Does the public really have a distorted view of what BART employees do?

The problem is, if we get too detailed then management will punish us for even posting. I would say, as an example, however, that the $70K starting salary Senior Financial Analyst job description is fairly accurate. I know someone in this job. This job is open now, by the way.

1) Participates and/or Assists in the more difficult work of staff responsible for complex financial, statistical and program management analysis in assigned division area.
(i.e. does statistical research, using various software tools, probably has to write SQL queries, probably has to know Excel extensively, i.e. a lot more than just summing columns)

2) Analyzes contract provisions and change orders related to approved cost of work and budget allocations; analyzes and reports cost variances, ensures that cost control methods are implemented and applied to program objectives
(i.e. makes sure fed and state rules are followed)

3) Participates and/or Assists in the preparation and administration of District-wide budgets; compiles and analyzes budget data; monitors funding agreements and maintains budget schedules to assure conformance with funding agencies; ensures maintenance of expenditure records which conform to funding agency and District reporting requirements.
(i.e. fills out lots of paperwork, does lots of record keeping, pulls that information when requested by the State, Feds, or media)

4) Identifies funding sources for proposed projects; projects cash flow requirements; maintains budgetary records for proposed projects.
(i.e. seeks out sources of money, then sends that information on to the higher ups who "schmooze" for it)

5) Provides support to project managers in setting budgets, schedules and estimates; tracks progress on projects versus original budgets and schedules.
(i.e. does hand-holding for lower level managers who don't know budgeting or basic accounting, especially people with a shop-oriented background)

6) Develops and recommends improvements to computerized financial management system, as well as coordinates project activities with other departments, divisions and external agencies; monitors work in progress and authorizes contract payments.
(i.e. attends tons of meetings and comes up with ways to streamline and improve the processes)

7) Conducts financial and management studies to evaluate system performance and operating efficiencies; presents studies to communicate findings and recommendations to senior management and the Board of Directors.
(i.e. lots of political B.S., but time-consuming nonetheless)

8) Prepares analytical and statistical reports on operations and activities as well as reviews invoices; determines budget conformity; reports discrepancies and billing adjustments.
(i.e. looks for irregularities, duplicates, accounting mistakes by others, expenditures over/under budget, etc.)

...and considering train operators, station agents and system service (janitors) make up the majority of the unions it really comes as no surprise the media slants the story for such a limited group of individuals.

I do believe BART employees are paid extremely well. Those employees who think otherwise have been at BART for years and have not tried to find employment. It is not an easy task at all.

I do agree with TO9, the operators have a huge amount of responsibility, yet the public just a fraction of what they are trained to do and do it safely everyday. You (maybe) hear an announcement or see an operator close a door. Beyond that I am sure many say to themselves, "oh that's easy I can do that." The job is much more than that.

Having gone through the training we had a handful of individuals wash out the first week. These were supposedly "qualified" people! There are some very good operators at BART, many that I am glad to call a co-worker. I don't think anything said by an operator in the form of a blog would really change the opinions formed by some.

I am a train inspector in one of the maintenance yards.I have been at Bart for Twenty years this November.I came to Bart immediately after the 1989 quake as a journeyman mechanic.I have several certifications in mechanical fields.

One of the reasons for accepting a job here at the time were the benefits, not the pay. Although the pay was good, it was not above what I was able to make as a mechanic on the outside. The health, dental, and vacation benefits on the other hand were better.

In the past several contracts, We {as in union rank and file} have been publicly bashed each contract year by newspapers and news broadcasts, claiming everything from us being overpaid, underworked, to undereducated. Yet when a contract is not being settled, these same people fail to point out how Bart has enjoyed the best safety record in American rail transit. And who exactly is responsible for that. I can assure you the answer to that is not management nor Liton Johnson. It is the blue collar rank and file you can thank for that.

The most resent problems Bart trains have had, such as, main line failures that cause delays to the riding public, come directly from bad maintenance decisions by inept managers. They have shifted much needed funding from acquiring parts needed to correctly repair the trains, and choose to instead, defer maintenance until parts fail. Not only does this cause more inconvenience to the riders, but to have to inspect and repair the same train over and over again, causes what management tells you are, high labor maintenance costs.

Sometimes to defer maintenance is not a choice, but here it seems to be the normal practice. I hate to take this opportunity to point out how deferring maintenance effects everyone. In lite of the recent tragic accident in Washington { see "Washington metro"], if this practice continues down the same road, Bart will be the next tragic news headline.

That doesn't stop the media from public displaying my wages in a bad inaccurate way.Why doesn't anyone ask what the management to worker ratio is ,now that would cause public outcry if they knew the truth.

One of the reasons it appears that the rank and file seem to make so much money, is that overtime money is reflected in the numbers. If management didn't choose to under staff positions the way they do, money for working above and beyond 40 hrs a week would not drive the figures to look the way they do. Then you would be hard pressed claim " THOSE OVERPAID GREEDY UNION WORKERS".

The entire system is automated, "Stations and wayside [are a] network of control devices and track circuits controlling train speeds, stops and safe spacing. [The] backup train protection system [is called] Sequential Occupancy Release System (SORS)."*. Since the system system has been expanding since 1972, the wayside equipment is a mix of different technologies depending on the line of service and when that extension was built. It would stand to reason the newest portion of the system is the most reliable, but that is not always the case. I think this can be knocked off to BART trying to save a buck and go with a lower bid on the contract of the wayside equipment.

Everything that happens to a train arriving and departing a station SHOULD be automatic, outside of the doors closing. The train will profile down on approach to a station and stop based on its train length. If the are problems with wayside equipment of something on the train, it could cause the train to start to accelerate possibly causing a "run thru" at which point a train operator must intervene and hit the stop button. The train will then be repositioned at the end of the platform and the operator will then cycle the doors "manually."

If the stop was normal, the train will dwell of a set amount of time, the train operator will hear the door release beep and when safe to do so, close the doors, while scanning both forward and back to make sure the trackway and train are clear. The train will then accelerate out of the station to the next stop.

As for between stations, there are areas called interlockings, which contain groups of switches that are controlled automatically [or manually]. The switches align routes [usually] based on the destination of the train, but can be run by the central computer or controlled "manually" from Central.

There are times when switches won't move, for whatever reasons and require a train operator to intervene. This requires the operator to off board their train, receive instruction from Central and manually insert a crank in the switch and hand crank the necessary route.

In a perfect world the system would run automatically (and reliably) and hopefully on a daily basis this is transparent to the riding public. But as many have experience this is not the case sometimes.