Thanks for posting that BG and thanks to whomever submitted it. But, what the heck is with the photos? The resolution is horrible. I just don’t get why the legacy media can’t web publish higher quality pics. I do it with a 4 year old 2 megapixel digital camera and post them to a competing forum, SSP, and I can do it in a matter of minutes.

Ok, I’ll drop the tangental rant. I like what Durham has done, but that lot appears to be a much larger lot than what Boise has in the near downtown area. It also helps that Durham has Amtrak and the station is right accross the street.

For a better look through old picture, type in “Amtrak St, Durham, NC” into the google maps search box. Sorry, don’t know how to make a direct link to google maps results.

If I understand you correctly, you are suggesting that we co-opt and improve upon an already proven solution developed elsewhere.

Damn! Why hasn’t anyone proposed such a sensible approach to solving our problems before, instead of continuing to subscribe to the near pathological need to reinvent the wheel?

Oh, that’s right. I have. Repeatably.

—

“Just because a fool says it’s raining doesn’t mean the sun is shining” ~Unknown

The Durham transit center looks nice and does the R-Line(rubber wheeled circulator). I also like the BRT (bus rapid transit) solutions that I have been reading about. In the transportation industry, the problem with rails- they only go where they are placed the first time. It does not allow for the flexibility as a rubber tire circulator might. I think Boise proposed loop for their fixed track trolley, is short sided and does not include enough territory. Look at the R-Line in Durham, it is a nice 3 mile loop instead of Boise’s narrow strip.

I received a mailing today regarding the open house for the Transit Center. It clearly list both proposed locations, but seem to give a bigger billing to the 10th Street site. The brochure said the 10th Street option came after the May 2008 openhouse and that all interested parties had been contacted or input on the new site. It neglected to say all that happened in the course of about 5 days.

P.S.
Durham has at least three times the population of Boise.

Oh my!! And to think, serving the citizens of and visitors to Ada and Canyon Counties is not the motivator for Valley Regional Transit/ValleyRide. The involvement/support by executive and management staff of VRT/ValleyRide is nothing more than another aspect of Ms Fairless the Executive Director furthering her personal agenda and career. It maybe poetic justice that she may even “throw under the bus” her sidekick, the contracted General Manager (Schneider) at the Boise operation. This sad excuse for a GM (no he is not an employee of VRT or ValleyRide – Ms. Fairless declared there to be no one in SW Idaho qualified for the position) has no transit experience as a General Manager; he has no applicable experience in operations, budgeting, strategic management, human resource management or fleet maintenance experience. This individual spent twelve months (2007-2008) designing the specifications for 4-20 passenger vans that were deemed by his contracted Maintenance expert of choice, (September 2008 and beyond), will be obsolete in less than 5 years (trust me he will blame someone else). The vans have been parked at the Orchard Street yard for 4 months and are still being retrofitted in order to be functional. Just what Boise transit needed 4-20 passenger vans – rather than coaches/buses to serve the growing public transit community.

Maybe the contracted GM was distracted by only working 6 hours or less a day at ValleyRide, and teaching a political science class in 2007 and throughout 2008 at BSU during the work day rather than being available at ValleyRide. It is amazing that one class requires being away 3 or more hours each day a class was/is taught (two days per week). I didn’t see this provision in the PTM (Professional Transit Management) contract.

Then again, maybe that is why Ms. Fairless hired a $100k Transportation Manager since she no longer wants to “deal” with the ValleyRide Boise or Nampa operations. She has such a stellar track record.

Hmmmmm, actually, she’s got her blueprint ready for advancing her career while there is inadequate staffing of experienced operators and equipment at the Boise location. Fixed-line operators are working 13-15 hours per day, with obsolete equipment no rest breaks, and are be subjected to an inexperienced, unprofessional operations supervisor that is harassing the operators (women in particular) if they stop for a potty-break and run a minute or two behind schedule (pulling-out from a location). Forget rest periods and a quick lunch for any of the operators, and forget common sense, it just isn’t part of the ValleyRide Boise management mentality. No operator should be “mandated” to work more than 12 hours per day, particularly without a 30-minute rest period during the first eight hours of the day. When you have individuals working 140 to 160 hours in a two-week period (time records and other operators will confirm this to be absolutely true), something is definitely wrong. You ask, what about the safety of the operators and passengers???? Not a part of the ValleyRide management agenda. You worry about the operator’s health and well-being – yep, there are many operators with reoccurring urinary, bladder, and kidney health issues due to the lack of opportunity to relieve themselves as nature requires. There is a high absentee rate due to total “burn-out” and for the next two months (March-April) due to the change in weather and seasons, there is a cyclical high rate of illness due to colds, allergy, URI, etc. Thank goodness the Boise area has some of the best (and safest) operators in the business!!!

One must wonder why this inexperienced salary individual (an operations supervisor with no transit experience) is being allowed to drive a public vehicle to and from his home at the expense of the taxpayers??? But then again, money is no object, and considering the Executive Director has stated on the record “Let them suffer” referring to the hourly employees of ValleyRide-Boise, why should we be surprised by the blatant perpetual wrong doings of the VRT/ValleyRide management?

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOU DO NOT WANT THE VRT-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (FAIRLESS) OR THE RENT-A-GM (SCHNEIDER) AT VALLEYRIDE BOISE INVOLVED WITH THE FUTURE OF THIS AREA’S TRANSIT AUTHORITY! GO TO THE VRT AND COMPASS MEETINGS TO VOICE YOUR CONCERNS, BECOME INFORMED, AND DO NOT LET THIS HIDDEN AGENDA BE FORCED UPON BOISE!!

EDITOR NOTE– We were hesitant to post this comment, but with prior knowledge of major labor-management issues at Valley Transit and knowing “officials” have much better access to the media
then the workers, we decided to post. We invite responses from any of those mentioned or official comment in response.

I wouldn’t ordinarily respond to someone like Suzy Smyth, but this time I will. There are way too many anonymous personal hatchet jobs posted on the Guardian lately.

I don’t know who Smyth is, but since the link to her/his name is COMPASS and there is no staff member by that name, I, nor anyone else, know who this person really is. I’m not even going to guess and I’m really not going to read the post in any depth.

If someone is going to make accusations like Suzy he/she did, then at least have the courage to do it under your own name so that the readers know where the bias is coming from.

Sara,

Several points about the Suzy Smyth comments.

1) Many comment on this site using a cover name. One reason might be is that if they are insiders they may have valid concerns about reprisals. Suzy appears to have some pretty interesting information from some source about the goings on at VRT.

2) That VRT has serious labor problems, both Union and non – Union, is documented in their own consultant’s report. There has been a personnel revolving door there for years. A number of people on this site over the past year or so also have noted the personel problems at VRT.

3) Take the time to read the article in depth. Sure, it’s long. Enlighten yourself. Think about what’s being said. Bias? Perhaps. But then are you not biased by assuming the writer is biased?

4) Perhaps the link to COMPASS is there more to make people aware of the proposed Downtown Multi Modal Center project than as a link to a personal website. There are two basic questions with the Multi Modal Center project. The first is “what’s the rush?” Second is “why do we need it” (other than Boise got some earmarked funds)?

And no, I don’t know who Suzy Smyth really is either, however, reader comments to a recent Statesman article about the Multi Modal Center also contained some remarks that were less than kind about VRT management and appeared to come from someone who had inside information.

Sara. Why do you find it reasonable to ask someone else to reveal their true identity if you will not do the same first?

Idaho is a ‘good ol boy’ State where failure to act like a scared slave in the workplace destroys your employment prospects. Who in their right mind would reveal their real name when they could face the prospect of being fired and tossed out into the current job market that is in a death spiral?

I’d rather get 100 bits of information by anonymous people than only 1 ‘courageous person’ lead.

I had assumed that most everyone knew that “Sara” is our newest member of ACHD. She is normally a very straight shooter and seems eager to “turn over the rocks” in the ACHD, as well as other agencies.
It makes perfect sense to me that Suzy doesn’t want her identity known. I would wager that she would be shortly “on the street” if she did so. It would seem to me that Suzy has leveled enough charges to at least warrant some type of investigation. If half of what she charges is true, it would take about 30 minutes to find it out. Talk to the drivers, look at the time sheets, imnterview the leadership. This ain’t rocket science folks!

It’s saddening to see that the status quo has degenerated to such a point that such a thing as due diligence is considered radical and debatable.

Kleptocracy or jackassery incarnate.

And if you vote for more of the same, please don’t complain when you get more of the same.