Coast Mountain Bus Company Employee Reviews

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Very enjoyable ,especially working with regular passengers

Bus Driver, Richmond Depot (Former Employee) – Richmond, BC – 24 March 2018

Great coworkers, great passengers,wide variety of driving conditions, good vacation time. Pay rate was good. Benefits were not 100% covered(ie prescriptions, dental, etc.) Union is weak.

Pros

Ride transit for free

Cons

Supervisor had no experience driving bus, so no awareness of job stressors

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terrible management. lousy working conditions

Transit Operator (Former Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 17 April 2018

Terrible company to work for. Management seems to exist only to harass workers. General Public has little to no respect for the system, or employees of the system, resulting in plenty of abuse.

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Flexible

City Transit Operator (Former Employee) – Lower Mainland, BC – 27 February 2018

The movement of the public on a wide variety of transit routes throughout the lower mainland in highly populated and heavy traffic areas.Dealing directly with the public in a professional manner and providing customer service throughout the day

Pros

Flexibility

Cons

Split Shifts

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Good company to work for!

Confidential Assistant to the Director (Former Employee) – Burnaby, BC – 21 February 2018

Difficult to obtain a full time position as a lot of admin are on contract and not full time.

The work was great and the people that I worked with in my division were excellent and very supportive.

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Transit Operator not as fun as it used to be

Transit Operator (Current Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 11 February 2018

It is a very difficult and stressful job. In an effort to increase service the job of Transit Operator has become increasingly difficult. Running time, the time it takes to complete a trip has been cut and Recovery time, the time between trips has been slashed leaving very little time to eat or go to the washroom between trips. This leads to service running late and passengers getting grumpy, angry or worse.

If you are considering this job be aware that you must be prepared to be verbally or physically assaulted by passengers. I am verbally assaulted on a weekly basis and in my 10+ year career I had a passenger spit in my face. The company has shown signs of becoming more proactive in protecting bus drivers but it is very slow in coming. More security is needed and barriers to protect drivers.

After all that if you are still interested I must say that the Transit Operators I work with are some of the finest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. We all share a bond and consider ourselves brothers and sisters regardless of race or religion. It is a very challenging and stressful job, but a few minutes with another driver between trips can be an absolute joy.

We also have the opportunity to help people, in my career I have found several runaway children, lost seniors and one robbery suspect. If you like a challenge, diversity in your day, and the thrill of not knowing whats coming next, then this is your job. You also must like driving.

The salary is very good, training is paid, benefits are excellent. Starting vacation time can be five weeks more... if you choose to bank your stat holidays, which is very nice. Be Aware - if you want to start with full time work DO NOT apply for Community Shuttle. Apply for Conventional (aka Big Buses). Conventional bus drivers are paid better and have more benefits (travel time, Sunday shift premium) than Shuttle drivers and receive full time hours right away. Shuttle drivers start on-call or part time. less

Pros

Salary, Vacation Time, flexible shift work, amazing bus driver co-workers

Cons

Stress and more stress, traffic, grumpy passengers, no breaks unless you have a split shift

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Challenging work atmosphere.

Heavy Duty Mechanic (Current Employee) – Surrey, BC – 3 January 2018

Challenging work atmosphere. Training on new equipment always provided. Good health and retirement plan. Exercise facilities available. Transit travel passes for employees.

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Used to be good

Transit Operator (bus driver) (Current Employee) – Surrey, BC – 19 December 2017

Over the last few years routes have been "streamlined" What this means is that you have to drive hard and fast to make it to your next terminal on time. Coffee breaks or lunch are a thing of the past. If you leave a minute early you will be called on it. Road supervisors will harass u over the smallest items. Middle management have no idea what it is like to drive a bus. They don't give a hoot about you, your life or your health. You are accountable for anything that happens in your bus and they will always try to find fault with the operator. You will be dealing with a lot of mentally ill people, being spit on or assualted will happen to you. Until you get a few years seniority you will get the worst hours, the worst routes, long split shifts. Forget about Sat or Sunday off for 10 or so years.

Pros

Routes, day's off and hours are all way's changing.

Cons

management, rude people

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Great employer

Transit Operator (Current Employee) – New Westminster, BC – 19 December 2017

CMBC is a great place to work. The supervisors care about the employees, and do what they can to make sure that any issues are satisfactorily resolved

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Fast-paced busy work environment

Confidential Assistant (Current Employee) – Surrey, BC – 7 November 2017

CMBC is a diverse and complicated business with many moving pieces. Everyday has a challenge and that's what I love! There are so many opportunities within the enterprise - unionized or exempt.

Pros

Benefits

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Top rated company to work for

Operations Supervisor (Former Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 11 September 2017

I had Excellent job security, advancement, benefits. assistance with education, meeting people, teamwork. Did not like split shifts. Supervised drivers

Pros

Job security

Cons

Working in a union is not for everyone

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not easy for newcomers and pay less.

Transit Operator (Current Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 15 June 2017

Newcomers get stuck what's left in the schedule, split shifts, no designated lunch breaks, running time pressure if you get late because of traffic it consumes your break time.

Pros

union job

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Options and a need for patience

Transit Operator (Current Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 4 June 2017

Good job! Can be very difficult dealing with all sorts of situations that can cause passengers grief: problems with schedules, mechanical break downs, late or missing buses. Overall as a driver I have always tried to create a pleasant experience for my passengers. I try to give them a positive part to their day. As your seniority builds your choices and experience as a driver should improve.

Pros

Schedule and location choices

Cons

Slow to improve bus service/schedules for passengers

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excellent work place

Temp Clerk - Materials Control Department (Former Employee) – Burnaby, BC – 1 June 2017

allows you to grow and be part of the team... you just need to be a member of the union so that you can join and apply within..
excellent work environment

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positive

1st Year Apprentice (Current Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 1 June 2017

no better place to do an commercial transport apprenticeship, pay is good, benefits are ok, people are great, and a 4 day work week is hard to beat. really happy to be working ther

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good secure career

Transit operator / city bus operator (Former Employee) – Lower Mainland, BC – 27 February 2017

good job, good benefits, flexible work schedule.
good union. lots of holiday weeks.
room for advancement and training

Was this review helpful?Yes 6 No 16Report

Public Transit operation, shift work. Stressful daily environment.

Transit Operator (Former Employee) – Port Coquitlam, BC – 17 November 2016

Public transit in the Lower Mainland with its many facets ie. Bus, Skytrain, Seabus, West Coast Express is always a focus of intense public scrutiny and everyone has an opinion which is more often than not negative.
As a front line worker dealing with the public in all its variance and differences can be at times streeful and difficult.

Pros

Good hours compensation and benefits

Cons

Ever changing management and public transportation policy

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Staff morale unimpotant

Customer Information Clerk (Former Employee) – 13700 108 Av, Surrey, BC – 2 July 2016

There was very little work functions to increase social involvement. It seems like the staff is there to put in their 7.5 hours per day and immediately leave.

Pros

6 weeks paid vacations after 5 years of service

Cons

inflexible work schedule

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Great Industry for Transportation Interests

Transit Operator (Former Employee) – Vancouver Transit Center – 2 July 2016

Great job if you enjoy driving a large vehicle. Enormous chance for each day to be different, although repetition exists your work day will be never be akin to the previous day. Ensuring the vehicle complies with provincial motor vehicle act, meeting passengers at designated bus stops and maintain the operation as per schedules provided by the bus company. When working with the public, safety is paramount in all areas of responsibility. Working unsupervised and maintaining a safe environment inside and outside of the bus. Dealing with the public has its challenges, most people respond and will comply if safety is the number one objective. Adhering to difficult time schedules can be difficult and may cause stress on a daily basis. Driving can be rewarding if you don't regard it as a chore, one must embrace all the challenges it presents on a daily basis.

Pros

Salary & Benefits

Cons

Dealing with difficult passengers

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solid place

Service Person (Current Employee) – Port Coquitlam, BC – 7 April 2016

it is a solid place to work with good benefits, as a bis driver you have very long splits, as a service person i work graveyards so the hours are a big negative

Pros

benefits

Cons

varied work hours

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just drive

Driver/Operator (Former Employee) – Lower Mainland, BC – 31 March 2016

Don't expect a good balance between work and life. Management doesn't care about you or any problems you might have. Very long days with 5+ hours split shift. they tell you everything you want to hear in training then reality kicks in And your doing big split shifts for the next 10 years with no home life.

Pros

pay is decent

Cons

Management, split shifts, don't ask for a day off because the answer will be NO even if you give them lots of notuce

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Opportunities to move forward within the company

Driver (Current Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 8 February 2016

The relationship between employer and employees is not the best. The union representing the driver has a very poor rating amongst the drivers.
The scheduling, laced with split shifts, is a sore spot in the relationship between administration and the drivers.

Pros

Established Company

Cons

Drivers don't feel connected with the administration..

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