Guide

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Your agency should have written policies and procedures that specify driver work rules.
At a minimum, these rules will reflect any labor regulations that are in place. They should
reflect practical and fair practices in the specific local situation and should specify
maximum work hours between breaks, per day, and per week; availability of straight shifts
and split shifts to address times of peak work loads; issues of part time vs full time work;
maximum break time for which there is no pay; and "extra board" (drivers waiting on call
for work if needed) pay and availability to work.
(5) Drivers should be monitored "on the street" as necessary.
It is important that drivers not
be reckless, deviate off route for arbitrary reasons, skim fares, disrespect their disabled
passengers, damage their vehicles, steal fuel, etc. Drivers can be monitored by
passenger commendations and complaints, on-board cameras, GPS tracking, "ghost
riders" that ride a vehicle and observe driver behavior, and supervisors who follow
vehicles or who ride vehicles with the full knowledge of the driver. The case study from
Cape Town notes some of these practices. Employee records should include periodic
criminal background checks, maintenance of good driving records, assurance that driver
licenses are kept current, ongoing monitoring of the health of safety-sensitive personnel
and their ability to handle their tasks, and ongoing drug and alcohol testing programs
where these are appropriate. These records may be needed for good management of
human resources or required by government regulations, funding sources, and for
potential future litigation.
(6) A code of conduct and business ethics should ideally undergird a paratransit agency's
work and provide a benchmark against which to measure the actual success of
management and employees at all levels in reaching their goal of providing safe,
accessible, reliable, and affordable transport for seniors and citizens with disabilities.
Such a code would prohibit financial or other conflicts of interest. Go to "conflict of
interest policy examples" on a search engine such as Google.
6.2 Training
General comments on training
Training is not a "one time only" matter. It is easy to forget knowledge and skills if they are
not used. Thus periodic re-training is important for paratransit drivers and others. Crosstraining
may also be needed, for example to assure that both drivers and attendants (if they
are used as part of your service) can safely secure wheelchairs and their occupants.
Training is needed for different roles, including managerial, vehicle maintenance, scheduling,
planning, accounting and finance, information technology, transit vehicle driving, and other
roles. Training can occur at elementary and high school levels, or through other education or
experience gained prior to entering a job.
Training is often provided in-house by the paratransit agency, using the organization's training
staff or using regular employees that are given the duty and opportunity to mentor, advise,
and train new employees. Note the use of veteran drivers to train new drivers by Atende, in
one of the case studies from São Paulo.
Training can also be provided from outside the organization. Employees can be sent to a
training facility or school, to conferences, or to programs set up by vehicle manufacturers,
consultants, transit associations, or local universities. Training can also be provided by online
services such as Skype, by webinar or teleconferencing training sessions, or by