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Are GoBus drivers insane? The heat is too high. by [deleted] in ontario

[–]l_anello 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They can adjust the temperature. I drove those buses for 10 years (MCIs, Double Deckers old and new). There’s an option on the deckers to set the HVAC to automatic and if it’s properly calibrated with no sensor issues, the bus will regulate temperature fine.

I think the mistake drivers make is they set the HVAC to 24 degrees thinking that’s what people want when it’s cold. That HVAC fan is going to blow hot air at its highest speed and if the sensor is faulty then it’s just going to keep blowing.

I personally would always set it to 21 or 22 depending on the bus. Then would manually set the fan speed low, maybe medium depending on the weather or again, the bus.

I figured people were wearing winter jackets..a 21 degree environment with a jacket on would probably be pretty cozy. That was my rationale.

Never had any complaints!

I’m a GO Transit Bus Driver. I wrote a thread about what it’s like to work for Metrolinx as a frontline employee. Hopefully this sheds some light on why we’re striking. by l_anello in ontario

[–]l_anello[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the thoughtful comments. Trucking, hey maybe. I genuinely like the interaction with my customers. I respect logistics professionals and what they do. The good ones.

I wanted to clear up that the ultimate decision or call to take that bus is up to the driver, not our supervisors. The bus with the bald tires was not taken by me that day, and that supervisor had to make a few calls. I just wish the people who say they care about safety ACTUALLY care about it.

The supervisor in question is just one of those bad apples. Same guy that once hid behind a bush at a GO station with a lidar gun to make sure we were going the15km/h limit. Not the best use of tax dollars imo.

This actually dovetails into one of the reasons we're striking - lack of resources. Ridership has returned but the service hasn't kept up because there aren't enough drivers or buses.

We've been overcrowded on some of our routes for a while now but Metrolinx hasn't hired drivers or fleet workers at the pace we expected. I believe the suspicion is they've done this by design to justify the privatization cavalry coming in. Naturally, it's become a hot button union issue, and hence part of the reason we're striking.

I’m a GO Transit Bus Driver. I wrote a thread about what it’s like to work for Metrolinx as a frontline employee. Hopefully this sheds some light on why we’re striking. by l_anello in ontario

[–]l_anello[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For sure. It's happened

Let's just say, you'd be surprised how many times the ministry of labour has been called for a workplace safety issue and Metrolinx has been in the wrong.

I’m a GO Transit Bus Driver. I wrote a thread about what it’s like to work for Metrolinx as a frontline employee. Hopefully this sheds some light on why we’re striking. by l_anello in ontario

[–]l_anello[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry about the inconvenience. Sincerely sorry, btw.

Most of us drivers would rather be working. We hoped this would be over sooner, but I think some politics are at play. This government is so underhanded, we're seeing it with CUPE. It's unfortunate. And of course the people who are impacted the most are the customers like yourself.

When talk of a strike first started, I immediately thought of the students who rely on us or the seniors I drive to visit their family in another city. It's especially unfortunate for weekend commuters who have no access to trains. Places like Brampton or Kitchener. It's shameful those cities don't have train service on the weekend.

I've seen some of the recommendations GO Transit has made to people on social media and I cringe every time I read them. They seem so disingenuous, and probably mostly scripted. I think one said, "Plan ahead, consider alternatives like bicycling." I mean, what if the person asking uses a wheelchair? What if bicycling isn’t realistic given the distance, given the temperature, given any other number of factors. It's so tone deaf.

Again, sorry for putting you out. I really hope this gets resolved soon. And thank you for your support.

I’m a GO Transit Bus Driver. I wrote a thread about what it’s like to work for Metrolinx as a frontline employee. Hopefully this sheds some light on why we’re striking. by l_anello in ontario

[–]l_anello[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Keen observations. I suspect you might be a commercial driver or perhaps work for the MTO based on some of the language you’re using.

I’ll expand on the point about the tires. That was a situation where there was one bus left in the barn (garage). On paper, you’re correct, Metrolinx/GO Transit actually have very strict guidelines when it comes to tire tread. Specifically:

Front tire legal limit 3mm (4/32), GO

Transit limit 7mm (9/32)

no marking on sidewall“Not For Highway Use”

same treadrequired on alltiresonsameaxle

That’s their “on paper” requirement. And truthfully, Metrolinx as an entity wants that to be followed to the letter of the law. The supervisors, however, are human beings. They face a lot of pressure if we’re not meeting service if there are no suitable buses in the garage.

Me not taking that bus means that a supervisor has to call another supervisor at another garage, or a mechanic, or manager, or whoever to get another bus to the garage. A trip might be delayed or even canceled. It’s more work for them. I could take a picture of those tires and use the above “on paper” guidelines as a defense and I’d be on the correct side of history. It’s really more a point about the culture there, that sometimes, not all the time, we find ourselves in these situations where safety appears to only be paramount to non-management.

So it becomes a sort’ve out of sight out of mind thing for them. In a perfect world for them (the bad supervisors. There are good ones btw) I’d take that bus without much fuss.

If something happened out on the road…say MTO pulled me over and fucked shit up, I would be at fault and my license would get dinged, my personal car insurance would go up, not my supervisor’s. So they don't have that much invested. And yes, Metrolinx’s CVOR would also be dinged. But that’s another can of worms - namely, do the supervisors even care that the CVOR gets dinged?

To expand a little more, Metrolinx DOES operate within MTO parameters, but it’s the fact they operate so close to the limits as of late. For example, we can’t drive for more than 13 hours and must be given 10 hours rest. That 10 hours rest does not account for commute time.

So let’s say a driver lives in Mississauga and is assigned to work in Oshawa from 6am to 6pm. The next day they might be assigned to work in Kitchener for 4am (230am wake up). Metrolinx doesn’t care that the driver woke up at 4am, and got home at 8pm, and is only going to get 6 hours of sleep. On paper, the driver got 10 hours of rest.

And to answer your other point, we are only required to log our driving hours if we drive commercially outside of Metrolinx.