New Toys Are a'Comin...

I mentioned Phil Washington in my last post and that reminded me...

He met with Drivers over the last couple of months and gave us information about a new system that is coming out as we speak.
We've also recently received more training as the system is going into testing mode here in Denver.
It's been testing in Boulder this last month so many of you may have already seen it - or even here in Denver, you may have already seen it popping up (the testing starts in Denver in April) on your buses.

It's the new "Smart Card" program.

Here's what I've heard and what I know:

Many of you have noticed that we've (RTD) done away with the Token this year.
The idea of this new system is to eliminate as much "media" and cash from use as possible.

I hear that Denver/RTD has more "media" than any other Transit system in the Nation.
For example, we have a myriad of schools and colleges here along the Front Range.
Each school has it's own ID and "sticker" with new colours for each semester and expiry date.
And it is very rare that more than one school/college/university has the same expiry date as another, so Drivers have to learn each date, each colour and each identification - whether student or faculty.

Then there are the Eco Passes.
While most are the green/blue passes, not all are.
And not all Eco Passes are all services included - some don't include the DIA routes, others don't cover regional or express routes.

We have monthly passes, and some are for AB, BC & CD Zones.
And each monthly is by degree of service, whether local, express or regional and some are "discount" - requiring further proof of eligibility of discount.

And on and on and on it goes, you can see that we have a TON of "media" and Drivers old & new find it tough to keep track of them all.

This new "Smart Card" has an RF chip inside.
Programmed for the specific customer, whether ECO, Student, Monthly, disabled or "gift card" - it's all ONE CARD, programmed specifically for the one customer - with photos included (when required) that will be read by a computer/scanner.

You wave your card across the scanner and your card is "charged" for the ride.
No need for a transfer, your card is remembered by the system along your route of travel for a specific period of time.
As you board your next bus within a set time period and scan the card, the system will remember you and not charge you.
Until you go back in the direction from which you came or you exceed the time / grace period - which to the system, tells it that you are in a new zone or that you're returning to your origination.

And there's no chance for the Driver to misread or mis-punch your transfers, you won't need those anymore.
There are three lights on the scanner - red, yellow and green.
Once you've paid, the light flashes green.
If you owe a full or partial fare, say you have a local monthly pass loaded onto your card and you're going to DIA or you're boarding an Express - the yellow light will light on the scanner, requiring you to pay the balance of the fare.
If it flashed red, run in shame and embarrassment - hide your face from the cameras and other passengers!

LOL - no, I'm just kidding.
There's a number you can call (the Drivers can't help and can only ask that you pay the full fare) to correct any issues.
303-299-CARD

It may hurt a bit here and there in the interim as we switch over to this new system but once it's fully up and running, the end game/goal is to be at least 90% cashless and pain free.
And I hear that end goal/game should be realized completely by the end of next year.

Ask your Driver about the new system coming shortly.
We all know about it by now and we all have received training on how to operate it during the testing phase so we can give you more details.

As Always, "Welcome aboard, Toss your cash and get a Smart Card, Find your seats - Let's Roll!"

The Tortoise Or The Hare?

Before I write this I want to preface my comments with two thoughts:

1) "...As I've repeatedly pointed out, I'm not in any way speaking for RTD, in fact they've asked me to remind you that they neither sponsor nor endorse my blog."
2) I LOVE, absolutely love serving the customer, which is why I've chosen this career - I get to serve my passengers, they trust their lives in my hands daily.

That said, I applied to work at the bus side of RTD, not in the Access-a-Ride or Call-n-Ride sides of the house.
While I love service and I've been reminded by some of my regulars (passengers) that I am patient to a fault - I personally don't feel that I'm up to the standards or that I'm a good enough "servant" to work for these other departments.

But as we make more and more cutbacks at RTD, we are seeing more and more of a blending of the services. More and more Access-a-Ride customers are needing to use the regular route side of the house and lately I'm seeing more regulars at the end of their patience, more schedules and connections tossed to the wind and more regular passengers storm off the bus in vulgar and vocal rages.

I'm very sorry to both sides of this coin.

But to exasperate the situations, I'm seeing more and more of the "entitlement minded" special needs passenger join the ranks.
I'm guessing this is because they've grown so used to being given more personalized services over the years, paid for by the rest of us - that as they make their way over to this side of the system, that they expect (and I'm to provide it - legally as well as morally) and demand intimate attention from the Driver as well as preferential treatment from both the Driver and the other passengers/paying customers.

The last couple of weeks I've been on some very busy runs/routes.
Almost every day I've run into the very demanding special needs passenger that have compounded the situations as more board and disembark on each trip.
Just one passenger requiring special attention can delay the bus by at least 5 minutes.
Just this afternoon I hit a 27 minute delay as I boarded three special requirement passengers AND two parents with stroller - the two seater types.

We were so far behind that my follower (the next bus on the schedule) was behind me picking up all the customers I could no longer fit on the bus.

Keep in mind that I'm paid by the minute.
I'm on the clock until I finish the route, whether that takes the scheduled amount of time or up to 10 hours of driving time a day.
The printed schedule is a courtesy to YOU, the passenger.
If I'm unable to keep that schedule while I'm your Driver, you can bet that there is either killer traffic jams, or the bus is so full/packed that there are arms and legs hanging out windows and folks are standing in their seats.

Or there are customers who require more time and schedules are not part of their concern.

My point of posting this is not to single out any group of passengers about scheduling or how much I'm paid to take care of all of the passengers.
As I've pointed out, I'm paid to complete the route, no matter whether I spend all my DOT time (10 hours) with one customer or 1000 customers in only 8 hours.
And the schedule is only third on my list of priorities: the first being safety, then customer service, then the schedule.
I will stop the bus, break out my trailblazer and look at all the routes I have to make sure you catch the right bus and get to your destination before I drop you off at the wrong street or take you to Golden when you needed to go to Aurora!
I will stop the bus and use every restraint on the bus to make certain you are strapped in like a mummy and feel safe and secure before I move the bus again.
That's customer service.

No, my point in posting this was that the Access-a-Ride side of the house is a social program that is set aside solely to support the special needs of the passenger who has those needs.
The other side of the RTD house is where I work, where folks spend 10 seconds boarding the bus and finding their seats before I hit the gas pedal and speed off to the next stop, keeping the schedule to the second in order to make every body's connections and get y'all to your destinations on time.

We shouldn't be blending the two services & passenger load but as we cut back services, we need to serve a wider variety of customer than we've been used to.

I'm sorry to the passengers who've boarded my bus, requiring extra attention getting ready for transport - sorry for the rude and vulgar comments, for the eye rolls, for the loud heavy sighs and for the screams of frustration  from the other passengers.
And to you other passengers, I'm sorry for the extreme delays and for the frustration - but for those of you who have been both helpful and patient, I thank you.
I try to bust my rump and go as quickly as I'm able.
I try to accommodate everybody with equal thoroughness, compassion, consideration and care.

To all of my passenger, whether abled-bodied, I thank you for your patronage and your patience - I'm sorry for the rest.
I'll do my best and I appreciate your help to those ends.

To you folks who've been frustrated to the point of your heads spinning off and exploding I suggest you call your Regents, your Representatives and even RTD directly.
Just don't call the 303-299-6000 line.
Contact officials directly - for example, contact Phil Washington.
I've personally met him and he honestly cares what you think (not that others don't but I can vouch for Mr. Washington's sincerity)

To everybody, please try to enjoy The Ride.
Remember, I'm your Driver and I'm the guy who has to juggle both those who are frustrated and those at whom they are frustrated.
If you don't see me snapping at everybody, if you don't see my cussing and swearing - then please follow my lead.
Consider it an adventure, a challenge - an opportunity.

As Always, "Welcome aboard, Take a deep breath & relax, Find your seats - Let's Roll!"

Occupy RTD!?

Seriously?
Occupy RTD?

Oh yeah, that's what we're being told to do during the first week of April by the union.
The Union is calling on us (those it forces to join unions) whether teachers, drivers, police and firefighters, to go to the Civic Centre and hand out fliers to "the 99% who need transit!"

"Acknowledging their mutual concern about the crisis in mass transit, the General Executive Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has endorsed the National Day of Action for Public Transportation called by Occupy Boston to take place..."

There is no crisis, there is only a lack of funds for them to extort from you - the tax payer and rider/customer.

This is typical liberal entitleism.

I've mentioned this before and just recently I've pointed out how the union corrupts and inhibits RTD.
Many of the Drivers don't have the mindset that they are employed by RTD, they feel that their employer is the union.
The union provides their income, their benefits and time off.
RTD to them?
Just a means to their own personal gain.

I'm an RTD employee (but remember, these are my personal opinions which are neither endorsed nor supported by my employer!) and I feel that I must earn everything my employer gives me from a wage to a benefit.
I must serve YOU, the customer of RTD.
Neither you nor my employer OWE me anything, I need to earn it.

But the unionist has a different mindset.
I've had many conversations with these unionists who work at RTD.
They feel that you (called fat cats by these guys) need to be forced to pay higher fares, higher taxes and their higher wages. You owe them a social life, dating, marriage, mortgages and new vehicles.
It's only fair - at least in their minds.
You owe them weeks and weeks worth of sick, vacation, holiday and personal days off each year.
The average Coloradoan hasn't had a wage increase in a couple of years, we are still at close to 8% (14% actual) unemployment and because of a few liberal Govs we have a broken TABOR that's causing us to go into debt.
But that doesn't concern the unionist. The union leaders gave themselves a big raise last year.
The only reason they skipped strikes this year is because of the growing unrest and unpopularity of public unions across the nation.
And because RTD had to make HUGE cutbacks in order to stay out of debt.
But look out next year, these greedy entitleists are out for blood (your money) and they are going to go to great lengths next year to get it.

Everybody in this nation and state who pays taxes, whether a state or federal income tax and all those in the state who purchase something from companies within the district, we all pay for those few who ride the bus/train.
And the large portion of those who don't actually pay a fare are fully supported by us (and the few who pay fares.)
Less than 20% of the operating cost of RTD comes from fares.
The rest is from the tax payer, whether through govt grants & taxes.
I think there is a 1% of income from advertisers.

That said, the entitleist/unionist identifies with the occupy movements and now they want to occupy transit and RTD.
Look out for them in the next couple of weeks and tell them how you really feel.
Tell them that you don't owe them a lifestyle.
Tell them that the system should be user supported, not the rest of us paying for the 1% who use it.

Tell them to go get a job to support their lifestyles, just like we told the occupiers here in Denver to go get a job and get a life.
These 1% don't represent us, the average Coloradoan - we all know it but these unionists/occupiers don't seem to realize it.

And keep in mind that there is a large portion of your Drivers (I personally believe it's far more than half of us) don't agree with these guys either.
We're not happy being forced to join this entitlement minded union.
We love RTD and we earn our keep, we earn your business and we love the customer.
We don't see you, the customer as a fat cat who owes us your wallets.
And we don't see RTD as a means to get to you.

We don't support this occupy RTD movement and neither should you.

As Always, "Welcome aboard, Screw Occupy, Find your seats - Let's Roll!"