uh oh, CTA wants to raise fares

[roma2585]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

100k a year might be a bit much. However, have you ever been on a bus in downtown Chicago? During rush hour? When it's snowing or raining? I do have to give drivers a lot of credit at times, I'm not sure I could do that job.

I give a lot of credit to the rail operators and bus drivers, especially the drivers. It's bad enough driving a car in traffic, imagine doing the same for 8 hours in a big bus.

I know a few people who work for the CTA in the offices. There are 'coordinators' and 'managers.' They always talk about how bloated it is there with managers, some people have 2 managers who co-manage no more than 2-3 people.

Seems a lot of fat can be trimmed from within. Obviously I can not confirm the truthfulness of this, but we all know how things work in this city.

[roma2585]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

I am going to take a wild crapshoot and guess that bus drivers for the CTA make 100k a year just to sit on a chair and drive a bus. NYC bus drivers make huge salaries too and so do LA. Reason why: Unions.
The Education Teacher has to A deal with Parents/B deal with snotty kids/C work overtime to make sure all homework is graded on time
If the CTA is low on money why not cut the bus driver salaries? 100k a year just to sit in a chair and drive a bus.......... hmm i might just leave Indy for Chicago to make a 6 figure salary.

Chicago Transit Authority Bus Operator Salary | Glassdoor

Glass door reports a range between 57k and 62k.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...ransit-systems

The Trib reported $28.64/hour as the TOP wage. This would result in the top bus driver salary of $59,571. Not bad, but I think it is fair. The average driver is likely making less than this.

[Milwaukee City]

From the article: "Tax revenues have also come in 48 percent less than what was budgeted by the Regional Transportation Authority, he said."

First off, are you telling me when they the RTA does a budget they all sit in a room and say "Gee Johnson well I don't know how much money we are going to bring in, we have absolutely no idea but that shouldn't stop us from passing this said here budget"

Secondly if that is the case maybe they should lower the budget. It just seems with all the smart people running government offices much smarter than me should figure out a way to prevent this from happening. Maybe next year the RTA can budget 50% less so that if there is a tax loss or not enough tax revenue they will in theory be okay. On the flip side if they budget 50% less and revenues are up well, that's something in the private sector we like to call "In The Black" which is a good thing.

On a side note but it relates in this article http://www.suntimes.com/news/8091231...portation.html. "The loosey-goosey rules allowed city employees to be reimbursed for car washes, transportation to jury duty, parking tickets, excessive parking costs and even late fees on personal credit cards.

Maybe we should make a better use of tax dollars that could be used for let's say the RTA.

PS: Didn't they budget years ago maybe decades ago a emergency fund or as my wife calls it her Nordstroms account?

[roma2585]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

First off, are you telling me when they the RTA does a budget they all sit in a room and say "Gee Johnson well I don't know how much money we are going to bring in, we have absolutely no idea but that shouldn't stop us from passing this said here budget"

Exactly. This is how most public budgets are done, including the city's. Except it goes more like this: "Johnson, last year we were $200m in the red. Revenues are down 10% consistently over the last 5 years. However, we're going to increase our budget by 20%, because, well, F it; We have bodyguards, connected charities, and crooked buddies to pay for."

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by roma2585

Exactly. This is how most public budgets are done

Exactly again, and the reason for this is pure and simple. It's not their money. I bet they the public officials don't run their households like this because after all they can't force their employer to give them more money, oh wait public officials can do that too! crap this analogy didn't work.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by roma2585

Chicago Transit Authority Bus Operator Salary | Glassdoor

Glass door reports a range between 57k and 62k.

CTA pay for bus drivers is No. 3 in nation - Chicago Tribune

The Trib reported $28.64/hour as the TOP wage. This would result in the top bus driver salary of $59,571. Not bad, but I think it is fair. The average driver is likely making less than this.

The average driver is also working less than 40 hours a week, and the average driver routinely drives through neighborhoods that would earn them combat pay if they were in the military. Under the circumstances, I'm not terribly upset with the hourly wage.

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by Drover

The average driver is also working less than 40 hours a week, and the average driver routinely drives through neighborhoods that would earn them combat pay if they were in the military. Under the circumstances, I'm not terribly upset with the hourly wage.

LOL combat pay? Yea right.