bus driver

apprentice mechanic

helper

police officer

operator

Utah-Transit-Authority

It's a long process from the time you first apply for a position as a TRAX Operator Trainee until you complete your training and receive your operator's license.  If your application meets the requirements for the job, you'll be invited to take a written test at one of the local UTA offices.  The study guide for this test is provided online.  If you pass this test, the next step will be an interview with two TRAX supervisors.  After that there is a physical agility test (not very difficult) in one of the rail yards, and then you have to successfully complete a DOT physical (paid for by UTA).  If you get through these steps, you'll be put into the next training class.
The training for the job takes about 12 weeks, and is a mixture of classroom and field training.  The first few weeks is strictly in the classroom, full-time days.  Your first test (signals and switches) comes up within the first two weeks, and you need to score 100% in order to continue training (you're allowed one chance to retake the test).  There's a lot of information to learn, especially if you have no prior experience with light rail trains.  It's not as simple as moving a throttle back and forth.  After the initial few weeks in the classroom, you're put out in the field with experienced operators to watch them run the trains and you'll get your first chance at briefly operating the train yourself.  This part of the training is done overnight when there are no passengers on the train.  It's difficult for most to adjust to the different work hours at first.  After this, you are switched between day shift and evening shift every two weeks during your field training.  This is something that I found somewhat difficult.  At one point, I had been working the evening shift when I was scheduled to do a single overnight "report shift" from 10 pm to 6 am, Saturday evening to Sunday morning.  My next scheduled shift was at 4:40 am on Monday.  I could not adjust to the quickly changing hours and got no sleep.  Not feeling rested enough to go out and operate a train (under the observation of an instructor), I did not report for my shift.  BIG MISTAKE!  UTA takes being late for work or missing work very seriously!  I was suspended for two days without pay.  If you are considering this position, ask yourself if you will be able to adjust to changing work hours, especially when you are a new employee and have no seniority to get the more desirable work shifts.
A word about field training:  From what I was told by one of the trainers, the employees who do the training in the field volunteer to do this work because it earns them extra pay.  There is no set way that they have to do the training, and the trainers themselves are not evaluated in their work (again, this is what I was told).  You'll find that the trainers have different styles of training.  Some will be understanding and supportive, and will be willing to work with you on things that you're having difficulty with, while others will be more critical and can undermine your confidence and have you second-guessing whether you should be doing the job.  In my case, unfortunately, it was one or two of the trainers in the latter category that had me wondering whether I should continue in the training, and ultimately I decided to drop out not long before the scheduled end of the field training.
You'll be given several tests during the training, both computer-based and on your ability to operate the train.  In the field training phase you have to get through 3 levels successfully before you're allowed to take the final ride check, where you're evaluated by supervisors on your ability to run the train on all three of the lines (red, blue and green).  You'll have to know the names of virtually all of the signals and crossings as well as the station names for all three lines in order to pass your final ride check.  My advice is to start learning these things as early as possible.  Information will be provided to you on a flash drive; use your free time to study and learn it!
There is a lot of multitasking involved in operating the TRAX train.  This was probably the hardest part of the job for me.  While the train is moving at up to 55 or 65 mph (depending on which model you're operating), you have to be focused on reading all of the signals and the rail switches ahead of you so you don't derail the train, keeping the train at a steady speed and not going so fast that it automatically shuts down (this can happen), keeping up with the train schedule, remembering to make station announcements for your passengers with disabilities at certain stations, pressing the button to ring the gong when you're approaching a station or a crossing, releasing the doors when you come to a station (they do not open automatically), keeping track of where your passengers with disabilities need to get off if you're running the older trains without automatic ramps, interacting with the train management system regularly so that the train doesn't shut down, and listening to all of the radio calls coming in on your channel, writing down the start and end time of advisories and their location (you can get fined by the Federal Railroad Administration for not doing this) and responding to any radio calls from the Control Center that pertain to your train.
Of our training class that started with 14 people, six (including myself) did not make it to the end of training.  Two people were let go because they could not pass the first test.  Others either decided the job was not for them or left for other reasons.  
This job is not for everyone, but if you're the right person there are definitely positive aspects to the job and for working for UTA.  You'll be given a great orientation lunch at the UTA headquarters, where all of the benefit programs are explained to you.  This orientation takes nearly a full day, including brief rides on a bus, FrontRunner train and TRAX train to acquaint you with them.  You are paid for this time.  UTA has a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, life, 401K and pension plans.  There is the opportunity for overtime hours if you desire them.  When everything is running smoothly and there's not a lot of radio chatter, running the train can be fun.  You get to see the city from a different perspective and you don't always have to deal with traffic the way that someone driving a car or operating a bus does.

A typical day at work:
 -It depends on your Business unit or role in the company, however, you can expect to be doing grunt work with low seniority or "structured" work with high seniority. 
 -Regardless of the shift windows you pick, you can be worked up to and sometimes past 12 hours.

Management:
 -Supervisors often tend to be incompetent, unprofessional, and micromanagers. The good supervisors tend to find different roles within the company due to burn out, whilst the bad ones usually remain in their position.
 -Business Unit Management is captious and actively seeks to discipline all employees severely regardless of their performance. Business unit management also tends to fight the operators union and will modify whatever they can, to get their way or make operators lives more difficult as retaliation against a decision.
 -Upper Management is completely oblivious to problems regarding the operations side and the treatment of operators from lower management, but upper management tends to be more professional and helpful.

The workplace culture:
 -The company expects you to have undying loyalty and will act shocked and make you feel like you need to write an apology note to everyone if you mess up or make mistakes.
 -Certain places within the company will actively look to tear you apart and tear you down, while other parts are supportive and friendly in every way. 
 -Due to the work and stress you can often find yourself being burnt out. 
 -High seniority employees will usually get away with everything and rarely get punished for harassing or treating low seniority employees poorly.

The hardest part of the job:
-Work-life Balance
-Severe underpay for industry/trade/craft standards. 

The most enjoyable part of the job:
-Serving the public and those who are less fortunate
-Learning new machinery and technology.

What is the best part of working at the company?
If you can be punctual, safe and polite, this will be a dream job. Our mission is to simply transport people from point A to point B safely. You smile and say "Hello" when you pick them up. You wave and say "Thank you" when they get off. Pretty simple. The management treats us extremely well. The benefits are incredible. Basically, you get paid to be nice to people. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Some people find it stressful to drive large vehicles in heavy traffic.  Some people are not comfortable interacting with certain segments of society. Not recommended for people who run late for work, cannot be without their cell phone, don't like working evenings or weekends, or have substance issues. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Amazing! Although we spend most of our time out in the buses, we drop by the station daily. The management is super friendly and helpful. We get recognized and rewarded for excellent performance. We celebrate holidays with station parties and food. At any time, you hear lots of laughter and see lots of smiles. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I arrive at the station, inspect my bus and begin my route. There are small breaks during the shift to use a nearby restroom, eat a quick meal or just stretch your legs. Driving the bus is actually fun. Providing a necessary service to the public is fulfilling. Greeting riders and being kind is good for the soul. UTA is very fair about overtime for going past 8 hours or working outside of your work window. Three times a year, we bid for our preferred off days and shifts. The variety is nice.

Frontline and mid-level support employees are absolutely fantastic. Super supportive and willing to go an extra mile to make things work. Unfortunately, this is combined with a lack of leadership skills and organization at the supervisor and mid manager level, as well as a lot of ego driven decision making and kingdom building from executives that takes priorities over the work, meaning that the company tends to rely on people doing more than what they were hired to do rather than actuality difix root causes. The business is run a lot more like a small family company then an established business that takes care of what it's doing through good planning and organization. 

Lot of hiring from within, which is good, but being a good worker doesn't make you a good leader, so you have a lot of people with good frontline experience but no idea how to run a team or department effectively being put into mid-level management, and the company as a whole doesn't invest in administrative staff and then wonders why record and documentation are a mess. It's pretty telling that they have been through several CEOs/EDs and through several executives in recent years, and are constantly churning through administrative support positions. They can't keep anyone who's skilled because the administration side is such a mess.

Decent if you want to do hands on work, but pretty bad if you want to do anything at a desk. 

The benefits are excellent and the pay is pretty decent (could be higher to keep up with the rapidly rising cost of living).  The first 6-12 months are overwhelming from the grueling 15 hour days to learning the extensive operating procedures and regulations.  If you can survive beyond that, they offer many opportunities to lateral over into other departments and/or advance.  If you are under-qualified, they offer tuition assistance and training opportunities for you to reach where you want to be.

Okay, so:
-Easy but crucial work, you are your own boss as long as you do your job right, (no micromanaging!!!!).  Most people are nice, you get a jerk every now and then.
-Learned diffusing tense situations(there will be some), handle sensitive situations, and how to deliver exceptional service.  Oh, and to drive a bus.
-Supervisors are awesome.  Upper management can be overambitious and spread out resources too thin resulting in poorer performance in Operations.  But overall I think they're doing a good job.
-Co workers, supervisors and the GM are all very helpful, approachable, and responsive to whatever issue you bring to them.  Everyone looks out for one another.  
-Passengers can be tough at times, and the scheduling can be hard.
-Best part is making a decent living while cruising around and learning how many awesome people reside in the city.

The only good things about the job is most of your coworkers are great and the benefits are good. Now let’s move onto the negatives and get comfy because there are a lot: UTA owns you for 14 plus hours a day. You have windows that you are supposed to work (mine is 5 am-7pm) but they constantly work you outside of it. The split shifts are what eat your day up as well. If you don’t live close there’s no point in going home unless you have a sizable split. They also can change your schedule whenever they please. You have to call in to an automated system at 5 PM the previous day to get the work for the next day but they will probably change your work and not tell you. If you have kids or a family or any social life you can kiss that goodbye. Yes you do have your two days off but they’re always split days off and management will guilt trip you into working on your days off. There also absolutely no accountability here. If there are drivers who have been here for a few years they’re allowed to basically do whatever they want or treat people however they want because UTA won’t do anything. I could go on but please take my advice. You can get paid more doing a different job and probably get a better schedule 

Been here for a little bit of time. It is a great place to start especially for railroading. You are trained out the gate to be a locomotive engineer as well as a conductor. Training is about 4 months and is pretty intense but it can definitely be done if you really want the job. Getting time off is not hard at all and they very good with that. Work life balance is not bad. Co-workers for the most part are very fun to work with even when days feel long or get a bit chaotic. The only thing that is a big negative is the pay especially for FrontRunner side of things.  Bus, Trax, and FrontRunner are all on the same pay scale and have no trade craft seniority. So people can change departments and keep their sonority. Yet if you can get past that and as well knowing you are getting paid the same and doing way more work than the two other departments it is very fun place to be honest. 

When you get hired for the bus operator position you are going to start in the extra board. Your going to do  different routes everyday. Your going to have to have to call in everyday at 5 p.m to check your schedule for the next day to see what time you start and end. You are going to have a split work day which will take up your whole day. Management cares more about there customer than drivers. The union cares more about the drivers so thats good. You get payed 70 hours guaranteed meaning they work you less than 70 hour but will pay you minimum 70 hours guaranteed. There is a chance to go regular usually takes 3 to 4 years. You will have to work nights and work weeknds. Your days off are going to be during the weekdays. If you want a saturday sunday or have 3 days off good luck you have to be here 20 years to have decent days off.

What is the best part of working at the company?
This company does a wonderful introduction and orientation, but once you’re hired; their interest in your happiness greatly reduces.  Refrain from breaking any rules here during your first 90 days or your time here will be short.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The stressful thing is for those of you who already have your CDL’s, you only receive a trainee wage until you graduate from route certification (learning all 50 plus routes).  This is unfair that will only receive trainee pay during that period of time.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment is not bad; break rooms are pretty nice; some facilities have quite rooms and gyms to work out in; showers and locker rooms,

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Report for your scheduled route in the morning, pre-trip your bus, and drive your scheduled runs;,follow your daily routine.

I have enjoyed working for Utah Transit Authority.  I have been empowered to develop employees and projects at a good work pace.  I have learned a great deal about how to manage large groups, but still focusing on individuals.  My co-workers and managers have been encouraging and incredible in assisting me to develop and create within my circle of influence.
The most difficult part of the job for everyone in our department is the constant focus on the safety of thousands of customers that we move each day.  There job is very intense and has left scars on many people that have been subject to fatalities or major accidents that have occurred.  
The most enjoyable part of the job is being a public servant and helping thousands of people each day get where they need to go.  The trains we use are the best in the industry which helps put a shine on the important work we do.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Bus driver 18 salaries reported	$24.72 per hour
Apprentice mechanic 19 salaries reported	$29.13 per hour
Helper 15 salaries reported	$29.13 per hour
Police officer 7 salaries reported	$34.95 per hour
Operator 4 salaries reported	$25.55 per hour

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