimization, and the same questions keep popping up.
Catherine Boivin-Belanger in a letter to the editor (Ottawa Citizen, Sept 3) asks the question:
"I have to wonder therefore, if the drivers were consulted about these route changes. Further, how much consideration and weight were given to their opinions?"
The answer is yes, and not a lot. Contrary to common opinion, bus drivers have little to no input on schedules and routes. We are consulted, but there are mechanisms in place that place more weight on the political process of change at the service level than on consumer needs or employee feedback. It took a grassroots political campaign to reinstate the ring road at the Rehab center, for example. Simple complaints simply aren't enough to get changes made quickly. This process isn't unique either. Every department of the city works in much the same way. Front line paving crews don't have input on roads to be paved. Zamboni drivers don't set ice schedules. Lifeguards don't leave the pool open for an extra hour just because the pool is full. You need to be organized to make changes happen.
In my experience at this company, drivers' input isn't always constructive, either. If you were to ask ten drivers how to fix service on a particular route, you'll likely get ten different solutions. Some will be good and well thought out. Others will be outright confusing and self centered. The problem is, drivers don't see the service the same way a passenger does. Where I see numbers, timepoints, speed limits and traffic... a passenger sees a starting point, a destination, and whether or not he/she can make a connection, make an appointment, get a seat, get a driver that will let the AUG pass slide on Sept 2 because the lineup at the Rideau Center was like a new ride at Canada's Wonderland. In other words, passengers see their life's events connected by buses, drivers see their daily life on one bus, driving in circles, connected to a few regular passengers. It's apples and oranges, and for every driver that thinks they know what it's really like to commute by bus each and every work day, there's a passenger that just missed a connection and is currently trying to rearrange their schedule to make life fit again.
The sweeping route changes need a month or so to be tested out, and used in the real world before we can make an honest assessment of them. We need to see how the schedules fit to the actual driving. We need to see if passengers can still get to where they are going. We need to hear from the community as to how these route changes really affect them. All of the hyperbole of angry letters and what I expect to be angry customers on Tuesday aside, I plan to talk to passengers over the next month to get a sense of how these changes work in their lives.
It would be pointless to simply make the sweeping assumption that this is a disaster before it actually happens, especially seeing that I'm the guy that has to make this whole thing work. My attitude could make a real difference to the success or failure of this huge undertaking.
Over the next few weeks I expect to blog a little more about how these changes are affecting my life. I have received quite a few emails recently at drives1incircles@gmail.com asking me questions, and requesting interviews. Feel free to reprint anything you read here. As for interviews, please contact the PR department at OC Transpo. These opinions, these blogs, are solely my own opinions and thoughts, and I do not speak for OC Transpo, or ATU local 279.
If you have a specific question, feel free to email me.
SATURDAY, 19 MARCH 2011
Everything is Automatic, Everything is Skin Deep
When OC Transpo announced it would be installing a GPS system in its buses back around '02, I was quite happy to hear it. Customers could benefit from this, which makes my job easier. I have had a Tom Tom in my car since these little gizmos came out, and they are wonderful. Okay, so maybe they take you down a logging road once in a while, and maybe logging roads aren't really so much roads as they are more of paths around boulders... but overall, finding something on a Tom Tom is quite simple.
Most GPS systems are essentially PDA's with a GPS circuit board and antenna to pinpoint a location. It's not rocke... okay, well it IS rocket science, but the PDA itself is a pretty simple tool these days. My $100 Tom Tom can take any number of addresses and pinpoint them on a map, give me directions to them in order, calculate driving times, estimate traffic, store a route path, you get the idea.
So what did the city buy for you, the taxpayer? It sure wasn't a Tom Tom. The GPS that the city installed on buses has three functions:
1) Report real time positioning data to an OC Transpo control room.
2) Receive text messages from the control room, and send "canned" messages to the control room.
3) Print Transfers.
Now, it would seem pretty useful for a front line driver to have these functions. After all, the city only had transponders on every bus to report the position of buses along their routes, a radio to send and receive messages from the driver, and a transfer printing machine to print transfers. So, you can see why they were pushing for GPS to complete these tasks.
If you're still with me, here's my point. Why doesn't the city EVER purchase equipment that allows its front-line employees access to information that can assist us in helping YOU, the passenger? Any number of GPS units could have included an interface for the driver to query street names, landmarks, bus schedules, and all of the information that we get asked on a daily basis that could help serve our customers.
Drivers didn't get that kind of help though. As a matter of fact, not long after installing the new GPS reporting system, the city installed a new radio system that puts up yet another barrier for the driver to contact the control room in the occasion that he has a "Code 6", or a general query from a customer. This new radio is another "canned message" system similar to the GPS text function which allows the control room to "prioritize" (aka ignore) calls that are not absolutely urgent. Getting though to control for a street location has been rendered almost impossible during the times when most passengers are riding buses.
Everything the city has installed in buses in the past decade has not been useful to the driver in helping him/her serve the public, or dispense information.
Everything the city has installed on buses has however been useful in helping the city supervise the driver.
This is where the city fails in providing service to the taxpayer. The city employs a fleet of transit supervisors who are on-street all day, everyday. Now if you really think about what a transit supervisor should be doing on a daily basis, that would include supervising employees. But, what else should a transit supervisor be doing?
How about supervising the service itself? When the downtown core is backed up to Lebreton, where is the transit supervisor? We as drivers have told management that gridlock in the core could be greatly improved if buses didn't have to make multiple stops on each platform.
So why wouldn't the supervisors of the service be on those platforms directing passengers as to which buses are currently boarding, doors open? Imagine actually doing something about buses having to stop four times on each downtown platform, and the buses behind them! THAT is supervising transit service. But no, the supervisors in shacks, looking at real time data of stopped, gridlocked buses. Management talks of the less space taken by double deckers as the solution to gridlock on the street. More technological solutions to service failures. It's embarrassing that I get blamed for this mess on the street.
Now each bus is equipped with a location transponder, a GPS transfer printer, a GPS next-stop announcement system, a canned message radio communicator, and a room full of supervisors analyze this data from the street. All of this is geared towards supervising the employee, and not an ounce of this information is available to the public.
These bureaucrats have been staring at monitors for far too long. It's time for a change.
Most GPS systems are essentially PDA's with a GPS circuit board and antenna to pinpoint a location. It's not rocke... okay, well it IS rocket science, but the PDA itself is a pretty simple tool these days. My $100 Tom Tom can take any number of addresses and pinpoint them on a map, give me directions to them in order, calculate driving times, estimate traffic, store a route path, you get the idea.
So what did the city buy for you, the taxpayer? It sure wasn't a Tom Tom. The GPS that the city installed on buses has three functions:
1) Report real time positioning data to an OC Transpo control room.
2) Receive text messages from the control room, and send "canned" messages to the control room.
3) Print Transfers.
Now, it would seem pretty useful for a front line driver to have these functions. After all, the city only had transponders on every bus to report the position of buses along their routes, a radio to send and receive messages from the driver, and a transfer printing machine to print transfers. So, you can see why they were pushing for GPS to complete these tasks.
If you're still with me, here's my point. Why doesn't the city EVER purchase equipment that allows its front-line employees access to information that can assist us in helping YOU, the passenger? Any number of GPS units could have included an interface for the driver to query street names, landmarks, bus schedules, and all of the information that we get asked on a daily basis that could help serve our customers.
Drivers didn't get that kind of help though. As a matter of fact, not long after installing the new GPS reporting system, the city installed a new radio system that puts up yet another barrier for the driver to contact the control room in the occasion that he has a "Code 6", or a general query from a customer. This new radio is another "canned message" system similar to the GPS text function which allows the control room to "prioritize" (aka ignore) calls that are not absolutely urgent. Getting though to control for a street location has been rendered almost impossible during the times when most passengers are riding buses.
Everything the city has installed in buses in the past decade has not been useful to the driver in helping him/her serve the public, or dispense information.
Everything the city has installed on buses has however been useful in helping the city supervise the driver.
This is where the city fails in providing service to the taxpayer. The city employs a fleet of transit supervisors who are on-street all day, everyday. Now if you really think about what a transit supervisor should be doing on a daily basis, that would include supervising employees. But, what else should a transit supervisor be doing?
How about supervising the service itself? When the downtown core is backed up to Lebreton, where is the transit supervisor? We as drivers have told management that gridlock in the core could be greatly improved if buses didn't have to make multiple stops on each platform.
So why wouldn't the supervisors of the service be on those platforms directing passengers as to which buses are currently boarding, doors open? Imagine actually doing something about buses having to stop four times on each downtown platform, and the buses behind them! THAT is supervising transit service. But no, the supervisors in shacks, looking at real time data of stopped, gridlocked buses. Management talks of the less space taken by double deckers as the solution to gridlock on the street. More technological solutions to service failures. It's embarrassing that I get blamed for this mess on the street.
Now each bus is equipped with a location transponder, a GPS transfer printer, a GPS next-stop announcement system, a canned message radio communicator, and a room full of supervisors analyze this data from the street. All of this is geared towards supervising the employee, and not an ounce of this information is available to the public.
These bureaucrats have been staring at monitors for far too long. It's time for a change.
SUNDAY, 13 MARCH 2011
The Art Of Saying No
It was nearing 4:30 on a Friday afternoon as I pulled into the northbound stop on St. Laurent at Innes road. There was a standing load on my (what was then) 85 route, and the end of the line couldn't come fast enough for me... only three stops to the freedom of a well earned weekend.
Standing at the stop were two women, one a young version of the other. The young lady stepped on, placed two tickets in the fare box, grabbed a transfer, and looked back at her mother who had two Pizza Hut boxes in her hand. That is when the argument began.
"Sir, I'm just two tickets short."
These are the words that cause more stress to transit drivers than any other words a passenger could utter. Rationally, my job is pretty clear in this regard. Collect proper fare, provide timely service. It's not exactly rocket science. This must be the only industry in North America where a customer would argue over whether a service should be provided to them for free, so long as they are nice about asking. I have never been to a movie theater and overheard a customer try and finesse his/her way into a movie by stating "I am just a ticket short". Ditto the grocery store. Bread is cheaper than bus fare, but would anyone really expect the cashier to let it slide out the door for free?
"I'm really sorry, but I have to ask everyone to pay."
That is my standard response. It doesn't matter how old you are, what you look like, what you are carrying, that is always my first response.
"Do they take it out of your pay cheque?"
I could see that this had taken a turn for the worse. Understand that at this point, all I had said was one phrase. I didn't ask her to get off the bus, I didn't say it in a rude manner, I didn't judge her. I only toed the company line. Collect proper fare, provide timely service.
Years have passed since this incident, and a bit of revisionist history may be present as this incident is not an isolated one. Years of having similar conversations may have jaded my memory a bit, but the rest of the lecture I received went as follows:
"Do they take it out of your pay cheque? Seriously. I am ONLY two tickets short."
I replied that I have to ask everyone to pay, and two tickets really is the entire fare.
"They must take it out of your pay cheque then right?"
I replied "No, they don't. But they ask me to ask everyone to pay."
"What is it to you anyway? It's not like they count this stuff you know. You just want to be an asshole. A big power tripping asshole. Oooooh. 'I drive a bus!'. You know some drivers are cool. They would give someone a break. You could use your discretion. You could let me on."
She stepped off the bus at this point, and I looked back at (who I had assumed to be) her daughter to see if she was going to follow. She did follow, looking a little embarrassed at the situation.
At this point with both of them off the bus, I looked back at the front seats to try and gauge what the other passengers thought of the situation. I couldn't get a good read, but in my moment of distraction the woman yelled at me that I was "The Biggest Asshole In The World".
I beat out Bin Laden, Saddam, and child molesters alike. It's me. What a prize.
I've done a bit of soul searching over the years as I deal with the public. I've come to the realization that treating people well is a great feeling. It makes my job better, and it makes my life better. The concept of 'paying it forward' is such a happy place to live. The more I do it, the better I feel. Having said that, I still use the same phrase "I'm really sorry, but I have to ask everyone to pay." when faced with someone who asks to board for free. Paying it forward does not mean I need to be a doormat.
Using discretion is a funny concept in the eyes of the general public. What exactly is discretion? In this driver's opinion, discretion is reserved for situations that passenger cannot reasonably be expected to pay. It's midnight, last bus, I lost my wallet. Or, you're a regular customer who forgot your pass... I know you have one. The big blackout a few years back... no one could use ATMs.
But standing on the corner of St. Laurent and Innes, two pizza boxes in hand from across the street at 4:30 in the afternoon? You want to pay by finessing you way onto the bus? Maybe you just have a good story, and you'll hope I'll buy it? Maybe you're a really pretty woman who will smile at me? Two weeks ago I had a woman stand beside me chatting flirtfully for 15 minutes, only to work herself into asking me for a free day pass. "I wouldn't normally ask this, but..." The whole conversation was tailored to convince me to 'use my discretion' and give her a free pass. So the next few people who ask to board for free... would I then revert to my standard response?
Believing a good story, or giving in to a friendly flirt, and then telling someone else that they need to pay...I wouldn't be using discretion there. That would be better defined as discrimination. And that, in my eyes, is wrong.
