In this morning’s Sun there is an article quoting the new Union VP as saying that worker morale is now the top priority.  Sharon Bow has been a bus driver herself for 21 years so one would think she should know what she is talking about.  The drift of the article was about scheduling and the stress it puts on the drivers.  She had my sympathy right up to the place where she said “our riders are an important part of our job”.  GOOD GRIEF WOMAN!  WITHOUT RIDERS, THERE WOULDN’T BE ANY JOBS FOR BUS DRIVERS, BUS MECHANICS, MANAGEMENT – ANYONE!!

I am retired, so I don’t ride the buses anymore although I did so for many years, living in Kanata and working downtown.  If those at OC Transpo don’t feel that the riders are THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of their jobs, there isn’t much hope for the entire organization.

I agree that worker morale, scheduling, working conditions, and so on are important but riders are the bread and butter of OC Transpo.  Salaries (thanks to unions and our city council) will go up every year and so must ridership or this pony won’t trot….or whatever the expression is.  Without a consistent increase in riders, OC Transpo and the Union representing their workers, won’t have things like scheduling or salaries to worry about.

Personally, I think any increases in costs associated with running OC Transpo should be directly tied to how well they are doing as measured by ridership numbers.  Increase ridership, reward the organization and its members.  Geesh!  Does that sound too much like private sector thinking?