Signals October 2003


	October 1, 2003

ADMINISTRATION: We are applying for federal grants for the construction of more bus storage and a completely new or expanded office area. We expect about $1,000,000 this fall, which will allow us to construct more bus storage area. About $2,000,000 is needed to double the size of the current office spaces, which would include a larger break room, more bathroom space, more office and meeting space, and a completely revamped dispatch area. The amount of money available depends on Senators Grassley and Harkin and Representative Latham.

OPERATIONS:

Record Ridership: As I am sure everyone has noticed, we are extremely busy this fall. September’s numbers are not done, yet, but it looks like there is a chance we will carry more than 600,000 passengers for the month. The previous record high month was last October with 600,189 passengers. If we do not break the record in September, it will surely fall in October. So far, we are carrying about 20% more passengers than last year, which means we will almost certainly carry more than 5 million this year. (Tom D)

The Art of Moving Back: With our increase in ridership and as the weather gets cooler and cooler, it is imperative to ask our passengers to move back on the bus so more people can board. Making a request to your passenger is an ART.

Attention Getter
Request Politely
Thank your passengers for their cooperation

Here are some sample announcements:

"May I have your attention, I have just a few more people to board if you would please move back in the aisle a few steps…Thank you."

"Good Morning, we have a lot of passengers traveling with us this morning if everyone would move back a step or two we will have room for everyone…Thank you."

Morning Orange route drivers should make this announcement after they leave the parking lot, so there is room for passengers boarding at Maple Hall. (Barb)

Lane 6 Garage Door Cold Weather Procedure: Now that colder weather is here, garage doors should be closed to help keep the building warm. If the garage door for lane 6 is closed, drivers should park in front of the door and enter the building through the small door to the right of the garage door. Pressing the "OPEN" button located on the control panel next to the small door activates the garage door. Once the garage door is fully open and stopped, drivers should bring their bus into the garage until they are even with the three M.P.H. speed limit sign (this distance ensures that your bus will not be struck by the door closing). Drivers should close the garage door unless there is another bus immediately behind them. Pressing the "CLOSE" button on the right side of the garage door closes the door. The driver of the last bus through the garage door should make sure that the door is closed before parking in the garage. (Barb)

Fall Back: Daylight Savings Time ends October 26^th. Do not forget to set your clock (or watch) back one hour. Enjoy that extra hour of sleep! (Barb)

HIRING AND TRAINING:

Snow and Slide Training: Drivers who started at CyRide after March will be receive both snow and slide training. Snow training is classroom instruction highlighting proper vehicle handling techniques on ice and snow. Slide training is conducted when weather conditions permit at the Hilton Coliseum parking lot. Drivers will attain speeds of 30 mph (or greater) and purposely slide (skid) their 15-ton bus to experience the "feel" of winter driving conditions. These "skid drills" will help build confidence in your ability to handle anything an Iowa winter can produce. Brent or Jenny will be contacting you if you need this training. (Barb)

Instructors: Thank you for your help training new drivers. It seems we have more trainees this fall than we did this summer. Please talk to Brent or Jenny if you are willing to train more than 3 times per week or more than 1 time per day. We have a few trainees with completely open schedules but they’re only getting 20 hrs a week because we don’t have enough instructors to train them. These trainees would be willing to work more, even overtime, if we had the instructors to train them. On the other hand, if you feel like you’re starting to get burned out on training, please talk to Jenny so she can reduce you’re training hours. We’d rather have you train less than not at all. (Jenny)

Hiring and Training Update: An update on new and graduating trainees.
1 trainee starting 10/1
1 trainee starting 10/6
Hopefully we’ll have someone start week of 10/13
2 trainees will start 10/20

2 trainees graduating 10/3
3 trainees graduating 10/10
Hopefully 2 graduating sometime around 10/17

Hiring tests 10/13, 10/27

Brent and Jenny will be at the Mall this Saturday, 10/4, to try to recruit more new drivers. (Jenny)

SHOP:

Garage: Construction is winding down. The bus washer should be ready for service in the second week of October and we hope to have partial occupancy so that we can store some buses inside the new building. Final completion should be done in November. We will be interviewing architects in December or January for the next project which is to add bus storage on the south side of the building. Two lanes will be added and 14 additional buses can be stored. After that, it will be a new office area.

Buses for Sale: We sold 932 for a record $1,266. Next on the block might be 903 unless we need to bring it back to life.

Buses Reincarnated: Ridership is up and we are now running about 50 buses each morning and we only have 54, so there are not a lot of spare buses available. We combined 903 and 904 into one bus (904) and will be combining 882 and 883 into bus # 882 1/2 .

New Old Buses: We have purchased two "new to us" used buses from PACE, the suburban Chicago bus operator and may also purchase a third bus from them. They are 40 foot Orion I's and should be in service in October. Look for the white, blue, and yellow buses in your favorite bus garage.

Maintenance Supervisor: Alfonso Rollins has accepted the position of CyRide Maintenance Manager. Al has 30 years experience with the Cleveland RTA. He started as a bus mechanic and worked his way up to superintendent of garages. He is expected to start his new job by November 17.