Neil McFarlane
General Manager
$229,000.00 current salary
$12.8 thousand per month for life when he retiires
$165,000.00 cash the day he leaves.
According to The Oregonian
Click image for zoom
REALLY??!!!
NOT THE EQUIPMENT I OPERATE,
NOT MY EXPERIENCE!
After the lawsuit settlement - same shtick!
2500 series - 5 years ago. Same series Bus that was in the accident that night.
I'm 5'1", same height as Sandi Day. This picture is from my line of sight, what I see making a left turn. The barricade and clam shell mirrors prevent me from rockin' and rollin'' around the area for safe clearance.
Series 3100
One year old
As the bus maneuvers it's turn, the area between the right side edge of the clam shell
closes with the left side of the barrier.
18 solid inches of blind spot
glare
glare
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glare
headlights
Headlights - 30 to 50' area in front of the bus which is dark, then two little cubes of light smushed together. Should've had the picture taken in an area that more accurately simulates the problem.
In 2002, 18 years earlier, I filed similar concerns with Fred Hansen's Administration about my inability as a 5'1" Operator to safely make left turns after nearly running over a pedestrian. I couldn't see past the tall fare boxes and left side clam shell mirrors. The tall fare boxes continue to exist in the 1600's. The newest Operators with the least experience drive those buses during the busiest hours of the day! The seats were on the floor and I was driving Buses like that around the streets of Portland with less than 50% visibility. Rockin' n Rollin' in the seat wasn't an option then and today, even in the newest of the fleet.. You can't see. We took it to HR as I was asking for a special accommodation disability for Buses that would have me sitting up higher then the equipment. It was refused, because being short is not a legal disability. It's like what we do - transport people around the city in 20 ton vehicles and the cubicle people who make the rules are not on the same page. We, the Operators are all about safety, obviously we don't want to hurt or kill anyone or 'see' an accident, then get charged for it when we're not at fault. But the Agency doesn't care because 'proactive' isn't cost effective. Trimet is about statistics and policies. Not Safety. 'Safety' is a word Marketing uses. Always has been since I started 22 years ago. It's frustrating because no one is willing to make change. We thought Sandi Day's accident would but they instead gave us worse equipment then the one she had that night. There were times when I just wanted to get in Hansen's face, grab him by his lapels and yell as loud as I could,
"with all due respect... but...
WHY IN THE HELL DON'T YOU WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!"
He knew because the HR person Carol Jolly informed him and everyone else she could find on down the chain. Although Hansen was a thousand times more receptive and accessible to Operators than McFarlane, it's as if their 'humanity' is missing.
Trimet continues to encourage cyclists to run out the back door to retrieve their
bike from the front of the Bus.
Rear door
With noise from outside and within, which includes traffic, fans, passengers, cell phones, children, typical Operator distractions such as driving, answering questions, collecting fare, talking to dispatch etc there's never an absolute we'll hear a cyclists alert from back there. Couple years ago as I was accelerating back in traffic a cyclist suddenly appeared on the rack. He jumped up there to avoid being hit by the Bus. He wanted his bike. I wanted my heart to calm down and my body to stop shaking. I was required to continue driving. Nothing's changed in how Trimet deals with us after an adrenaline hit. I was even mandated to a meeting with my Assistant Manager because I slammed the brakes, the horn and yelled at a cyclist who suddenly rode off the sidewalk in front of my bus as I was moving out in traffic from Center Street. Poulson said I was not to react. I told him if he didn't want us to react then he should hire robots not humans.
These issues were called to their attention 3 times. All 3 times they've ignored the
danger. Why? Because the folks who make safety related decisions for the Agency don't understand the nature of our jobs and they either don't live in a pro-active world or are told not to. I filed a Request for Safety #389407. They didn't respond for 2 years, then only at my urging. The RSA was quite literally changed from my original concern/request which was to put a 12 x 12 Trimet Green sticker centered on the back door window stating:
CYCLISTS
FRONT DOOR ONLY
CYCLISTS
FRONT DOOR ONLY
They wouldn't do it. Through an e-mail reply they instead chose to placate me by saying they created business card handouts with suggestions to cyclists, then stated the Station Agents completed the task of putting the handouts in the pouches. The handouts actually never came to fruition. It wasn't until I asked to see one that they realised I knew they didn't exist. They trashed the RSA.
The overlying factor's may be because
The overlying factor's may be because
Harry Saporta
Executive Director of Safety and Security
$157,940.94 per 2013 W2
... doesn't ride a bike on Trimet nor has he ever driven a Bus in revenue service or for that matter ever been seen riding on one. He comes to us without perspective.
Well here's someone who knows something about bike safety...
Simply put, Trimet does NOT provide their front line workers with the proper tools to do their jobs as safely as they've been telling the community for years. 'Tools' includes Buses and all the equipment attached to it.
