As we approach Friday’s decision by the Port Authority and the ATU on whether to accept the settlement proposal put forth by the wise and thoughtful fact-finder, Jane Rigler…
2007 median wage for “Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity” in the U.S. as estimated by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics: $17.49/hour.
2007 Port Authority bus driver wage: $22.85.
Average employee contribution for employer-provided family healthcare coverage: about 25%.
Average Port Authority union employee contribution for Port Authority-provided family healthcare coverage: about 2.7%.
(Source: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter, Sept. 29, 2006)
Posted by: Ken Zapinski
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September 12, 2008 at 12:29 pm
MH
For the morning rush inbound, most 61c riders get on after Murray and Forward and the bus is pretty empty by the time it gets to end of Oakland. Outbound at rush hour, the bus is usually less than 1/2 full when it gets to Oakland and it is pretty much always leaving people at the curb before it gets to CMU. Then, 1/2 the bus leaves at Forbes and Murray and by Forbes and Forward you are almost guaranteed a seat.
I don’t have complete information (for all I know, there could be hundreds going from McKeesport to Homestead every day), but it looks to me like the 61c (and 61f and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the 61 buses) carry 75% of their rush hour passengers over a distance less than 1/3 of their route. I suggest cutting the number of 61 buses and using the freed capacity to create a new route connecting Squirrel Hill and Oakland that could run more frequently because it is so much shorter. But then I’ve never understood why every bus route has to cover half the county.
Not that you asked, but I’d also suggest having everybody pay on the way in and letting people out the back door. Do you know how hard it is to get to the front of a bus when people are standing two abreast in the aisles (especially on those narrow-aisled articulated buses than are frequently used for the 61c)? The people who ride the 61c do know, so they tend to cluster at the front and make the problem worse.
September 12, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Ed Heath
You know, it is quite possible that a three percent raise a year each year over the next three years will be less than the rate of inflation. Especially if the drivers are putitng in three percent of their income into health benefits.
Not that I am against the fact finders’ recommendations, mind you. I think the drivers are getting a decent deal in this economy, and they should take it. But no sense dressing a pig up in a prom dress and calling it Ethel (sorry, bad attempt at being folksy).