Koopzilla24
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- Joined
- Dec 20, 2022
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A lot of the terrible bus-bus and bus-train transfers can be chocked up to the MBTA's "bus stop safety standard" or however they word it. It really just means they don't want to slow cars so they put stops on the far side of intersection where possible, or in Mountfort St's case on the 47, as far from the main intersection as possible since a bus stopping close would impede a lane of traffic for 30seconds every 20 minutes.
For an example, I used to be scheduled on a split shift that was 6-11am then 3-6pm. I luckily live in the city but on the opposite end from the garage I worked out of so it took about 40min to get home but that gave me a couple hours to relax and eat. Some of my fellow drivers however lived in Brockton. Driving there and back, which many many operators have to because they are the ones driving the first transit trips of the morning, means using up gas and hours of their time so most just sat in the garage, took naps, went for a walk, etc.
The getting back later is also a negative externality of buses running late. Shift schedules are based off when your last run is supposed to finish. Let's say your last run on the 39 is scheduled to terminate at Forest Hills at 6:10pm. If it's 6:15 and you're just getting back to Forsyth St, tough luck you still need to finish that route however long it takes. This means that depending on traffic, accidents, and closures you're never really sure when exactly your work day will end. Makes it difficult to hold relationships if you're never consistently around and when you are you're always exhausted.
The main point im driving at is it's probably not that drivers are getting 13 hour days because they're making up for the shortage but rather everything operates on split shifts and time overruns make it difficult to live a consistent daily life schedule.
Based on my personal experience I think he's talking about a split shift rather than 13 hours straight of work. Though I've had an 11 hour straight schedule before so it could be. When the two separate 4hr rush hour shifts are split by a few hours (and may or may not include the time it takes to go to and from the garage) it can become pointless to go home in between shifts if you live too far away. This means that you're essentially stuck on an extended lunch in uniform not wanting to get too far from where your next shift starts so it might as well be part of the workday.
For an example, I used to be scheduled on a split shift that was 6-11am then 3-6pm. I luckily live in the city but on the opposite end from the garage I worked out of so it took about 40min to get home but that gave me a couple hours to relax and eat. Some of my fellow drivers however lived in Brockton. Driving there and back, which many many operators have to because they are the ones driving the first transit trips of the morning, means using up gas and hours of their time so most just sat in the garage, took naps, went for a walk, etc.
The getting back later is also a negative externality of buses running late. Shift schedules are based off when your last run is supposed to finish. Let's say your last run on the 39 is scheduled to terminate at Forest Hills at 6:10pm. If it's 6:15 and you're just getting back to Forsyth St, tough luck you still need to finish that route however long it takes. This means that depending on traffic, accidents, and closures you're never really sure when exactly your work day will end. Makes it difficult to hold relationships if you're never consistently around and when you are you're always exhausted.
The main point im driving at is it's probably not that drivers are getting 13 hour days because they're making up for the shortage but rather everything operates on split shifts and time overruns make it difficult to live a consistent daily life schedule.