Training Day 2 - Classroom

(this was posted the day after).

Another day at the State Transit Authority’s offices on Cleveland St, Strawberry Hills.

The day contained the following sections:
1) Review of Day 1;
2) Bus Operator Legal Requirements – an overview. There are 4 or more Acts of Parliament (State and Federal) which governs Bus Operator behaviour;
3) Depart of Education and Training signups – more forms, more signatures. The Bus Operator training is a formally recognised course and is monitored and assessed by the Dept of Ed. Also, the is a ‘contract’ between the participant (me), the employer (State Transit of which Sydney Buses is a part) and the Dept of Education;
4) Managing Fatigue – general ideas and discussion. Fatigue is a major cause of accidents;
5) AFC Sign On, Smart-card, Tickets and Passes – Automatic Fare Collection, the ticket machine. We were given a lecture, a demonstration and we had a chance to practice. The machines are smarter than I expected. Each driver has a smart-card and PIN. At the beginning of the day, the driver’s schedule is loaded into the card and is referenced by the AFC machine in the bus;
6) AFC Revenue Procedures – processes for dealing with the money collected. The driver is responsible for the money. If there amount collected is less than the amount sold, the driver has to make up the differences, but keeps any over collections;
7) Questions / Review / Revisions.