BART and all other public transit agencies

[Robert A Whit]

I have ridden the NY City subway, seen the Metro running in VA and DC and more.

Taxpayers paid for my work to construct BART. BART is on strike. Who knows the typical earnings of their transit workers? BART has long paid our workers an average income of $134,000 based on figures told to viewers on our local TV news.

And they want more.

We have 13 counties around the SF Bay. A few counties opted in for BART. Many rejected BART when we got to vote on it. I admit making a good living working on BART but my job at the time was dangerous. A life could be lost at any moment.

What this is all about is this transit thing is spreading. The costs to build are always told to voters to be a lot less than it really ends up being. You must not rely on the numbers you are told by politicians. They may not be lying, but you are not being told the truth. The cost to build is only the starting place.

Now built, you must keep paying to keep the system up. And workers demand more and more income. They feel they have you by your balls, so they jack you up to get super incomes.

I am pretty sure that my old union does not get my former worker craft near the money those who sit in a computerized cab of a machine make. They don't work. They ride as the computer does the job. They are there in case the computer makes a mistake. And the cost of tickets is sky high.

The owners of large personal boats have told me that the boat is a hole in the water they pour money into.

Rapid transit is such a hole.

Now that BART is not working, the public at large clogs the roads. We did a vast disservice by having substandard roads is how I see it.

[tailfins]

What if they renamed it from Bay Area Rapid Transit to Frisco Area Rapid Transit?

[Marcus Aurelius]

What if they renamed it from Bay Area Rapid Transit to Frisco Area Rapid Transit?

How about Transgender Area Rapid Transit?

[Voted4Reagan]

BART... what a useless investment.

Same as AMTRAK

Same as the Long Island Railroad

Same as all other Union Operated Transportation Providers...

They are CROOKS...

[Robert A Whit]

What if they renamed it from Bay Area Rapid Transit to Frisco Area Rapid Transit?

These workers pay a grand total per month for their health care $92.00

Not $920 or $500, but NINTY TWO DOLLARS. And they want more.

And I will try to explain their monthly income this way, and this is only average.

$134,000 per year = $11,117 per month. Almost $2,800 per week.

Yet they demand a raise? These train jockeys sure are full of themselves.

Who recalls my statement that they get paid for sitting? They ride just the way the passengers that pay get to ride. Computers run those trains.

[Marcus Aurelius]

These workers pay a grand total per month for their health care $92.00

Not $920 or $500, but NINTY TWO DOLLARS. And they want more.

And I will try to explain their monthly income this way, and this is only average.

$134,000 per year = $11,117 per month. Almost $2,800 per week.

Yet they demand a raise? These train jockeys sure are full of themselves.

Who recalls my statement that they get paid for sitting? They ride just the way the passengers that pay get to ride. Computers run those trains.

you're full of shit with your numbers...

http://www.thenation.com/blog/175063...#axzz2XwFGrvde

Workers are asking for a wage increase (they haven’t received one in five years) and improved safety measures (bullet-proof glass in station booths, better lighting in tunnels, etc.). The union is asking for a 23 percent raise over four years, and BART countered with an offer of an 8 percent raise over four years, but the union says this offer falls below cost of living increases.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013...why-it-matters

According to salary data scraped by journalist John Osborn and accumulated by the Bay Area News Group last year, average base salary for both station agents and full time train operators is around $56,000 a year. (Add to this the average overtime pay of around $10,000 for station agents and $17,000 for full time train operators.)

[Robert A Whit]

I admit I got my numbers from ABC or CBS news.

They reported the numbers I used.

BTW, I think mother jones is full of shit and so is any fool quoting them.

By the way, your figures probably are starting wages paid.

[Marcus Aurelius]

I admit I got my numbers from ABC or CBS news.

They reported the numbers I used.

BTW, I think mother jones is full of shit and so is any fool quoting them.

By the way, your figures probably are starting wages paid.

You responded pretty quick for a guy who has me on 'ignore', dumb ass.

I'll trust sourced numbers over 'hey, I saw it on tv someplace' numbers any day. You can 'think' anything you like about the numbers, but if you disagree with them (as I did with yours) it's up to you to provide evidence to back up your claim (as I did).

You claim shit all the time, and rarely, if ever, back those claims up.

[Robert A Whit]

Go to the cage little man. If you want to fight me over pay for BART, start a thread in the cage.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Here's where Mother Jones got their numbers, dumb ass...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...EWHNpSEE#gid=5
Mercury News

The $130,000 you heard was for one persons high end management position base salary. Base for train operators can be $63,676, with a further $75,000 if they work ALL possible overtime, as one example on the sheet shows. Some are higher, most are lower.

Knowledge is your friend... not 'hey, I think I heard it someplace'.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Go to the cage little man. If you want to fight me over pay for BART, start a thread in the cage.

You post hearsay, I post facts, and you whine that I should take it to the cage? Are you afraid of responding to facts?

[Robert A Whit]

http://www.mercurynews.com/salaries/...e=&CPIorderBy=

[Marcus Aurelius]

http://www.mercurynews.com/salaries/...e=&CPIorderBy=

Scroll up, dumb ass. I already posted a link from Mercury News to a list of over 3,400 employee salaries.

Look at the second tab on the spreadsheet (Job Analysis). I breaks it down by position. Train Operators make from $53,672 to $106,472. The only people making $250,000 or more are high end managers, NOT train operators.

[logroller]

Scroll up, dumb ass. I already posted a link from Mercury News to a list of over 3,400 employee salaries.

Look at the second tab on the spreadsheet (Job Analysis). I breaks it down by position. Train Operators make from $53,672 to $106,472. The only people making $250,000 or more are high end managers, NOT train operators.

Awesome source; I found the same one.
the median gross compensation for an a-line train operator is just over $100k. Thats the median, it ranges from $175 to $13k. I prefer median to average on incomes because averages can be skewed by a few high earners. But this also is gross income, which includes pension, medical etc. most people don't realize how much those perks cost. (A primary reason I advocate doing away with employer funded healthcare) in the interest of comparing apples to apples it's probably best to just to look at base+OT. Of course the perks certainly have an impact on overall costs, but its useful to put the compensation in perspective with an area that has a median income of nearly $50k. Ill fart around with the numbers, but I doubt it will cast any favorable light on the union workers demands-- as its likely they are extremely well-compensated.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Awesome source; I found the same one.
the median gross compensation for an a-line train operator is just over $100k. Thats the median, it ranges from $175 to $13k. I prefer median to average on incomes because averages can be skewed by a few high earners. But this also is gross income, which includes pension, medical etc. most people don't realize how much those perks cost. (A primary reason I advocate doing away with employer funded healthcare) in the interest of comparing apples to apples it's probably best to just to look at base+OT. Of course the perks certainly have an impact on overall costs, but its useful to put the compensation in perspective with an area that has a median income of nearly $50k. Ill fart around with the numbers, but I doubt it will cast any favorable light on the union workers demands-- as its likely they are extremely well-compensated.

I don't really disagree with anything you said.

My point was to show that the initial numbers the OP mentioned were considerably high for a train operator. and that a little research on his part would have done him some good.

I agree that base + OT (assuming they work all the available OT) is a good barometer of compensation across the board.

While I am not into unions (I think they had a place once, but that has been corrupted over the last 20-30 years), I do find it odd that the train operators and such have not had a raise in 5 years. Hell, I get one every year. Not much sometimes, but it's there.

I do agree with their safety demands, though. Have you seen the crime statistics against BART workers?