By
Ayse Guner
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Washing shuttles at dawn, overtime and low wages drawbacks for some drivers
Patricia McMurray, a Cat Tran driver, wants to spend a day without soaked feet.
But that can't happen quite yet, because mornings tend to be slushy at the Cat Tran shuttle compound.
At about 5 a.m. every Tuesday, shuttle drivers have to make their way into the hidden shuttle shelter next to the Student Recreation Center, where they wash their shuttles - and they want student help.
Driver Roseanne Stigall sprays grease-cutter on her tires, scrubs the dirt out and blasts water with a power sprayer. She gets pretty wet, though, when she tries to reach to the top of the shuttle.
"You wanna wear nice clothes, but you can't," said Stigall, who added that she doesn't have time to change. "It's awful. It's a shame."
During the winter, washing gets tougher as the water freezes on the roof and falls down on windows, which makes vehicles look dirtier, McMurray said. She washes her shuttle four times a week.
This issue among Cat Tran drivers was recently brought to the UA Parking and Transportation management. As a result, drivers first received power washers to speed up the cleanings, and soon a student will be hired to wash all the shuttles, said Glen Welchko, shuttle supervisor.
But the problems are far from over for Cat Tran drivers.
For the past couple of months, the service lost five drivers - three took a long sick leave and two quit the job, said Frank Stangel, a lead driver.
"It doesn't always affect the service, but it created overtime situations," Stangel said.
Some drivers would work overtime to keep the vans running on time, he said.
Construction on the UA campus has also been laying overtime work on drivers. The North Cherry Avenue closure, considered the main vein of the north-south section of campus, "really put a kink in shuttle service," Welchko said.
As soon as the construction is completed, the service will flow faster, he added.
Rickell Scott, a driver who has been working for Cat Tran three years, works for the benefits, not the wage - about $17,500 a year. He has a daughter to support and works two jobs, he said.
"To be honest, you have to be a very humble person," Scott said, who also drives for a limousine company for $10 an hour.
Becky Navarrette, a relief driver with four routes to drive, said she works for the benefits as well, so that she can receive a reduction for her son's college tuition.
The total budget for alternative transportation is $1.5 million a year, along with state and federal grants. About $325,000 goes to the operation, without including personnel wages.
The budget is drawn from parking permit sales, meter revenues and parking garage fees. But the fact that Cat Tran - which started in 1987 - has always been a free service has nothing to do with driver wages, Welchko said.
"In other campuses, you've got to pay for the shuttle, either as included in tuition or another way, but here, there is no hidden cost attached," he said.
"I want a raise, Glen wants a raise and sure everybody can use better wage," said Charles Franz, a program coordinator for Parking and Transportation. "But our goals are set within the state budget."
Franz has been riding shuttles every semester to understand the needs of drivers and riders, he said. Sometimes, he reveals his identity, but sometimes he stays anonymous, so that he can understand what steps to take in the future, he said.
And the important thing to remember, he said, is to work in a positive environment.
"You may be making a lot of money, but if you don't enjoy the environment in or the people you are working with, it's not worth it," Franz added.
