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Re: Bus Driver pay vs Light Rail or Commuter Train personell pay.

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  • Member since
    March 2016
  • From: Burbank IL (near Clearing)
  • 13,540 posts
Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 3:37 PM
The large yearly income with overtime is probably for operators with a lot of seniority who are at the top of the pay scale.  Overtime pay can add up quite quickly, 600-700 total hours of time-and-one-half can increase yearly gross by almost 50%.  The union contract may also specify higher premium pay for Sundays and holidays.
The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: NJ-NYC Area
  • 192 posts
Posted by paulsafety on Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:38 AM

 CSSHEGEWISCH wrote:
The large yearly income with overtime is probably for operators with a lot of seniority who are at the top of the pay scale.  Overtime pay can add up quite quickly, 600-700 total hours of time-and-one-half can increase yearly gross by almost 50%.  The union contract may also specify higher premium pay for Sundays and holidays.

Good point about time and a half -- that would help close the gap considerably, but also goes back to management's ineptness at understaffing, poor scheduling of drivers if soooo much overtime is being paid out.  In a privately run business there would be a lot more pressure to streamline expenses, but even with that oversight, revenues still couldn't be expected to cover the expense.  The difference is taxpayer support of the mess.

But that's the other frustrating thing...."may", "might", "probably" doesn't equal the facts.  Since transit authorities are governmental agencies (ie. subject to FOIA) I have to wonder if they publish their annual costs like a publicly traded business -- percentage of expense from fuel, payroll, insurance, etc.  That would be very interesting reading.

Does anyone know if Transit Authorities publish this type of information?

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