Run Joe Run!

It's the third week of the new schedule.
Folks are still getting used to the new schedules and the new Drivers.

In fact, on my regular runs, I don't think the times changed at all.
But I have noticed a ton of my regulars RUNNING for the stop each morning.

I have started twisting, bending, searching - looking up and down the side streets for runners heading towards the bus.
Just recently I heard one of the regulars who'd had to run to the stop, as she was getting off and talking to another passenger who had also run that last block, "Good, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one!"

That got me thinking...
Folks, I'm not running early.
Trust me.
Dispatch & my supervisors keep too tight an eye on my times for me to fudge even a minute.
I have a radio that tells me when I'm one minute late or one minute early.
Dispatch tracks me by GPS and knows if I'm off schedule or even off route.
I have street supervisors who sit at stops and record/time when I arrive and when I leave.

Not to mention I have the even more reliable - if not THE most reliable time management tool on board the bus - The PGS (Passenger Guidance System).
If I miss a turn or I'm late by 30 seconds, that PGS alarm goes off like you can't imagine.
Folks holler from all the way at the back at the bus to correct me, to get me back on route or on time.

So when I hear a passenger comment that I may be running early...
No way Jose(tte) can I run early.

I may run late due to weather or traffic or passengers on the bus but I can't run early.
I can't leave the stops you see listed in that schedule, early.
I cannot.
Too many alarms, too many warnings, too many risks and too many people would be all over my backside.

Perhaps the Driver who ran this route before me was always behind?
If that was the case, you may have gotten used to him being another minute or two later than I am?
Maybe the fact that the sun is starting to rise two minutes earlier every morning (this time of year) is throwing off your internal clock and you're just running a bit late each morning?

Count it mark of professionalism that I know the regulars already on my routes.
That I know when you're late and I wait for you.
That I know the directions from which y'all come so I know to look for you.
You've heard me tap the horn as I pull over and wait for you because I see you coming.

But please, mark that professionalism and don't accuse me of being early.
RTD pays me to finish the route, not finish by a certain time.
So I'm not in a rush to get home.
I'm there to pick you up and get you to work on time, or get you home at night safely.
The more passengers I pass up, the "more dead" my route looks and that puts my run on the "chopping block" for the next vote.

No, it's my job and it behooves me to wait for you, to pick you up and to get you to your destination.
There is absolutely zero benefit to me or to RTD for me to be running early.
I'd rather be known as the Driver who's always late than the Driver who's always early and missing folks.

Can you tell that that overheard comment from one regular passenger to another about me running early, really got under my skin?
Can you tell how passionate I am about being professional, on time and picking everybody up however I'm able?

Good.
Now repeat after me:
"We are not early, we are on time!"
"We are not early, we are on time!"
"We are not early, we are on time!"

Rinse and repeat as necessary.

In the meantime, "Welcome aboard, find your seats - Let's Roll!"