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I 've had several ideas put to me with regards to having staff members of Conyngham Road garage profiled
through either a weekly or monthly profile as distinct from the "profiles" page we have on the website. One of our viewers
has come up with the idea of having several staff profiled as a "day in the life of...". Giving details of when the particular
staff members start to when they finish their day's work. So watch this space for "a day in the life of..." some staff
members very soon.
Our first participant is Ms Suzanne McCabe...and our second participant is Bernie
Lyons. Scroll page down as required.
Driver Suzanne McCabe (see left) has been working
with Dublin Bus at Conyngham Road Depot for three months now, (July 2004). NOTE: Suzanne is leaving Conyngham Road Depot to
move to Phibsboro Depot on Sunday 7th November 2004 as part of the changes in Dublin Bus during November. We wish her well
in her new depot. I've just heard (June 2006) that Suzanne has now moved to Ringsend Bus Depot. Near to her fella...Isn't
that sweet. Best wishes Suzanne. Suzanne lives in Co.Kildare with her partner, also a Dublin Bus driver. Suzanne likes driving
a bus for a living and says it was a challenge for her to become a driver. She was determined to prove to herself that she
could pass her test and become a qualified professional bus driver. Congratulations to Suzanne and she is now part of a growing
trend of women bus drivers with Dublin Bus.
Suzanne is a "spare" driver. What that means is that Suzanne does not have 'a'
specific bus route that she works on daily, but that she can be working on several bus routes on a weekly basis. This would,
(of course), now be in Phibsboro depot. Every day Suzanne has to check the duty sheets to see what duty and bus route she
is on the following day. She can, like every driver, be starting work at 5.30 to 7.30 in the morning on her early shift or
she could be finishing as late as 1 a.m on her late shift.
On her early shift Suzanne may have to get up as early as 4 a.m. to be in work
on time for her duty. Remember, Suzanne has some distance to travel to work. When in work Suzanne receives her duty and schedule
of times from the Inspector and she is also given a specific bus number to use for her duty.
Having got on her bus Suzanne has to adjust the steering, seating, and mirrors
to suit herself and when she is ready she drives the bus from the depot to the city centre or to the outer terminus as required.
Having completed the first-half of her duty, Suzanne goes on a break either
back in Conyngham Road Depot or in the CIE canteen in Earl Place in the city centre. The breaks are usually for 1 hour. After
the break Suzanne returns to a bus allocated to her for the second-half of her duty and proceeds to work away until she is
finished some 3 to 4 hours later.
By this time it is usually in the afternoon and Suzanne returns to the garage
to 'sign off'. She again checks the duty sheet for the next day and so the work begins again...
A day in the life of Suzanne McCabe will be returned to when Suzanne has
been in the depot a bit longer so as she can give us some anecdotes of life as a bus driver.
Every bus garage has to have "spare" drivers so as to cover drivers out ill
or on holidays or when extra buses are needed on certain occasions, for example, when buses are traffic gridlocked and some
duties have to be covered because the regular service is running late.
Inspector Bernie Lyons. (Pictured left). Bernie is almost 26 years working with Dublin Bus
(2006). She was employed as a conductor, then driver, and finally was promoted to Inspector in December 1990. Bernie holds
the distinction of being the first female Inspector in Dublin Bus.
Bernie had worked from 1990 to 1995 in various roles as an Inspector before returning to
Conyngham Road as a bus controller. The controllers work four different shifts from 6.30 a.m. until 12.15 a.m. ( That's a
quarter past midnight to you and me. The late shift would start at 2.30 p.m. So what's a day in the life of Inspector Bernie
like?
Well Bernie's job is to regulate the bus services. She has several different bus routes to
regulate and she works in conjunction with the stance Inspector on duty. ( A stance Inspector is an Inspector who, for instance,
you would see at a city terminus). Her job can be demanding most days because due to the gridlocked traffic in Dublin, Bernie
finds that she is constantly in touch with many drivers trying to ensure that she can regulate the service so as the schedules
can be kept to as is humanly possible.
Since March 2003, Bernie has had the use of a computerised radio facility with works in unison
with the RTPI, ( Real-Time-Passenger-Information). This system is unique to Conyngham Road garage at present. It has been
in use in the garage since 2000 and it is one of Bernie's jobs, having received up to date information from the stance Inspector,
to keep the RTPI updated on a regular basis. However, not everything is computerised and Bernie still uses the bus schedule
sheets to keep tabs on the times that the buses are due either in town or at the outer terminii.
Gerry Kinsella (right) is our CCTV operator. Gerry previews all incidents that occur from Conyngham Road
Depot buses. Gerry has up to 8 cameras on each bus to preview and all accidents and incidents are recorded on CD. In some
cases, An Garda Siochana request copies of some incidents in their investigations, so Gerry has to be 'on the ball' at all
times to ensure that all cameras are operating to the highest standard. With around 100 buses operating from Conyngham Road
Depot, he has to be in work early to start his investigations and to ensure each incident is recorded for legal purposes.
Gerry's work is vital to the company and any vandalism that occurs on the buses is thoroughly investigated and recordings
handed over to management to bring to the Gardai's attention.
Gerry is pictured in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA on a recent Dublin Bus trip in March for the St. Patrick's
Day parade in Charlotte. In fact, all the group from Dublin Bus were the 'Grand Marshalls for the parade, as their presence
in Charlotte was held in such high regard. Every year Gerry travels to the United States in March for the St. Patrick's Day
parades and has been part of the New York parade as guests of the New York Police on several occasions.
| "What machine is giving you trouble?" |
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Ken Flanagan (left) is the "Ticket Man" in Conyngham Road Depot. That is, he looks after
all the ticket validation machines and Wayfarer Ticket issueing machines on all buses in the Depot. Ken's day starts
before 6 a.m. and from the time he arrives in the Depot Ken is checking for any problems that the maintenance department may
have had with ticket machines overnight. Ken ensures that all the buses are kept in service regarding the ticketing equipment
and that repairs needed to machines are done promptly. If Ken doesn't fix the machine himself he has a contractor calling
to his office twice a week to ensure the ticketing equipment is not out of service for long. He has several replacement machines
as spare so as to ensure all buses have the necessary equipment on board and in good working order.
Ken is an intrepid traveller and has visited many countries not normally visited by "tourists".
Earlier on this year Ken travelled to Bhotan, Vietnam and Cambodia. We hope to show some photographs of Ken's travels
in the near future.
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