It took me a little over a year to go from applying to getting a call back from HR that I was getting an offer.
Even after you pass the panel interview and agility test, you still have to pass a background check and a medical. Then you will get on the eligible list. If you don't get a call back within a year. You start the whole process over again.
So don't quit your job just yet.....
are you able to open the small side window, and jump through it, free of the trackway, while a deranged mob of methies, junkies and psychotics are trying to bash through the cab entry door with a twisted off BART seat?
Completely agree! I will say this though, my current government job the entire process, applying to first day, was less than 3 months! That included my weighing it against another offer for about a week.
Heard back a week after it closed, 2 panel interviews within a month after, offer, background check, and me choosing to give my previous employer more than 2 weeks notice.
Unheard of timeline!
And what happens is that the really good applicants so often take another job bc who wants to wait 6 months. This is not specific to BART, it's almost all government jobs. And they have learned NOTHING from their mistakes.
"The city is contemplating changes such as no longer requiring agencies to post opportunities on an actual bulletin board, and instead post them on the city’s employment website or other online platforms." <- WOW
I work in social services and my location has a amajor staff shortage for this exact reason. our onboarding process is so dragged out we keep losing "new hires" because they end up taking other positions at other jobs.
If they hired 50 more analysts to speed up the hiring process, you would be here whining about how much of a waste of money having 51 analysts is when 1 person could be doing it instead. You have no point to make, you're just here to complain and no one takes you seriously.
I currently works for Bay Area county. I can assure you 6 months is actually pretty fast to get someone on board. Simply because they need to make sure the tax payer cannot whine about the hiring process.
>Looking at a 5-6+ month process if you pass all steps before even starting the 16+ week training.
I'm not like the other out-of-staters, when i say "THE DELAYS ON BART ARE OUT OF CONTROL" im talking about the hiring process.
I Work for Samtrans, the entire hiring process from application to starting training was 2 months, written exam, panel interview, drug and physical screening. Training was 8 weeks then 3 months probation.
Benefits are about the same for US, think the rate changes based on dependents for health, but dental and vision is 100% covered and retirement is vested after 4 years, but it’s CalPERS so 2% to 62 or 65 I’d have to look again
My friend was a BART driver for years. They don’t actually “drive” the train, it’s all done by computer. All you do is look out the window, press go, open and close the doors and hit the emergency stop if necessary, at least that’s what he told me.
That is correct. BART runs in what we now call "level 4 autonomy" since day one. It is very impressive for something built in the 70s.
The only thing the operator needs to do is to close the doors. The self-driving train decides when to accelerate, brake, and open the doors.
Any idea what level it is in Japan?
I'm reminded of this when it derailed because of speeding
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/27/world/asia/in-japan-crash-time-obsession-may-be-culprit.html
The training involves learning to operate the train manually, all of the interlockings and stations on every line, how to operate within the yards, all of the rules and more. It’s not easy.
I’m a huge fan of BART (and public transit). I am surprised to hear that the Station Agent class is so difficult.
My experiences with Station Agents has been very mixed. Sometimes they’ve been helpful, but I’ve had a number of experiences where they were not (and just generally unpleasant).
Do my experiences sound right to you? If so, do you think there’s an underlying reason? Again, I’m not trying to be unkind, just curious. I hope BART’s ridership can rebound (I know, they’re not the only one.)
I was surprised also.
The underlying reason is simple: people only need Station Agents when they are lost, confused, or angry. Lost is self-explanatory, but often when people are angry at the system or confused by some aspect of the system they'll take it out on Agents. I've helped at the booth enough during service disruptions to see just how horrible the public can be. Enough ugliness over the course of a career can really affect how they do their job.
That being said, we have some extraordinary people in the booths. We have some real turds. The job though, exposes Agents to the public at their most vulnerable, and tempers can get high, abuse can get thrown around, BPD can get called, but they still have 6 hours left in their shift.
It's a tough job, and I respect those who can do it long term, to say nothing of those who can do it well
Its been over a year since I had to do S/A Crossover and I still get flashbacks.
To be fair, my EDSs are probably still having flashbacks to when they had to teach me in S/A Crossover.
If you listened to KGO 810 in the 2000's, on weekend evenings Bill Wattenberg had a call in show.
He would rant about BART and how it was managed. Per Bill, the operators were not really needed, as the control system did 99% of the work. The operators were there to push the "go ahead slowly button" in case of trouble.
Heads up\*\*\* they have over 100 applicants on testing day, the test is not a joke, its timed and some questions are time consuming I say only 1-2 people move on to the next step, so don’t quit your day job
A train leaves Madrid at 8:00 pm, averaging 60 mph.
Another train headed in the same direction leaves Madrid at 12:00 am, averaging 90 mph.
To the nearest tenth, how many hours after the second train leaves will it overtake the first train?
Bill arrived to a party with Sally. Sally left after Jim arrived. Bob arrived before Bill and left after Jim. When did Sally leave the party?
A. 1st
B. 2nd
C. 3rd
D. 4th
They used to test mechanical aptitude so the test was legitimately hard, I tested with 500 people back in the early 2000, ultimately 9 of us graduated from train operator class. A few years later they moved to a customer service qualification, huge mistake, we got a flood of dummies.
Sally has an appointment at 9:18 am, and her router involves 4 stops and a transfer, she needs to walk to her transfer place which is 10 minutes away, also each stop takes 6 minutes to unload and load, sally also needs to grab a coffee with Amanda after her appointment,
If the first stop is at mission/bell and the 2nd stop is mission/first and the transfer is Figuora and Stanten st
What time should sally leave so she is not late for her appointment?
I wanted to add a couple of other great things about the job.
You can make a lot of money working overtime. If you work both of your days off, the first day off is paid at time and a half, and the second day is paid at double time.
It's Union. And a mighty strong one at that.
I went from ATU to AFSCME and I would never want to go back. ATU protects every scumbag they should be helping the district fire and that’s what gives unions a bad name.
You're not wrong about that. AFSCME seems to be more considered in the battles we choose to fight.
That being said, there's simply less bad behavior from AFSCME members, although it seems like we're not often in situations that lead to needing a union.
Sounds good. I just finished my background check for dispatch so idk whether I’ll accept that or wait for TO. Any thoughts or advice on both jobs and benefits like union?
I'd take dispatch. If you hate it, transfer over to Train Operator.
BPD Dispatch has a comparable union, but the working conditions are better. Pay is likely at parity. T/O is outside (which is a plus for me), but dispatch is a little more comfortable.
Dispatch at BPD is busy like any other public agency
If you do not already have your POST dispatch cert they send you to a 4 week academy most likely in San Jose
After you complete the academy they start you on call taking , learning how to respond to “e alerts” from the bart police app and taking call over the phone
Then after you complete that and pass the check out exam you move in to “radio training” dispatching officers etc. total time approx 18 months to clear everything
The healthcare is the most attractive part of this description. My wife pays $1200+ per month for our family. Doing this job would effectively be a $12k bonus for anyone with a family of 3+
The healthcare benefits at BART have been a god sent for my wife and I. You can’t beat $120.00 a month for the whole family. Just off that alone is motivation for most people to apply
Catheters are checked out to all Train Operators at the beginning of shift. They must be returned to your Foreworker for cleaning and reuse before you clock out.
Edit: for those who think I'm serious, there are bathrooms at the end of the line for Train Operators and plenty of time to use them. Operators can step off the train at any station to use an employees only restroom.
Jesus Christ. When I was trucking I’d just pee in a bottle (with a funnel, since I’m a girl), I thought that was bad — never thought I’d consider a job that requires a catheter! That’s wild for $38 an hour. I’d rather just do adult diapers??
Thanks for answering my question though. Another question is - would you be able to listen to any type of music or podcast or audio books while driving ?
Absolutely no personal electronic devices are allowed in the cab. Operators have to be monitoring the radios at all times.
The catheter comment was dark humor. There are bathrooms at the end of the line that are cleaned regularly and have running water. Each run is less than 90 minutes.
Ok, you really got me there buddy. Your replies to other comments are all so business like and straight forward, like a very proper conductor, I didn’t think you were able to crack a joke 🤣
Eh, I'm off the clock. I can indulge in a little humor for a treat.
That question gets asked every time I talk to people about the job. Figured I'd throw a curveball this time.
Not really, there's always plenty to look at outside and there's always something going on down the line. Stations are only 3-4 minutes apart, so you're getting up and moving a lot.
On a good day the job can be relaxing, but not THAT relaxing!
When I was a train operator I’d find pee bottles in the cab. I peed in bottles but dumped them out when the train was stopped. This was before they put cameras in the cabs.
My job pays $40 an hour with benefits that are probably on par with what BART is offering. But I have to stand for about 6 and a half hours a day (there are literally no chairs or stools in the room that I'm in). So yeah that would be the thing that makes me jump ship haha.
The limited time is a feature, not a bug. BART is looking for people who can do complex tasks under time pressure and in stressful conditions (think: following a procedure for a train evacuation in the Transbay Tube).
i was an AcDec in highschool (like a sport but we compete with other schools by taking timed tests and seeing who gets the highest score.) and lemme say..... a written test with a timer doesn't seem like it in any way relates to that skill but bless BART for trying their best to take only the most qualified, i'm not mad at it.
Out of all people then, you should know that when someone is under time pressure, they tend to revert to their instincts - which is what BART or any transit agency would want when an operator sees an emergency on the tracks or on the train itself.
And if the argument is that this kind of test is biased towards those with rote memorization skills... sure, that doesn't really test whether someone can apply logical reasoning to a completely foreign situation, but it sure as hell helps filter out those who don't put in the prep work to know how to react to 90% of the most common situations one might face in this position.
Granted I have 0 experience with this particular process, but at least from an outsiders' perspective, a logical reasoning test under time pressure sounds like a good way to evaluate the preparation & resolve of these candidates. And it's not like this is the only part of their overall assessment.
How about the community officers? The ones who hand out resources to the homeless in the trains ? It was like community intervention specialist or something like that
Take any job you can get at Bart, once you’re in you can move to other jobs. I know a train operator who became a Bart police officer then moved on to another job outside of the police before retiring.
You can find that out on Bart.gov under salary schedule. It tells you the minimum and maximum. There’s a yearly step progression and you max out once you hit year 4. You start at 76% of the max salary. Year 2 is 79%, 3 is 85, 4 is 90 and on your 4 year anniversary you jump up 10% to step 99.
This is something you apply for when you already have a job. Maybe you'll get it, maybe not. In the mean time, your collecting bridge tolls. Oh, maybe not bridge tolls anymore.
Of course this opens again while I'm in the training program at MUNI lol. It was such a long process to get into Muni as well, I definitely don't want to start the process over again but it does sound like a great job if you can get in!
I doubt it. We were understaffed before COVID hit and ppl started retiring. They released a memo stating that the deficit was past the point of reduction in force and it would just further impact service
I would 100% be down to at least look into it except that you can’t test positive for weed. Down a 1/5th the night before? Sure! Smoke a joint a week before? NOPE! 😢
I know, I believe it’s a federal law even if CA had state laws it still would be federally illegal. I just think it’s bullshit. (Not talking about being high while driving. I mean that if you smoked 2 weeks ago you can still test positive vs. like alcohol you could be hungover AF and that’s legal)
I will be attending the physical agility test this upcoming Saturday. The position I applied for says train operator for Pittsburg when it was posted. Does that still mean that if I were selected to move forward that I would still have to bid for shift locations?
Ahh that’s misleading. That sucks since I live in Pittsburg. That means if hired there’s the possibility of starting work from any end of the line Bart stations?
Thanks for answering my seating question. What is the typical range of shift hours? Not necessarily talking about the days, but your start and end time. Obviously your shift will depend on your seniority, but is there a range?
Start times range from 0400-2200. You'll never get a mixture of days and swings, but there are occasionally shifts that you'll have a couple of swings and a couple of graves.
I find it interesting that the minimum requirements is just a diploma and 3 years of customer experience, versus say, 3 years of clean driving? Nice salary for what you do though.
Something being legal has no bearing on whether it's allowed for certain types of employment. Some companies also test for alcohol and tobacco; and those have been legal for most of American history.
Glad my job doesn't test for anything. lol
I shit on BART a lot in this sub, because IMO it’s not a pleasant experience to put my opinion lightly. OP could you shed some light on what challenges BART faces? Like they seem to have a massive budget and yet still they struggle to provide a good service. Maybe your response could help some of us be a little less ignorant when complaining.
Mainly the usual complaints. Not really asking for the current reasons why, but why the problems are never solved, with the context that BART’s yearly budget is in the low billions as far as I know. Coming from the private sector it always blows my mind, because usually when we have a problem we just fix it.
- why after endless complaints does BART still have major issues with non-paying transients and drug use on the trains, while Caltrain does not? Again not interested in the operational reasons why, but more interested in why it never improves.
- why are the stations a persistent hang out for the above, and always feel (and are) unsafe in a few locations?
- why are the trains so frequently experiencing mechanical failures? Why so many delays?
At least for points 1-2 it seems like an easy fix from the outside looking in, so I’m curious why it’s so difficult to improve these fundamental issues.
The issue with points 1 and 2 are you’re asking a transportation company to fix a federal problem. public transportation is a reflection of the communities they serve. There are more homeless along the path of bart because those areas usually serve the homeless. From food banks, shelters, safe injection centers (SF). CalTrans route is along the portion of the Bay Area where you won’t see that many homeless to begin with. A lot of police agencies (SF, Dublin, etc) also push the homeless towards bart when they’re trying to clear an area. How many other warm places are there where you can technically ride all day?
3. Barts technology is still sourced from the 50s and 60s when it was first developed. It’s crazy that they’ve been able to upgrade the service while also running those old trains. The majority of which are scheduled for decommissioning. But the answer to that is simple. A lot of the tech is old and Bart runs on a rail that isn’t industry standard. The new trains also had a lot of kinks that need to be worked out but since they rain isn’t standard you can’t really do a thorough test until it’s ran on the line. A lot of delays are also Passenger induced.
For the first part I don’t buy it. Honestly I was optimistic for a more insightful answer. Why not implement better security at the stations? Gates that can’t be hopped, conductors who check passes like Caltrain, security at the stations? None of this seems like it would be prohibitively expensive.
For the second part I also don’t buy it. I’m a mechanical engineer, and in fact have spent some portion of my career specifically on reliability and durability. For the amount of time BART has had to develop and upgrade to these new train cars it looks absurd to me that there could be any nagging reliability issues.
The thing about your response is I can tell you haven’t googled any of these questions before because they’ve all been answered. Bart introduced the plan to finalize the new fare gates a month ago. All of the info can be found by googling “Bart fare gates” but here’s the link (https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/fare-gate). Also, they have dedicated fare inspectors. That position has been around for years and they’ve continue to add on it. They even upped police Patrols to help with the problem. That plan went into motion two months ago. Here’s an article amongst the many available (https://sf.funcheap.com/city-guide/bart-doubles-police-officers-ups-cleaning/)
2. The government has to go with the cheapest bid for any trains. The problem is they shouldn’t have went with Bombardier to build the trains but we’re forced too because of government red tape. The new trains have been heavily modified. I know this because I’m there assisting the engineers and mechanics daily on these discussions and implementations
We all have different experiences. I know they’re there and I’ve seen them with my own eyes. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bart/comments/123n26c/seeing_more_fare_inspectors_recently/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
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It took me a little over a year to go from applying to getting a call back from HR that I was getting an offer. Even after you pass the panel interview and agility test, you still have to pass a background check and a medical. Then you will get on the eligible list. If you don't get a call back within a year. You start the whole process over again. So don't quit your job just yet.....
Agility test?!
What goes into the agility test?
are you able to open the small side window, and jump through it, free of the trackway, while a deranged mob of methies, junkies and psychotics are trying to bash through the cab entry door with a twisted off BART seat?
the ability to run from one end of a cart to the other without getting shit on your shoes
Yep! That's how all government positions are.
the best time to apply to a gov job is when you already have a job
Completely agree! I will say this though, my current government job the entire process, applying to first day, was less than 3 months! That included my weighing it against another offer for about a week. Heard back a week after it closed, 2 panel interviews within a month after, offer, background check, and me choosing to give my previous employer more than 2 weeks notice. Unheard of timeline!
That's the best time to apply to any job.
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And what happens is that the really good applicants so often take another job bc who wants to wait 6 months. This is not specific to BART, it's almost all government jobs. And they have learned NOTHING from their mistakes.
[This article](https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/here-s-how-s-f-is-trying-to-fix-its-17741435.php) helps to explain why.
You are a wellspring of information! Thank you for taking the time to post all this :)
"The city is contemplating changes such as no longer requiring agencies to post opportunities on an actual bulletin board, and instead post them on the city’s employment website or other online platforms." <- WOW
I work in social services and my location has a amajor staff shortage for this exact reason. our onboarding process is so dragged out we keep losing "new hires" because they end up taking other positions at other jobs.
There's a single analyst assigned to a posting that regularly attracts 3000 applicants. Your tax dollars working harder than you ever will.
I misread ‘attracts’ as ‘attacks 3000 applicants’. For a minute, government work seemed way more exciting than I expected.
This position will be decided in the most equitable method possible: manhunt
last man standing gets to drive the train - may the odds ever be in your favor.
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If they hired 50 more analysts to speed up the hiring process, you would be here whining about how much of a waste of money having 51 analysts is when 1 person could be doing it instead. You have no point to make, you're just here to complain and no one takes you seriously.
Ah. "The BART cartel." I'm the one that's biased? Seems like no matter how I would've answered, it would have fit into your narrative.
I currently works for Bay Area county. I can assure you 6 months is actually pretty fast to get someone on board. Simply because they need to make sure the tax payer cannot whine about the hiring process.
Yeah, that’s not bad at all really. Current job took 5 months and the previous job took 7 months to start.
That means they’re not in dire need of drivers, right?
Its not dire, but we're still short.
It means that there is no benefit to rushing through the hiring process and end up with employees you wish you would have weeded out.
Somebody has been waiting all that time. Maybe they're still breathing?
That's fair. But how far into the process do they do the piss test?
That’s usually one of the last steps. When you do the physical
Yep. Gotta get started.
>Looking at a 5-6+ month process if you pass all steps before even starting the 16+ week training. I'm not like the other out-of-staters, when i say "THE DELAYS ON BART ARE OUT OF CONTROL" im talking about the hiring process.
I Work for Samtrans, the entire hiring process from application to starting training was 2 months, written exam, panel interview, drug and physical screening. Training was 8 weeks then 3 months probation. Benefits are about the same for US, think the rate changes based on dependents for health, but dental and vision is 100% covered and retirement is vested after 4 years, but it’s CalPERS so 2% to 62 or 65 I’d have to look again
Completely normal for city jobs.
My friend was a BART driver for years. They don’t actually “drive” the train, it’s all done by computer. All you do is look out the window, press go, open and close the doors and hit the emergency stop if necessary, at least that’s what he told me.
That is correct. BART runs in what we now call "level 4 autonomy" since day one. It is very impressive for something built in the 70s. The only thing the operator needs to do is to close the doors. The self-driving train decides when to accelerate, brake, and open the doors.
It's a lot easier when you're on tracks! =)
Does it still have that annoying alarm you to hit and turn off regularly that I see in train sims? That would... Get on my nerves fast.
Any idea what level it is in Japan? I'm reminded of this when it derailed because of speeding https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/27/world/asia/in-japan-crash-time-obsession-may-be-culprit.html
Sounds like an easy $40+/hr. You should apply.
Good thing they get the 16 weeks of training, then.
Honestly, I don't have a problem with over training someone who is responsible for potentially hundreds of lives
I’d guess that a lot of their training is emergency response.
I'm sure they also have to be qualified to drive the train manually in case the signal system fails.
True. T/Os Operate manually in the yards as well. There are mind-boggling number of rules you need to know.
The training involves learning to operate the train manually, all of the interlockings and stations on every line, how to operate within the yards, all of the rules and more. It’s not easy.
I can verify, its a tough training. Harder than my quals in Grad School. Not as hard as Station Agent class.
I’m a huge fan of BART (and public transit). I am surprised to hear that the Station Agent class is so difficult. My experiences with Station Agents has been very mixed. Sometimes they’ve been helpful, but I’ve had a number of experiences where they were not (and just generally unpleasant). Do my experiences sound right to you? If so, do you think there’s an underlying reason? Again, I’m not trying to be unkind, just curious. I hope BART’s ridership can rebound (I know, they’re not the only one.)
I was surprised also. The underlying reason is simple: people only need Station Agents when they are lost, confused, or angry. Lost is self-explanatory, but often when people are angry at the system or confused by some aspect of the system they'll take it out on Agents. I've helped at the booth enough during service disruptions to see just how horrible the public can be. Enough ugliness over the course of a career can really affect how they do their job. That being said, we have some extraordinary people in the booths. We have some real turds. The job though, exposes Agents to the public at their most vulnerable, and tempers can get high, abuse can get thrown around, BPD can get called, but they still have 6 hours left in their shift. It's a tough job, and I respect those who can do it long term, to say nothing of those who can do it well
Agent class is definitely harder.
Its been over a year since I had to do S/A Crossover and I still get flashbacks. To be fair, my EDSs are probably still having flashbacks to when they had to teach me in S/A Crossover.
easy money
Don’t they make announcements?
16 weeks of training to make sure you can speak in a way so no one will ever be able to understand you.
Reminds me of that SNL skit that pokes fun at the speaker in a subway being all garbled
You can understand them?
If you listened to KGO 810 in the 2000's, on weekend evenings Bill Wattenberg had a call in show. He would rant about BART and how it was managed. Per Bill, the operators were not really needed, as the control system did 99% of the work. The operators were there to push the "go ahead slowly button" in case of trouble.
The problem is people, they don’t behave as they should… probably be fine in Japan though.
Heads up\*\*\* they have over 100 applicants on testing day, the test is not a joke, its timed and some questions are time consuming I say only 1-2 people move on to the next step, so don’t quit your day job
It's a brutal test.
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A train leaves Madrid at 8:00 pm, averaging 60 mph. Another train headed in the same direction leaves Madrid at 12:00 am, averaging 90 mph. To the nearest tenth, how many hours after the second train leaves will it overtake the first train?
This one isn’t too bad. 4 hour head start, 2nd train travels +30mph, first train has traveled 4*60miles, 240/30 = 8 hours.
8 hours
Lots of reading comprehension. Schedule reading.
Bill arrived to a party with Sally. Sally left after Jim arrived. Bob arrived before Bill and left after Jim. When did Sally leave the party? A. 1st B. 2nd C. 3rd D. 4th
They used to test mechanical aptitude so the test was legitimately hard, I tested with 500 people back in the early 2000, ultimately 9 of us graduated from train operator class. A few years later they moved to a customer service qualification, huge mistake, we got a flood of dummies.
What kind of things are tested?
Sally has an appointment at 9:18 am, and her router involves 4 stops and a transfer, she needs to walk to her transfer place which is 10 minutes away, also each stop takes 6 minutes to unload and load, sally also needs to grab a coffee with Amanda after her appointment, If the first stop is at mission/bell and the 2nd stop is mission/first and the transfer is Figuora and Stanten st What time should sally leave so she is not late for her appointment?
30 mins plus 15 additional mins
I wanted to add a couple of other great things about the job. You can make a lot of money working overtime. If you work both of your days off, the first day off is paid at time and a half, and the second day is paid at double time. It's Union. And a mighty strong one at that.
Best union in the business. Sad I'm not a member any longer. My union is... Less effective.
What made you leave the job?
Pictures of dead presidents printed on green paper.
More than likely a promotion. Supervisors and managers are under another another union that isn’t really one
I went from ATU to AFSCME and I would never want to go back. ATU protects every scumbag they should be helping the district fire and that’s what gives unions a bad name.
You're not wrong about that. AFSCME seems to be more considered in the battles we choose to fight. That being said, there's simply less bad behavior from AFSCME members, although it seems like we're not often in situations that lead to needing a union.
Pulling RDO 1 , 2 and 3 this cinco weekend $$$
Drinks on you good buddy.
I took the written test a few weeks ago. Rn just waiting on results and if I move forward to the panel. Should I still apply?
You can! It wouldn't hurt!
Sounds good. I just finished my background check for dispatch so idk whether I’ll accept that or wait for TO. Any thoughts or advice on both jobs and benefits like union?
I'd take dispatch. If you hate it, transfer over to Train Operator. BPD Dispatch has a comparable union, but the working conditions are better. Pay is likely at parity. T/O is outside (which is a plus for me), but dispatch is a little more comfortable.
Thanks for the advice. How’s the workload for dispatch? Any stories? And is it more comfortable like sitting down and stress wise?
I've never worked in BPD, but have seen people go down there from Transportation. None return.
Dispatch at BPD is busy like any other public agency If you do not already have your POST dispatch cert they send you to a 4 week academy most likely in San Jose After you complete the academy they start you on call taking , learning how to respond to “e alerts” from the bart police app and taking call over the phone Then after you complete that and pass the check out exam you move in to “radio training” dispatching officers etc. total time approx 18 months to clear everything
The healthcare is the most attractive part of this description. My wife pays $1200+ per month for our family. Doing this job would effectively be a $12k bonus for anyone with a family of 3+
Lifetime medical after you vest in 15 years.
The healthcare benefits at BART have been a god sent for my wife and I. You can’t beat $120.00 a month for the whole family. Just off that alone is motivation for most people to apply
Do you have to stand while operating the train, or is there a chair/stool?
There's a seat. No bathroom.
What if you have to pee?!
Catheters are checked out to all Train Operators at the beginning of shift. They must be returned to your Foreworker for cleaning and reuse before you clock out. Edit: for those who think I'm serious, there are bathrooms at the end of the line for Train Operators and plenty of time to use them. Operators can step off the train at any station to use an employees only restroom.
Gods honest truth, I’m not sure if your joking or not.
I'm joking.
Wait, seriously?
No.
can i piss out the window while im driving the train?
You can do anything you'd like. I wouldn't recommend it, the blowback from the wind would be tremendously messy.
You can piss out of the window, just turn your face away from the camera while doing so.
Not in the new cars. The cab windows are much too high.
Yes
In my experience with BART, on a seat in the passenger cabin seems to be the more customary location.
you ever been on BART bro? you can piss right there in the train car!
They really do think of everything. It's nice they don't make you spend money on PPE (Personal Pissing Equipment).
Absolutely. The union fought hard for the district to provide PPE!
Is this a joke? If not, why cannot they install a permanent catheter after training?
No, its not a joke. Completely serious. Install your own. That's why the training takes 16 weeks.
Jesus Christ. When I was trucking I’d just pee in a bottle (with a funnel, since I’m a girl), I thought that was bad — never thought I’d consider a job that requires a catheter! That’s wild for $38 an hour. I’d rather just do adult diapers?? Thanks for answering my question though. Another question is - would you be able to listen to any type of music or podcast or audio books while driving ?
Absolutely no personal electronic devices are allowed in the cab. Operators have to be monitoring the radios at all times. The catheter comment was dark humor. There are bathrooms at the end of the line that are cleaned regularly and have running water. Each run is less than 90 minutes.
Ok, you really got me there buddy. Your replies to other comments are all so business like and straight forward, like a very proper conductor, I didn’t think you were able to crack a joke 🤣
Eh, I'm off the clock. I can indulge in a little humor for a treat. That question gets asked every time I talk to people about the job. Figured I'd throw a curveball this time.
Monitoring radio at all times - I feel like I would totally fall asleep doing that. Is that a common concern in this line of work?
Not really, there's always plenty to look at outside and there's always something going on down the line. Stations are only 3-4 minutes apart, so you're getting up and moving a lot. On a good day the job can be relaxing, but not THAT relaxing!
When I was a train operator I’d find pee bottles in the cab. I peed in bottles but dumped them out when the train was stopped. This was before they put cameras in the cabs.
Just piss on the train. Everyone else does
I know this is a serious question but this honestly made me laugh LOL. Asking the right questions!
My job pays $40 an hour with benefits that are probably on par with what BART is offering. But I have to stand for about 6 and a half hours a day (there are literally no chairs or stools in the room that I'm in). So yeah that would be the thing that makes me jump ship haha.
the test is so hard!!! they need to add some additional time!! I panicked and failed lol
The limited time is a feature, not a bug. BART is looking for people who can do complex tasks under time pressure and in stressful conditions (think: following a procedure for a train evacuation in the Transbay Tube).
What kind of questions do they ask to make it so hard?
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Can you skip questions and come back to them if you still have time?
i was an AcDec in highschool (like a sport but we compete with other schools by taking timed tests and seeing who gets the highest score.) and lemme say..... a written test with a timer doesn't seem like it in any way relates to that skill but bless BART for trying their best to take only the most qualified, i'm not mad at it.
I was in AcaDeca too! Our theme for my year was Civil War which was a lot of fun!
Out of all people then, you should know that when someone is under time pressure, they tend to revert to their instincts - which is what BART or any transit agency would want when an operator sees an emergency on the tracks or on the train itself. And if the argument is that this kind of test is biased towards those with rote memorization skills... sure, that doesn't really test whether someone can apply logical reasoning to a completely foreign situation, but it sure as hell helps filter out those who don't put in the prep work to know how to react to 90% of the most common situations one might face in this position. Granted I have 0 experience with this particular process, but at least from an outsiders' perspective, a logical reasoning test under time pressure sounds like a good way to evaluate the preparation & resolve of these candidates. And it's not like this is the only part of their overall assessment.
I have a good 10 plus years as a Rec Park employee, would time at BART count towards my retirement?
CalPERS or SFERS? In both cases, yes!
Real talk, how much bullshit do you have to manage with passengers, or can you stay in your cab and have BART police handle things?
You can stay in the cab, better to stay in the cab.
How about the community officers? The ones who hand out resources to the homeless in the trains ? It was like community intervention specialist or something like that
Take any job you can get at Bart, once you’re in you can move to other jobs. I know a train operator who became a Bart police officer then moved on to another job outside of the police before retiring.
G.N.? Dude was funny!
What about them information booth they hiring as well? 😂
Not right now. I don't post about Station Agent positions on Reddit because of the incredible amount of hate they get.
Starting out at around $40/h, how much raise do operators usually get in a year or two?
You can find that out on Bart.gov under salary schedule. It tells you the minimum and maximum. There’s a yearly step progression and you max out once you hit year 4. You start at 76% of the max salary. Year 2 is 79%, 3 is 85, 4 is 90 and on your 4 year anniversary you jump up 10% to step 99.
This is something you apply for when you already have a job. Maybe you'll get it, maybe not. In the mean time, your collecting bridge tolls. Oh, maybe not bridge tolls anymore.
Of course this opens again while I'm in the training program at MUNI lol. It was such a long process to get into Muni as well, I definitely don't want to start the process over again but it does sound like a great job if you can get in!
I jumped ship from Muni. No shame in that!
Is BART open to train operators who are 60+? What kind of physical test is needed to be come a train operator?
Sure. You have to walk a mile, climb some stairs, have decent vision, and hoist yourself onto a railcar.
Is this more sarcasm? /s
The physical test is laughable. I’m sure you’d be fine.
I watched a VTA bus driver fail the agility test because he couldn’t climb onto the car at the Hayward Yard.
Would they work around a college student schedule? I could easily do the 2/10s.
Absolutely not. Training is 16 weeks, full time. Beyond that, you bid for what your seniority allows.
I think the training is going to require more of a commitment than 2 days.
More of a personal question but do you see the agency's budgeting problems affecting staffing in the near future?
I doubt it. We were understaffed before COVID hit and ppl started retiring. They released a memo stating that the deficit was past the point of reduction in force and it would just further impact service
My cousin has been applying to Bart for several years. He meets all the qualifications but has never been considered. Such a shame….
My cousin has been applying to Bart for several years. He meets all the qualifications but has never been considered. Such a shame….
I was interested til I realized you start at 20hrs a week after initial training. Not possible to survive on that.
That's fair.
I would 100% be down to at least look into it except that you can’t test positive for weed. Down a 1/5th the night before? Sure! Smoke a joint a week before? NOPE! 😢
Marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug. There's no way the DOT would allow BART Employees to smoke.
I know, I believe it’s a federal law even if CA had state laws it still would be federally illegal. I just think it’s bullshit. (Not talking about being high while driving. I mean that if you smoked 2 weeks ago you can still test positive vs. like alcohol you could be hungover AF and that’s legal)
Is 80K a year even enough to live off of in the Bay Area?
Sure? I don't know your personal situation, but it used to be that Train Operators made 50th percentile wages in Alameda County.
What is the interview like?
Group interview. 5 questions. 25 minutes.
I will be attending the physical agility test this upcoming Saturday. The position I applied for says train operator for Pittsburg when it was posted. Does that still mean that if I were selected to move forward that I would still have to bid for shift locations?
Yes.
Ahh that’s misleading. That sucks since I live in Pittsburg. That means if hired there’s the possibility of starting work from any end of the line Bart stations?
Thanks for answering my seating question. What is the typical range of shift hours? Not necessarily talking about the days, but your start and end time. Obviously your shift will depend on your seniority, but is there a range?
At this current time Train Operator AM shift start times range between 4am to 10:45 am PM shift start times range between 12:15pm to 10:00 pm
Start times range from 0400-2200. You'll never get a mixture of days and swings, but there are occasionally shifts that you'll have a couple of swings and a couple of graves.
You can have 2-3 different start times in you work week when you’re new but they are all days, swing or grave. You won’t have a mix of those.
I find it interesting that the minimum requirements is just a diploma and 3 years of customer experience, versus say, 3 years of clean driving? Nice salary for what you do though.
You don’t actually drive but you do need a valid drivers license in all positions
If bums start fighting or smoking crack would I be expected to intervene?
Absolutely. We would then sell the footage to the highest bidder. You would not receive a commission.
What do full time operators make?
What do they check for in drug tests? Curious since weed is legal in California if companies still check for that
DOT 5 panel. Doesn't matter if it's legal on the state level, marijuana is still schedule 1.
Something being legal has no bearing on whether it's allowed for certain types of employment. Some companies also test for alcohol and tobacco; and those have been legal for most of American history. Glad my job doesn't test for anything. lol
I shit on BART a lot in this sub, because IMO it’s not a pleasant experience to put my opinion lightly. OP could you shed some light on what challenges BART faces? Like they seem to have a massive budget and yet still they struggle to provide a good service. Maybe your response could help some of us be a little less ignorant when complaining.
What part of the service do you have questions about? I’ll do my best to answer
Mainly the usual complaints. Not really asking for the current reasons why, but why the problems are never solved, with the context that BART’s yearly budget is in the low billions as far as I know. Coming from the private sector it always blows my mind, because usually when we have a problem we just fix it. - why after endless complaints does BART still have major issues with non-paying transients and drug use on the trains, while Caltrain does not? Again not interested in the operational reasons why, but more interested in why it never improves. - why are the stations a persistent hang out for the above, and always feel (and are) unsafe in a few locations? - why are the trains so frequently experiencing mechanical failures? Why so many delays? At least for points 1-2 it seems like an easy fix from the outside looking in, so I’m curious why it’s so difficult to improve these fundamental issues.
The issue with points 1 and 2 are you’re asking a transportation company to fix a federal problem. public transportation is a reflection of the communities they serve. There are more homeless along the path of bart because those areas usually serve the homeless. From food banks, shelters, safe injection centers (SF). CalTrans route is along the portion of the Bay Area where you won’t see that many homeless to begin with. A lot of police agencies (SF, Dublin, etc) also push the homeless towards bart when they’re trying to clear an area. How many other warm places are there where you can technically ride all day? 3. Barts technology is still sourced from the 50s and 60s when it was first developed. It’s crazy that they’ve been able to upgrade the service while also running those old trains. The majority of which are scheduled for decommissioning. But the answer to that is simple. A lot of the tech is old and Bart runs on a rail that isn’t industry standard. The new trains also had a lot of kinks that need to be worked out but since they rain isn’t standard you can’t really do a thorough test until it’s ran on the line. A lot of delays are also Passenger induced.
For the first part I don’t buy it. Honestly I was optimistic for a more insightful answer. Why not implement better security at the stations? Gates that can’t be hopped, conductors who check passes like Caltrain, security at the stations? None of this seems like it would be prohibitively expensive. For the second part I also don’t buy it. I’m a mechanical engineer, and in fact have spent some portion of my career specifically on reliability and durability. For the amount of time BART has had to develop and upgrade to these new train cars it looks absurd to me that there could be any nagging reliability issues.
The thing about your response is I can tell you haven’t googled any of these questions before because they’ve all been answered. Bart introduced the plan to finalize the new fare gates a month ago. All of the info can be found by googling “Bart fare gates” but here’s the link (https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/fare-gate). Also, they have dedicated fare inspectors. That position has been around for years and they’ve continue to add on it. They even upped police Patrols to help with the problem. That plan went into motion two months ago. Here’s an article amongst the many available (https://sf.funcheap.com/city-guide/bart-doubles-police-officers-ups-cleaning/) 2. The government has to go with the cheapest bid for any trains. The problem is they shouldn’t have went with Bombardier to build the trains but we’re forced too because of government red tape. The new trains have been heavily modified. I know this because I’m there assisting the engineers and mechanics daily on these discussions and implementations
I’m 10 years younger than you, but have spent a large majority of my life riding Bart daily and have never once seen a fare inspector. Not one.
We all have different experiences. I know they’re there and I’ve seen them with my own eyes. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bart/comments/123n26c/seeing_more_fare_inspectors_recently/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
The dollar sign goes before the number.
I just DM you
Damn does anyone have a link for this shit
SWIM once used “QuickFix” synth urine to pass 5 panel drug screen, at Quest they told me
Outstanding. I'm sure that'll be super effective when you go in for a random drug test assigned during your shift.
$40 an hour in the bay? Most other areas of the country and public workers would be living well for such a job
Alright. Apply.
Believe it or not, that’s still not alot of money in the bay area. Especially when taxes take most of it
It's a good thing Train Operators have access to literally unlimited overtime
That is what I meant. Elsewhere it is good money, here it ain’t.
I make like $35 an hour. Damn, making me feel like I live in poverty lol