Grand River Transit

Typical day at work: I am in the MobilityPlus side of Grand River Transit & have been for several years. The day to day is simple enough, if monotonous at times. It is regularly stressful due to very poor execution of service delivery (Eg., driving from Waterloo to Cambridge to get one person, just to drive back to Waterloo to get someone else to drop both passengers at Grand River Hospital, which you already passed on your way to get person #2, whilst also having just past another MP vehicle coming from the area you’re now driving to to collect customer #2). Rest assured, you’ll regularly have next to no time to go from one end of the city to the other for another customer. Throw in unhelpful & sometimes rude dispatchers, you can expect little to no help in smoothing out your itinerary for the day. Also expect your timely, diligent work to be rewarded with more work added to your day, often at the expense of getting off work on time. 

What I’ve learned: The job itself is fantastic, but the support structure is abysmally flawed & drivers are punished for everything (if someone hits your bus, you’ll be given a “preventable collision” black mark on your personnel file if the Union Collision Review Panel decide you could have done more to avoid the collision yourself, which they almost always will because collisions effect the company CVOR & they’d rather terminate you than damage it). 

Management: GRT Management is 50/50, in that half of the managers & supervisors are phenomenal people who care about their subordinates & try to do right by them. The other half are people with a God Complex. I’ve heard things like “I don’t like when people disagree with me” from “leadership” when a driver is defending their actions in the wake of a collision or negative customer interaction. That is to say, “agree with my condemnation of you, assessment of the incident & accept your punishment without comment because my ego is fragile”, basically. You’ll be punished for every misstep, even when you didn’t cause the initial problem yourself. They thoroughly love to blame the drivers for any & all negative situations. 

Workplace culture: excellent & knowledgable coworkers. People you’ll want to speak with outside of work & who become fixtures in your life. Everybody complains about the terrible scheduling issues & the nonexistence of a work/life balance for junior employees for literally years on end. As an organization, GRT goes out of its way to look as progressive as possible & will talk about how forward thinking they are ad nauseam. Ironically, they have a progressive public image while their employee’s enjoy broken promises, lack of support from management, lack of empathy for the operator’s poor schedules causing burnout, etc. 

The hardest part of the job: Working for up to two weeks in a row without a day off, on shifts that are seldom the same. Senior staff enjoy their summer vacation while you’re lucky if you get a week off while the weather is still lukewarm at best, blizzards at worst. Some of the clients can be exhausting & unhygienic. Management does not support you one iota. 

Most enjoyable part: the bones of the job are great. It’s a fun job on its own, it’s the accompanying BS that ruins what would be a perfect job if only management could stop living in the 50s concerning their treatment & lack of support for operators. 

This job is exactly what it is. Driving a public city bus while adhering to a schedule and some rules and policy for any customer interaction. You keep your head down and just do the job you signed up for you'll be compensated fairly well. There is no need to get involved with anything or get into arguments with customers. Literally just drive the bus safely, and this job is great. Anyone else that complains, it's because either they've been here to long and are just sick of the job or are the type of people to complain. This is an independent fly solo job. The pay we get for not having any education is pretty decent in my opinion. Mentally the job can be draining due to outside stimuli: cars on the road, people, not missing bus stops, road conditions, etc but if you have experience and confidence you will do just fine. Ignore bad people trying to give you trouble and just keep driving. Management is fine, you have some supervisors that are a bit more moody and have some god-complex to them but otherwise if you don't purposely cause problems or attract negative attention to yourself by either always complaining and calling them for every little stupid thing, just use proper judgement and try to figure some things out for yourself or if it's insignificant then ignore calling it in. Be smart, be respectful, and you won't have any problems from management. If you make a mistake and it's not a habitual thing, they're understanding. Whoever says otherwise, it's because they keep messing up and not taking responsibility.

A typical working day as a bus operator with GRT, Is arriving 15 minutes before your shift starts so you can plan your day, you start off by doing a pro-trip on your bus before you take it out on the road, Then you must make sure that you arrive on time for Your  first duty to start, It is a very demanding job Keeping your bus on time and keeping your passengers happy while being safe, but it is a good way to learn and  Improve your customers care skills , you have a lot of challenge throughout your day trying to keep everyone happy, Passengers, Other Commuters on the road, But you do have help from your Despatch if you have any problems. I think a great part of working with GRT is your co-workers, A great bunch of people Fantastic to get alone with.The hardest part of our job, It has to be, Keep smiling. And the most enjoyable is when you get the Thank you Driver for a good and safe drive.

I worked as a Bus Operator in Kitchener and was extremely disappointed with the working conditions and management support. Instead of addressing the mechanical problem, they simply don't fix issues, discipline you when you complain and then you will see the same bus in service right away. Supervisors will be aggressive with you if you are using washroom for 3+ minutes, as a warning. You will sit 5.35 hours at a time and denied washroom breaks so you can depart on time or be nagged and hauled into more meetings. 
On top of that, there are random disciplinary meetings and a culture where complaints are not taken seriously. Supervisors often lack support, and the overall environment feels stressful and unfair. Be very cautious before applying — issues like this can make the job extremely difficult.

I would recommend anyone to drive for the city of Kitchener Ontario.all of the city busses are very well maintained and often replaced. All the supervisors are well trained and very understanding and always there to lend an helping with any situation.I have nothing negative to say about Kitchener transit.I enjoyed everything he of my job simply because I’m a people person and I love driving

The entire interview process took roughly 6 weeks from initial phone call - group information session - interview - drug test - road test - onboarding which was a huge waste of time.

I already have my Z endorsement so I just went through the B licence training with Ontario Truck Driving school. Training was great and knowledgeable as well as the pay is fantastic but no benefits. The problems are all in the scheduling, you wait by your phone between 4 - 4 pm to get a call. Some days it works out great where you're giving a schedule for several days, other days its a different route at different times of the day which is a nightmare.
Don't be tempted by the pay as the stress isn't worth the reduction in the quality of life.

Pay is reasonable and the job is secure with good benefits which are what keep most of us around, but increasingly turnover is rising because of the work schedules and perceived unfairness displayed by a management which does not know the difference between discipline and punishment.  No reward for doing well, excessive punishment for even slight mistakes or misinterpretations.  Customer is right and operators are wrong no matter what the circumstance.  Little to no support to the front line.  Lots of disconnect between planning/scheduling and operations.  Most management has never driven a bus and are out-of-touch with "the street".  It is a culture of fear and intimidation to work here.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good pay and benefits and you get to pick your hours of work.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Dealing with the public and a management team that is completely out of touch with its employees needs and concerns. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very toxic and the public has become the same after covid.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Very stressful and unfulfilling. You go home exhausted mentally and physically.

GRT is a very toxic place to work.  Management does not care about the employees and does everything it can to discipline and micromanage them. If you happen to get hurt they will do everything they can to make it inconvenient for you to be on light duty or off for a period of time. They do however, pay well and the benefits are decent. The union isn't much help either and will typically side with management and let them do whatever they like. The hours are not very good as well as we have split shifts and typically work at night.

Well paid and decent benefits when full time.

Management is heavy handed and looks to discipline for even minor mistakes. My opinion is that the goal of management is to have you living in fear of job loss at all times.

They are perpetually hiring and training drivers, even at the peak of the pandemic when every other transit service was reducing staff levels.

Do your research before applying. Read the wording of their job ad. 

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