The most confounding problem with rule enforcement is at a flat terminal where inspectors can write us up for non-use of the wheel block. Usually, when we need a break after an intense trip, we don’t bother with the extra time to place a wheel block because we are short on time to go to …
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The Five Greens of Happiness
O grasshopper, the five greens of happiness are a wonder to behold when leaving Embarcadero Building Three at Davis and Sacramento on the 1 California! I was blessed with a leaving time of 4:58 p.m. and I could make it to Kearny at the foot of Chinatown before the masses descended from the downtown towers …
Morning Rush
We all know we try to cut it as close as we can and get away without wasting any time. This image of efficiency is to take the bus without any waiting time. But just like a Mad magazine comic strip, if we are all making the same determinations at the same time, we invariably …
Where to Stand
Most of the time intending passengers are not standing where I want to place the front doors. Folks don’t seem to understand what it takes for a forty-foot or sixty-foot vehicle to come to the curb, and then have enough room to pull away leaving a four foot clearance from any object or vehicle parked …
Stopping and Starting
One of the most challenging aspects which takes its toll on the body is trying to maintain a smooth start and stop, particularly on a hill. All coaches are not equal. In order to maintain an even stop on a hill, some coaches require 40 to 60 percent more force on the pedal, and then, …
Dust Cover Jacket
“Do you have a car? Yes, I do, and your sitting in it! Today’s car number is 5481. I geta new car everyday, and I can hold up to 50 people at once! I get to take you whereyou want to go and get paid to do it. I don’t have to worry about parking …
Not My First Rodeo
Dents and dings notwithstanding, one can tell how much time one has behind the wheelby looking no further than the defect card after making relief. Senior operators can rollwith whatever they have been given. Others, take “safety significant” to levels seenonly at the National Security Agency. The biggest variable to accepting equipment,headway, and, as training …
The Fare Box
Sadly, this favored chapter in book 1 has become a nostalgic memory. Renew your fast pass today! Surveys of time use show much time is spent in the bus zone loading passengers. Although this would seem to be a revenue loser as those who board in the rear would be evading the fare, my experience …
Not All Stops are Equal
When buses are missing, the time between buses doubles so waiting time increases. It can become very unclear to those standing at or near multiple line bus stops why the bus passes by. The bus is full because double headway means double passenger load. One phrase used frequently by bus drivers are the phrases, “my …
Yard Starter
When we start our day, we pass by the receiver, sign in for our coach, and then see the yard-starter if we have no coach assigned to us. The receiver has our bundle, called a paddle, which includes our run’s timetable with scheduled checkpoints, books of transfers, defect card, and any bulletins we need be …
The Dao of Doug: A Bus Driver's Perspective 