bus driver

engineer

conductor

project engineer

operator

SEPTA

The work hours are long and grueling and, the work load is excessive. You do not receive overtime for working more than 40 hours per week. You work 60-70 hours per week on average but you receive straight pay. You have to be on call until you have enough seniority to be awarded a run (this could take years). When you are on call there is no way to know what run you will get called in for. You work different runs each day and there is no consistency with the hours that you work. One day you could work daytime and the very next day you could work a nighttime shift. When you are on call you cannot chose the run that you work however, management allows conductors who volunteer to work on their day off and/or conductors who have chosen to work assistant conductor runs to choose what runs they want to work. They usually chose early morning jobs that have reasonable off duty times thus, you will be called in for the leftover runs and forced to work into the late hours of the night. When you are on call you receive short notice before your shift begins. You receive a 2 hour phone call from someone who tells you your assignment details and you have to report to work in 2 hours. You work 6 days per week and you receive the phone call once per day but the call can come at anytime during the day or night. When you get hired you are asked to choose a report location so when you are on call you are supposed to get called to report to your chosen location however, you are often called to report to various report locations that you did not choose and those locations could be as far as 1-2 hours away from your home. Conductors work 6-8 trains per day or night. The average time spent on each train is 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. There is no rest room on the trains. Those trains have 2-3 trains cars open for passenger use on off peak hours but during rush hours there are 5-6 train cars open for passenger use. Conductors often work these trains alone without the help of assistant conductors because management assigns a limited amount of assistant conductors to work certain trains. It is very difficult for a conductor to work these trains alone and safely because you have to collect money, tickets and check the passes of each passenger on the train (which could be hundreds of passengers) and you also have to open and close the doors for the passengers at each station stop and the station stops are only 2-3 minutes apart from each other. Once you reach the endpoint destination of the train that you are working you often have 15-20 minutes to rest before you have to get back on the train and return to the starting location. For example: if you begin a trip at suburban station and the trains destination is Trenton transit center (which is a 50 minute trip) you will have 15 minutes to use the rest room and rest at the station in Trenton before you have to leave and work the train back to suburban station. However, you have to do a brake test each time you reach your destination and this takes 5-10 minutes so you never get the full 15-20 minutes rest time. You also feel very unsafe when you are working the trains alone especially at night. Some shifts end at 1-3:30am and working those hours alone without police protection is dangerous. Conductors suffer from fatigue and physical body pain. Day off request get denied and you are forced to call out of work for any personal issue or emergency that you may have. You do not get paid when you call out of work. The morale is extremely low and you have limited to no time to spend with your family and loved ones.

This job is a thankless one. After 1year of not knowing what to expect schedule wise and about 5 years of working rotating schedules picked by seniority you then become a regular operator.  New regular operators usually get of the barrel runs that either don’t pay much or get off extremely late because the better runs are taken by senior operators. Almost everything about this job is seniority based even the some of the managerial positions. This job promotes from within but does go outside of the organization from time to time. Managers are trigger happy and will write you up for just about anything if they don’t like you. They aren’t fair and pick and choose who they want to go after and who they want to let slide. The rules and contract lingo are outdated. There are many levels of management and that creates confusion, kind of like organized chaos. You have one person telling you to do one thing another telling you to do something totally different and not communicating to each other. Coworkers are generally nice and helpful. It’s best to stay out of the mainstream and just go and make your money because it can become high schoolish real quick with the gossip and he say she say. The pay is good for the industry I make about 70-80k per year based on what run I pick. The benefits are competitive. Dealing with the public can be stressful you just have to have thick skin and stay positive. This organization has become more customer oriented in the last few years so they cater to the public . You don’t really have a lunch break so be prepared to be hungry from  time to time. They have bathrooms at the end of the line on most routes or along the route.  If you come to work on time, follow the rules and stay out of accidents you will have a secure job. It’s not what I thought it’s just a check and it’s kind of stressful.  You can transfer to other departments and I will be doing that, transferring is seniority based also.

A typical work  for me when I worked for SEPTA could be extremely busy or extremely slow, I received alot  of hands on training at  Septa, I repaired and maintained their revenue equipment fareboxes, fare vending machines, etc. when I first started management was excellent but once they started promoting new supervisors the moral of the shop went down, I was had a lot of problems with the new managers, they didn't appreciate my work, I was not treated well and was harassed in my opinion by them continuously slandering my name and reputation, work culture was nice at first but declined when management changed, the hardest part of the job was not the physical work, the hardest part was not being appreciated or acknowledged for my hard work I dedicated 10 years at Septa performed excellent work a pic  of me and other women of trades was put up on the walls at 1234 market to display our excellent work as a woman of trade but yet I was treated horribly for absolutely no reason at all, the most enjoyable was working with coworkers and management that appreciated you and your hard work at one point it was like that when I first started there.

Everyone who says if you got a job for Septa you got a good job and in hindsight it is. Health care is good, pension, the pay is good but the management of this company is horrible. You have some of the worse people in high places in charge. You are a number and are replaceable. As a worker your at the bottom of the pecking order.  If something were to happen that's out of your control or had nothing to do with you, somehow you find yourself at the end of the stick of being in trouble. Assist Directors give orders to their managers for their jobs to preform for the week but the other part of their job is like a cop trying to meet a quota instead of tickets, their write ups. This place can be a blessing with some of the people you work with and can make the job. After being there for awhile there like family. Union is basically there just to keep your job and nothing else. When they go to contract talks with Septa just proves Septa doesn't give care about you while you bust your butt. They handled the beginning COVID outbreak horribly. No hazard pay, no personal days earned, nothing.  Like I said you are Expandable. You do have to thick skin at this place. Lot of hazing/teasing for awhile being the new guy but you prove yourself through your work and people will respect ya.

Duties also require periodic standing to assist passengers. Moderate lifting, bending, twisting and crouching may be required to assist passengers in boarding and exiting vehicle, including carrying packages and lifting wheelchairs weighing up to 50 lbs.; loading/unloading and pushing/pulling occupied wheelchairs without assistance (with assistance if there is more than one step). While driving, the employee may be exposed to hazards related to adverse weather conditions or vehicular traffic. Must be able to reach and stretch to do pre/post check of vehicle, adjust mirrors and operate radio and MDT. Must be able to operate small to large vans and buses. Knowledge of: basic customer relations techniques; the service area; the safe operation of vehicles, and applicable State Motor Vehicle Laws. Ability to: work with older adults and persons with disabilities, and deal tactfully and effectively with individuals of varying backgrounds in stressful situations; promote good passenger relations; prepare accurate records and reports; communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; read and apply written rules, regulations, policies and procedures; pass required drug and alcohol testing.  Completed training in Driver Orientation, Passenger Assistance, Bloodborne Pathogens, and Coaching Van Driver 2.

I fix and repair all mechanical equipment in Suburban Transit Division of SEPTA. examples
bus lifts- screw lifts,hydraulic lifts, platform lifts.
train lifts- screw lifts 40 ton
overhead cable gantry cranes-20 ton
all chain fall hoists
12'x12' overhead doors
steel roll-up doors; various sizes
air compressors- screw,piston,diaphram
underground tank farms-monthly  EPA-PADEP inspections
fuel delivery systems; fuel lanes,in-tank pumps,hoses,nozzles,meters,piping,etc.
above ground product delivery and containment systems; waste oil,motor oil,anti-freeze pneumaticly pumped.
inspect and repair escalators,elevators,rotoray gates.
bus and train washers; all related equipment- water recovery, transfer pumps, plc's,gear boxes,bearings,chain drives,brush collars,pistons,switches,etc.
trouble shoot electrical to service disconnect.control circuits, both high and low voltage.
assit all other buildings trades when needed. 
certified QPE for work fouling Market/Frankford Subway-Elevated
Broad Street Subway, Norristown High Speed Line and Media/Sharon Hill Trollies

What is the best part of working at the company?
Overtime is plentiful and you are paid every week. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everything from the  mismanagement of the company, hostile work environment, nasty supervisors and co-workers, unsanitary trains, busses and trollies, no work life balance and a multitude of other issues pertaining to driver safety while in the seat. The job is likely one of the most dangerous jobs you can do which compensation does not balance out. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture is cult like. No diversity in opinions as you are discouraged and penalized for being an outlier  in the culture. You are not supported by superiors and management lacks reason and no matter what the circumstance often times you will be the blame for anything that occurs while you are on the clock i.e. Ice caused you to slip and have a minor accident, they say that you are the blame because you could have went around it or called control center upon seeing the ice.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Long, exhausting and turbulent.

For twelve years, since I graduated Highschool I dedicated myself to SEPTA from being a station cleaner to a auxiliary supervisor, to a light rail trolley and bus operator. I gave everything I had to make sure I did my job right. Unfortunately when you mess up it does not matter over the years how well you performed as an employee, how safe you did the job. SEPTA does not care about your outside home life when you go through heart breaking situations such as divorce, child custody and it follows you to work you end up making a mistake because your mind is flooded with sadness and a broken heart you forget the little important things to make sure your job is safe. Well that's what happened to me, I made a few errors, was not on top of my performance and I was discharged accused of lying, misrepresenting facts of an incident. Sure the compensation and benefits are excellent but if they can fire you because your on top of the food chain the will cut you loose in a heartbeat. As far as Local 234 Transport Workers Union to save my job, I was told its not worth spending money for an attorney for a case that's not winnable.

I manage the daily activities of 23 direct report Transportation Managers. Making schedules to cover a 24/7 operation. Insure all training and equipment is available to keep Supervisors current with all qualifications of the Transportation industry. 

Schedule annual recertification on all Transportation vehicles (Bus, Train & Trolleys), Accident Investigation and insuring all required compliance checks are completed for PennDot, 

I work in a fast paced, high energy industry with many deadlines. I Coordinate Transportation scheduling around ongoing and upcoming construction projects.

Management allows me the freedom to make decisions regarding the effects of construction or events that may interfere with routing or scheduling and impacting our customers.

With over 30 years experience in the Transportation industry, I have worked at dispatching, controlling & street supervision, learning the industry from the inside out. I am looking to bringing my knowledge and experience to my next position in an effort to improve in the areas I have knowledge of.

Conductor trainee position is terrible they tell a bunch of lies during the hiring. The money is terrible and the lowest out of all the railroads in the nation. It’s 21.79 you can work at a warehouse and make more money then that. The work and responsibilities you have are insane for that amount of money. You have to go to class that’s 40hours 5 days a week before you can actually help conduct trains your check will be around 600 a week. After class you will be on the board which is dreadful because they call you anytime and tell you a random start time no set schedule. Then your check will range from 800-1000 a week and your on the board for 90 days because you can bid a steady job but you will be stuck with trashy jobs because your seniority will be so low. Overall septa railroad is terrible you better off going for Amtrak or CSX. Yes the job will be more traveling but at least the money will make up for it. Septa you work holidays and weekends and get terrible money. They try to fire you over everything and it’s no job security until you get your actual license. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Bus driver 6 salaries reported	$26.82 per hour
Engineer 3 salaries reported	$81,900 per year
Conductor 3 salaries reported	$22.67 per hour
Project engineer 5 salaries reported	$76,073 per year
Operator 4 salaries reported	$22.37 per hour

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