Bumpy, Hard, and Yellow....Think Safety, not STD!

Have you ever wondered what the bumpy yellow tiles are that line each side of the platform at Light Rail Station's throughout the system in Sacramento?

I'm sure you have, so here it is.....



No, they are not just so you have something bright and shiny to improve your outlook on life, and they are certainly not to massage the bottom's of your bare feet. What they are intended to accomplish is to keep you and your children from getting smacked by a train. Although I have never been bumped, pushed or otherwise made contact with a train other than driving one I can assure you it hurts.

Real bad.


Please, save my sanity and possibly save your life. Stand behind the Yellow Safety tile until the train comes to a complete stop.

For all my 16th Street peeps, this means you.

Natomas, Holla!

What's up North Natomas?

Being in the employ of Sacramento's principle Public Transit Agency, I often talk to commuters from neighborhoods, cities and towns that stretch from Amador County to El Dorado County to San Jaoquin County and back again.

Funny thing is, folks from other Counties that surround Sacramento are not the folks who's queries puzzle me more than the denizens of North Natomas. Not puzzling because they are from North Natomas, not puzzling because they all work downtown, but puzzling in a puzzled kind of way.

Currently, 3 Regional Transit bus routes serve the Natomas Community. 3 routes. Statistics from 2005-2006 show a populous of 67,000 residents.

If that figure is correct, there's alotta them their people in Natomas.

I'm all for expanded service in and out of Natomas. I guess it all boils down to funding priorities, and it would appear that Natomas is not much of a priority at this point unless you count the Downtown-Natomas-Airport Light Rail extension which will never see the light of day.

In the meantime, check out "The Flyer"





I was astonished to discover that the North Natomas TMA has their very own local shuttle service. I'm glad that Natomas has transit options not provided by RT, but I am also a little twisted because myself or one of my brother or sister operators might have an opportunity for expanded choice for work. Natomas win's because they get RT, we win because we have more to choose from in terms of hours and routes.

So, in short I am asking people who happen to reside in Natomas how they feel about options for transit in their own backyard.

Fire Away!

Am I the only one that wanted to throw my TV out the window after last nights climactic end to the Sopranos?

Dirty RT Police Cruiser+Sound Fiscal Management=Harv's Metro Carwash?

I read a post on From The Capitol this morning by Matthew McGuire. Mr. McGuire tells his readers about what he saw at Harv's Metro Car Wash on his way to work, which was an RT police cruiser getting a bath. It would have puzzled me as well, as I remember that as a youth, when I got busted work project consisted of 2 things- Picking up rubbish on the side of the road or washing County vehicles at the Branch Center.

Mr. McGuire does some interesting math, take a look HERE

Is that how I'm supposed to do it HeartenSoul? (-;

Blue Line (South Line) on Friday & Saturday Night

Riding Dirty, on RT....

Has your bus driver been Beat by a thug?

So.....I might be treading on some water that just might drown me.

When passengers bitch and moan to me about stuff that happens on the train, I usually nod my head and apologize on behalf of Regional Transit. Usually, this quells the rants and sometimes it only enrages people to the point that they attempt to assault me or something like that. More often than not, they are drunkards, and fall down to the concrete whilst swinging at my lovely face.

I'm one handsome train driver....

But, let me swerve back to the point.

Regional Transit contracts with both the City of Sacramento and the County of Sacramento for enforcement and protection of "every inch" of the transit system in Sacramento.

Um...yeah.

I have searched all over the web, including Sac PD Crime mapping, and Sac County Sheriff Crime mapping and I see incidents near, adjacent, even ON light rail platforms. Since they are folded into the UCR (Universal Crime Report) statistics, most people have no idea when or where the crime was committed. It's a numbers game, and RT plays the odds better than poker after dark on NBC..

Not suprising that I could find no specific information related to assaults, incidents or crimes committed against Bus operators.

I would guess, with relative accuracy that Bus drivers in Sacramento are Assaulted at a rate of 2 per week, at a minimum. Please recognize this is my non-scientific assertion as a bus driver in Sacramento.

My question is this.....

What is more important?

The mantra that the wheels on the bus move no matter what happens is long gone. If the safety of a bus driver is in question, so is that bus drivers passengers.

And...in the end.

Who is responsible for everything that happens on his or her coach?

The BUS OPERATOR.

Bravo?

California Capital AirShow

Upon us again this year is the second annual California Capital Airshow at Mather Field in Rancho Cordova.

If you were lucky enough to have actually made it off of Highway 50 and into the Air Field last year you no doubt enjoyed one hell of a show. In an effort to avoid the traffic nightmare that resulted last year just ride RT. I know, the majority you have had your automobile surgically attached to one or more appendages on your body, but just for once leave the car in the driveway.

If you purchased tickets for the Air Show ahead of time, the ride to and from the event aboard light rail and bus is FREE!

Board any of Regional Transit's 44 Light Rail Stations from North Sacramento, South Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, College Greens and yes.....Folsom.

Yeah, nothing is better than free!

Imagine upwards of 50,000 people trying to exit at Mather Field Rd. over the few hours leading up to the show......

Now imagine that you and your family are not among them!! Lovely thought I know.

If you have never taken RT, or have and know someone who has not, please encourage them to give it a try. In addition to extra bus service and 4 car trains, RT will have folks crawling all over the Mather Field Mills station to steer people in the right direction, answer any questions and ensure that the ride from the train to the bus to the show is seamless.

Click any of the links in RED for detailed info about using RT to get to the show. I would post what they have up now, but odds are the details will change the closer we get to the Air Show.

Do this:

Photo by Scupper














Not this:

"How to complain about SAC-RT Drivers"

I must admit, sometimes I feel like the public that I serve is completely out of touch with reality. Granted, I am skewed to the "pro SAC-RT DRIVER" point of view, more often than not my fellow "SAC-RT DRIVER'S" tend to board the best Sacramento has to offer.

You had a bad day. You just got fired. You missed a connecting bus at 65th Street. Your normal bus is 10 minutes late. OMFG! the light rail broke!

My cousin e-mailed me the following article, with detailed instructions on how to file a complaint against me. And honestly, it hurts.

Update!

The author of the article below reminded me that her article is copywritten material, so here is a direct link to the content written by HeartenSoul.

I'm going to post the entire article, which is long so play along.

"Riding Sacramento Regional Transit buses and light rail can be an infuriating, even frightening, experience. Little guidance exists to resolve issues unless you understand how “the system” works.

In Case of Emergency: Know the difference between a complaint and an emergency. If you are riding Regional Transit and feel that lives are in danger, you must notify the appropriate law enforcement officials. Do NOT call the Customer Satisfaction Unit or 321-BUSS as this will only delay the response of public officials. Contact law enforcement immediately in any way that you can. Trained public-safety officers protect every inch of the public transportation system. You cannot expect the customer service operators to handle a life-or-limb-threatening emergency.

Advocacy: That being said, it is highly likely that you will someday wish to lodge a complaint against the Sacramento Regional Transit level of service. If you follow a few guidelines the complaint process can result in change. However, do not expect that you can file a complaint against a driver and have them removed from the line. It is NOT going to happen. The union is a formidable advocate for the rights and continued employment of each driver. No complaint will escalate to disciplinary level without satisfying the criteria for causing suspension or dismissal as established by the union. Your advocate is any employee of the Regional Transit Customer Satisfaction Unit.

No Immediacy: You must also know that you will not be permitted to lodge a complaint while you are still riding the bus or the light rail. Customer Satisfaction Unit employees are instructed to discontinue your call until you have disembarked. This precaution is necessary so that an altercation between driver and passengers cannot arise and for various other reasons. In any case, there is no immediate remedy available to resolve your complaint. No supervisor can or will be dispatched to stop your bus en-route to discipline the driver. It WILL NOT happen. No radio contact can be made with the driver from the Customer Satisfaction Unit. There are no exceptions. Customer Satisfaction Unit employees do not represent the drivers nor do they talk to the drivers neither do they reprimand the drivers. They may only present your case to the driver’s supervisor in a manner that is approved for communicating complaints. That manner is in writing. Without a life-threatening emergency, there is no immediate resolution forthcoming for any complaint.

Don’t Ask for A Supervisor: Driver Supervisors do not come to the front office to speak with passengers. Driver Supervisors will not take your phone call and will not drive out to address you in person. There are many, many myths about people who think they can call the Customer Satisfaction Unit and have a supervisor personally address their complaint on the spot. It will not happen. Don’t even ask.

Identify the Vehicle: Before getting on the phone and dialing the complaint department, it would be helpful to have the necessary information ready. The necessary information for filing a complaint in published periodically in the bus-book. It includes providing the route number of your bus or which light rail line you are upset about. What is the date and time of day, your direction of travel, and the location of the beginning of your trip? You may be asked to give a physical description of the driver. Then you will be asked to provide a dialogue of the situation. Complaining in the heat of the moment might cause you to forget details that will either make or break your complaint.

Identify the Driver: RT Supervisors dismiss many more complaints for lack of accurate identifying information than the number of complaints that result in any type of action. For instance, identifying a driver as a Hispanic male when he is a Native American male will cause a dismissal. If you don’t know it as a fact, don’t share it. For some routes in the RT system, it is vital to provide a description of the driver. There are so many Route 23 buses, for instance, that seldom run on schedule. If a #23 driver “catches up” to the bus running ahead of it and passes it, the first driver to arrive at Arden Mall will not be the first scheduled driver. You could easily cause the wrong driver to be reprimanded if you don’t provide a physical description. The Hispanic male could be more accurately defined as male, caramel colored skin, brown eyes, cropped dark hair with sunglasses and an RT baseball cap.

Just the Facts Once you’ve provided the facts of who, when, and where it is time to share the “what” and the “how” of the situation. Do not presume the “why”. Just state what happened. Don’t guess that the driver passed you at your stop because he was talking to another passenger. Don’t suppose that the driver jerked the bus so he could knock you off your feet because you took too much time getting on the bus. State the fact and only the fact. “The bus jerked and I fell on the floor before I could take a seat”. Don’t suppose to explain why a driver did anything. Your complaint can be dismissed if your guess is wrong and chances are, even if your guess is correct, the driver will have an alternate story. Facts cannot be disputed. Suppositions can. Do not suppose anything.

Satisfaction is NOT guaranteed If you expect to know the outcome of your complaint it is absolutely vital that you request a response in writing. Do not file a complaint and leave out the punch line. “I want a call from the supervisor”. State your desired outcome in simple language and your request will be addressed by the driver’s supervisor. If you ask for a phone call, provide your phone number. This is not to say that the supervisor will grant you your request. It only assures you that they will reply.

ADA: If your complaint involves an ADA issue, a process and timeline is published online and in the bus book. There are stringent laws in place to protect the rights of the disabled. Please refer to the latest publications from Sacramento Regional Transit for understanding your rights in the complaint process. Signature Required Debate continues about the union requirement for signatures on passenger reports. According to union rules, without a signature, the complaint cannot become a part of the driver’s permanent record. If you send an email complaint and expect it to escalate to disciplinary action or to become a part of the record, you must follow up by signing and mailing a physical copy. Don’t Hold Back In any case, this article could not possibly address all the various situations encountered on the Sacramento Regional Transit System that a passenger would wish to report.

The majority of the passenger service reports filed each month are for driver behavior so this article focuses on reporting situations of that nature. Do not expect the driver to be removed from his job without sufficient cause. One complaint does not satisfy the criteria to establish sufficient cause. Multiple complaints by various riders must be received and substantiated. It may distress the readers and passengers to know that some of the most egregious complaints are dismissed on minor insufficiencies in the complaint process. More reports will net better results. If more than one passenger reports a driver’s surly or nasty behavior, the reports become more credible and substantial."

Honestly, if the author of the above article is of the notion that I (SAC-RT Driver) and my brother and sister driver's start out our day with the intention to provide as horrible an experience as possible for them, it seems he/she is skipping the medication. As with any large urban transit organization, hiccups happen. It's life. It's part of coping.

And, contrary to what some people think...when a passenger complains about a driver...they find us. RT is like the NSA.

I remember details, forget almost nothing, Guarantee Satisfaction & safely get you and your family to where they need to be everyday.

I'm an RT Driver