Homeless in Arizona

Usually when Valley Metro talks about the number of bus riders they talk about the number of passenger trips the bus riders take to make their numbers sound bigger.

If a person take the bus to work and home from work, instead of saying 1 person rode the bus, Valley Metro will call that 2 passenger trips.

Oddly it sounds like Valley Metro is now using the number of people that ride bus each day rather then the number of trips they take.

I suspect they are doing that because it doesn't make the strike sounds as bad.

Now Valley Metro is saying this:

The 34 affected routes carry nearly 80,000 weekday transit boarders

The 34 affected routes carry nearly 160,000 passenger trips

Source

Phoenix bus strike puts riders in bind, 6 days and counting

Brenna Goth, The Republic | azcentral.com 9:02 p.m. MST January 13, 2016

Negotiations continue but are contentious

Bus drivers and passengers on Wednesday expressed concerns over financial strains, frustration about disrupted schedules and hope for an end to a strike affecting dozens of Phoenix bus routes, as the work stoppage continued for a sixth day.

Negotiations between Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 and transit company Transdev continued, though both sides said progress was slow. A list of nine union demands is now down to a few non-economic issues and opposition to a tiered system for wages and benefits favored by the company, according to the groups.

But as the strike continues, bus drivers told reporters they are struggling from a loss of health-care coverage and wages. The 34 affected routes carry nearly 80,000 weekday transit boarders[Does this mean 80,000 passengers rather then the usually Valley Metro double speak of 160,000 passenger trips???], many of whom are finding other ways to get around — or staying home.

The Phoenix Union High School District, for example, is running its own piecemeal bus services for the thousands of students who rely on the routes to get to class, spokesman Craig Pletenik said. The district doesn’t usually provide bus services for most students in part because the schools are located near Valley Metro lines.

“What’s normally a transportation blessing is a curse this week,” Pletenik said.

Thirteen of the affected routes ran limited service Wednesday, though frequency was low. Some lines that normally run buses roughly every 20 minutes saw waits of an hour or more, according to the Phoenix Public Transit Department.

Colin Smith has been using a combination of transit and Uber to get from his house in central Phoenix to his finance job in the Biltmore area. One of the two bus routes he needs is affected by the strike and would bring his commute time from an hour to more than an hour and a half each way.

Smith, 30, is happy to have ride-share apps as a backup, he said, but the roughly $15 trip twice a day adds up.

“It’s a significant financial impact,” he said.

Others are avoiding the buses entirely. Rhiannon Cutlit, 17, lives within walking distance of her Glendale job but is putting off errands that require her to leave the city, she said. Phoenix bus lines that cross into other cities, particularly Glendale, are affected.

Her father, a carpenter, is leaving for work more than an hour earlier than normal to walk 2 miles as the strike affects his usual route. The family doesn’t own a car, Cutlit said, and doesn’t know many people who could give them rides.

“It’s just really, really tedious not having transportation,” Cutlit said. “It’s just waiting it out and hoping it’s over as soon as possible.”

The Phoenix Union High School District is running the extra buses with money from its transportation contingency budget. They stop every half-mile along six major streets in the morning and afternoon. Absenteeism hasn't increased significantly, Pletenik said, but some students arrive late or get stranded.

"It's a different world for us," he said. "Fortunately, our kids are resilient."

Strain on drivers

Bus drivers said they’re also feeling the effects of the nearly weeklong strike.

Transdev estimated striking drivers would lose $600 to $1,000 in wages each week of a work stoppage, according to a memo sent to employees this month. The company also suspended health-care coverage, though employees can continue the plan at their own cost through the subsidized federal program known as COBRA.

Several drivers told reporters Wednesday that they have had to reschedule medical appointments or forgo purchasing prescription medication. The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a civil-rights activist working with the union, called the suspension by Transdev “economic terrorism."

But Transdev General Manager Katrina Heineking said employees were first warned of that possibility months ago. Forgoing medical coverage is a choice each driver had to make before striking, she said.

Negotiations remained contentious Wednesday. The union planned to present Transdev with a new proposal on its main request — eliminating a tiered wage and benefit system.

Union officials told reporters they would agree to a phase-out of the system over time and had found savings to pay for it.

"We don't need any new money from the company," Maupin said.

But Ken Westbrook, chairman of the transit division for Transdev, said during a press conference that the union's expectations are unrealistic. Transdev officials have said the union's proposed changes would cost the company millions of dollars.

“We’ve already come to the table with a very, very generous offer,” he said. “Let’s put the buses back on the street.”

Transdev’s contract with Phoenix says it could be fined if it failed to provide a minimum level of service by Wednesday.

It wasn’t immediately known whether that service level was met.