The driver for my bus yesterday honked at every intersection he drove through... I asked him why and he just stared at me and looked away LOL

^^
http://rs1img.memecdn.com/because-fu..._o_1107235.jpg

Translink just called and gave me a start date for training, April 20th! This whole process has taken over a year to get in so anyone interested, prepare to wait.

So they've put up a bunch of those rubber hoses to count the traffic on Dunsmuir coming off the viaduct. Except the viaduct will be closed for two weeks for a movie shoot. I'm a little suspicious.....

That's great about training! Are you for Community Shuttle or the regular buses?

I just heard back about training and I start next Monday April 13th for Community Shuttle. I think I applied last Feb or March, and my interview was in September.

Regular bus. Good luck man. I have to go for a uniform fitting and documentation next week before I start on the 20th, can't wait!

Nice. I got my uniform last week and had my documentation meeting yesterday.

Are you hired FT?

Yes

How have I not read any of this thread before? Translink is a great company to work for, despite their shitty rep.

Congrats, and good luck with training! It's pretty in-depth, so make sure you're awake throughout with lots of coffee.
The most tedious part that is still ingrained in my brain is the damn pretrip, as Gunsmokez mentioned. You will come to know it very well in training, and (probably) the rest of your career.

I already memorized the pre trip video that Gunsmokez posted on the page before :)

Congrats Dave!

to all the future drivers out there, stay safe and hope it isn't that stressful for you.

Thanks James!

Good luck , remember to have fun too. Get to know your classmates really well. You guys will be relying on each other while going through this whole process. They will also be life long friends throught out your career with CMBC.

Oh yah forgot, to mention. They have a kerig machine now on the 4th floor lunch room, sugar, and coffee whitener is supplied. Just bring your own k-cup.

The 4th floor will be the training dept floor. 1st floor being bus,2nd maintenance and service i think, 3 floor is the main floor (Bullpen,operations supervisors,Depot staff)

Some of the amenities there are pool table, queit rooms, air hockey,ping pong table, work out gym and shower washers all on third floor as well. (Had a class mate would go work out after every class because he lived in surrey and didnt want to hit traffic) Would also stay there and did his homework before going home.

Also, if you havent yet done ride alongs PLEASE do so. IT will help you out alot and maybe bring down some anxieties you might have of dealing with customers. Heard a story of a guy that quit when it came down to revenue service because he couldn't deal with passengers.

Ride the 3,8,14,16,20 evening shifts wouldl be ideal. Most drivers are very accomodating and will tell you what things to look out for and how to deal certain types.

Should say Congradulations as well!!! to both of you that made it. CMBC is an awesome company to work for.

My buddy has been a bus driver for the past two years and he loves it. The drug test scared him but once he went clean with smoking for a couple months and passed hes been cronic since

^ LOL

hot box the bus?

he told me no problem if no one else is on it haha

Well I just finished my first week of training for community shuttle. Monday was in Vancouver and we played with the DCU and fairbox stuff. The rest of the week has been in PoCo and we've had classroom stuff in the morning followed by some time driving later in the day. The hours are 6am-2pm. PoCo works great for me since I live in Pitt Meadows.

Driving the bus has been fun. It was pretty intimidating on the first day since I've never driven anything that big before, but it's a lot better now and I'm getting more confident. I can't imagine what it's like starting out on the conventional buses if you've never driven anything big! I'm glad I'm starting on the shuttle bus.

So far the experience has been pretty positive. Nice to be getting paid for training for sure. I almost wish training was more than 9 days to really get things figured out but I guess I'll be ok!

For you conventional guys, maybe I might see a couple of you going through the farebox hut :) Don't usually do it but sometimes there are pieces of OT that I pick up.

I spent a good 2 hours today doing ride alongs and talking to bus drivers. Asked a bunch of questions and they were all really nice to me :thumbsup:. Might do another few hours this weekend before training starts Monday, can't wait!

Good that you are doing ride alongs, it will help you a lot. Gives you a bit of what to expect and also tips from drivers are always helpful.

If you are not familiar with Vancouver routes, do more ride alongs so you won't get lost when it is time on your own. Trolley's just gotta follow the wire. But diesel on the other hand, you can make wrong turns and such.

22 (Knight,Dunbarloop),25 (Brentwood/UBC),33 (29th stn/UBC) ,41 (Joyce/UBC) ,100 22ndstn/Marople loop, 15/50 (Cambie/Granville Island) <---this one is fucking confusing first time around.

Or you can look at google maps and study it that way. After your are out of class, they kinda expect you to know the routes. You won't know what you are doing till 5 or 6pm the day before when you are on spareboard.

I've had it one time, where I finished a job at 2600. Took it back to the yard, and then went to look up to see what kinda work Im doing next day. Only to find out, I'm working in exactly 8 hours later on a piece I have no clue of where it goes. That day was special, because all the senior spareboard guys took all late work. So, I got bumped up to the earliest time I was allowed to work (8 hours later lol ) That was fucked up!

I've had my first 3 shifts on the Community Shuttle bus this week. I prepared well by writing notes for directions and checking the route out on google maps so I didn't have to read the small text on the paddle. Every day has gone really well so far. I made one or two wrong turns but got back on route quickly. Monday and Tuesday I was in Burnaby and yesterday I was in Delta. Yesterday was a bit boring with almost no passengers but at least it was stress-free. Overall really enjoying the job so far.

lol i hoe all the busses and trains