Is it really that bad being an NJT bus driver? (store, buses)

[MemoryMaker]

So I've been taking the NJT bus on and off for a few months now and I notice that about 70% of the bus drivers that I've encountered seem visibly disgruntled and angry. I've been taking different bus lines at different times of day so I get exposed to numerous different drivers.

Obviously, I know that being a bus driver is not quite the best job in the world and I'm sure they have to deal with some idiot people every now and then; but is there even more to the story?

Is it really that bad? Do you get tough deadlines and a lot of pressure from your superiors? Do you find the NJT organization to treat and value you well? Is the pay less than you deserve? What annoys you the most about your job and what do you like best?

Thanks for your response and sorry if I come off some type of way. I mean no harm.

[Blue biker]

Don't forget they have to drive NJ roads with drivers that don't care about buses, don't want to get stuck behind one, etc. Then they have to deal with traffic, the people that ride the buses. I don't think the pay is really what it should be for the job. I know they worked without a union contract for a few years.

Schedules are probably picked by seniority, so to get a good schedule may take years. I used to ride a bus that started in Warwick, NY and went to Port Authority. Then the bus would get parked in Weehawken, and the driver returned about 6hrs later to make the return trip. This particular driver found work in a store near PA in NY, otherwise he basically would have sat around for 6hrs. He probably put in over a 14hr day. Bus drivers have to have a commercial drivers license and a passenger endorsement, a physical, and a background check.

[exhdo1]

I know a few people in the past who were retired that eventually had to go back to work for health benefits. Some went to work for NJT and were pretty miserable about it.

[SeventhFloor]

They do drive some pretty old buses, I see the 120 by my job all the time, that alone must suck

[jaymoney]

Have you asked the bus drivers?

[ansky]

If I had a job where I did not have access to a bathroom when needed I would be pretty unhappy too.

[kateskouros]

i have no idea how bad it is, but i agree that most are angry and disgruntled. my husband and i used to ride the bus into midtown every morning together until one day a crazy driver decided he'd drive that rolling barge down a narrow street at about 90 mph. the bus was leaning on tight curves that i thought for sure we'd roll over. that was it for me. i was a NY waterway ferry customer from that point on.

whatever their problem it's far worse being a passenger.

[lammius]

I used to know someone who drove a bus (not for NJT), and he didn't love it. The schedulers assumed he could run the route in an hour. They built in a 15-minute break before he'd have to start the route back. The problem is that the ACTUAL run time was much more than an hour, so he never got the break. He worked a full shift sometimes with no food or bathroom break. He told me he'd urinate in a can or a plastic bag if he had a minute between runs.

And then there's the passengers. Most are fine, but you occasionally get one who wants to argue with the driver, spit on the driver, etc.

I'd be grumpy too if that were my job day in and day out.