Transport drivers provide safe, prompt and courteous transportation for patients, visitors and staff. Before beginning their routes, drivers must complete a pre-trip inspection of their vehicle, including safety equipment. All drivers follow schedules and routes over the Health Center Complex and surrounding area, load and unload wheelchairs and strollers using the lift platform on the bus. Drivers routinely interact with customers answering questions about the hospital, clinics, parking, shuttle bus routes, and remote sites, they strive to make the ride comfortable and be as informative as possible.
Drivers must operate vehicles safely in one of the heaviest traffic areas in town. Bus routes vary; drivers make numerous trips each day over the same streets and parking lots stopping frequently at designated stops. Drivers must be alert to prevent accidents, especially in heavy traffic or in bad weather, and to avoid sudden stops or swerves, which jar passengers.
Drivers must make a pre-trip inspection of their vehicle and report any safety concerns and potential Maintenance issues. All drivers must be able to fill out accident reports when necessary.
Driving a bus through heavy traffic while dealing with passengers is not physically strenuous, but it can be stressful and fatiguing. Drivers work with very little direct supervision with full responsibility for the bus and passengers. Drivers have a 5-day workweek, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To accommodate heavy ridership demands at shift change, some drivers work “split shifts”, for example 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., with time off in between. Drivers may be asked to work weekends for special transports.