Firefighter! Police Officer! Teacher! Musician! Actor! 5th grade was an awesome place. This is when kids were actually spunky, and excited about the future. I have a teenager now, and in their attempt to be cool 24/7 their response is always this monotone nonchalant " I don't know" to everything.
I hope I'm not alone there, but anyway....
I must admit, the career path of "transportation" didn't quite make its way onto those childhood "what do you want to be when you grow up" forms we all filled out in elementary, middle, and high school. For many of us, it was more of a lucky discovery rather than a deliberate choice. However, looking back now, with the knowledge and experience I have gained, I would confidently opt for a career in transportation every single time.
In today's article, I'm going to talk about 5 reasons why you should intentionally choose a career in passenger transportation.
As a fun little side note, back in elementary school, my dream was to become a WWE/WWF wrestler. I may not have fully pursued that path, but I did find myself as the owner and performer at Baltimore Championship wrestling.
For context, here's an angry man(Miguel) slamming me though a trash can. Side note to the side note, the owners of that building actually threated to sue me for that trashcan. Side note to the other two side notes, Miguel is actually a pretty popular Youtuber nowadays )
I'm not an investor and finance guy, but my presumption is everyone wants a high ROI. Considering that, is there a such things as 100% ROI? I mean Transit in my opinion may be the only industry that if executed right would cost you nothing up front and you can cash out in and make six figures with relative ease.
Tell me to prove it.
I sign up to be a bus driver, but I need a CDL. The agency will pay me to train and get one. I may have to fund my CDL permit, which at worst is maybe $100 bucks so let's keep our investment counter at $100.
Now--let's say training is 5 weeks, at $20 an hour to get your CDL. Thats 20x40x5= $4,000. Again, I'm not a math guy but Google said that's a 3,900.00% return on your $100 investment.
Alright, imagine this: you're eyeing college, and that's already pretty cool. But check me out because here's where it gets even cooler. Many transit agencies are offer something called tuition reimbursement. What does that mean? It means they'll foot the bill for your education if you commit to staying in the transportation field and working through the agency.
So, let's break it down. You spend four years in college, soaking up knowledge and making memories. According to Google, the average cost of a four-year degree is around $38,000. That's 38 grand you get to keep in your pocket. Talk about a sweet deal, right?
So now you've got that shiny new degree in hand. Now, let's imagine you land a gig that pays a cool $75,000 a year – totally achievable as a driver, by the way but let's say you get a cool desk job. Say you stick with the industry for a solid 30 years and then kick back into retirement mode.
Here's the breakdown: you start off pulling in $50,000 annually as a bus driver for the first four years. Then, you switch gears and bump up to $75,000 a year as an administrative whiz. Crunching the numbers, that adds up to over $2.1 million in your career earnings. And guess what? It only set you back a mere $100. That's a jaw-dropping return on investment – a whopping 2,099,900.00% to be exact. Now, tell me that isn't a seriously sweet deal!
I think Charles Swabb would approve.
Can I drop some wisdom on you? Check it out – my favorite saying is: "relationships can go further than paperwork can" I learned this firsthand, transitioning from the operator life to other side. Let me tell you, it's a whole new game out there, and relationships? They're the currency that makes it all happen.
Sure, a killer resume can open doors, and a degree can give you a boost. Skills and talent? Absolutely essential. But you know what really kicks things into overdrive? It's having those tight-knit connections with movers and shakers in the right places. That's like adding nitro to your career engine – it amplifies everything you bring to the table. So, remember: while resumes and degrees are cool, it's the relationships you build that can truly set you apart in that space.
In the world of transportation, we're all part of a tight-knit community. We share the same victories, the same challenges, and everything in between – because at the end of the day, we're all serving the same customer: the rider. That's what sets us apart from other industries – there's no cutthroat corporate sabotage or lone wolf mentality here. We're all in this together.
Think about it: you're not going to find someone from Detroit trying to take down the LA Metro. That's just not how we operate in this industry. It's all about connections. Someone in your network is bound to know the person you need to know. That's the beauty of our community – it's built on trust and collaboration, not competition.
So, when it comes to growing your career, it's not just about honing your skills – although that's important too. It's about fostering relationships that open doors you didn't even know existed. In transportation, it's those connections that pave the way for success.
When I first started my career, I was told that I could move around the agency. They mentioned I could go from bus to train to supervision to management and so forth. While that's not incorrect, that's incomplete. Those are only the operational jobs. There are admin jobs, safety jobs, finance jobs, business admin jobs, There's the private sector, the public sector. Within the transportation industry, there's a whole ecosystem of vendors and software companies at play. Interestingly, even within these tech-focused firms, you'll find former operational experts like my former colleagues from Ecolane's Implementation team. This goes to show that transitioning to the technology side is absolutely possible.
Now, if you're in need of a top-notch scheduling tool check the link in the description... oh wait, this isn't YouTube! My bad 😅
But hey, slide into my DMs, and I'll be more than happy to walk you through how it all works. And if you're really nice to me, I might even hook you up with a sweet deal 😎
Let's circle back to the program. One of the biggest frustrations with Union culture is this idea that you're expected to stick around for 30 years. Now, don't get me wrong – longevity is great and all, but let's be real: nobody else is doing that. It's not like anyone else is expected to stay in the same role for three whole decades.
Think about it – executives, planners, management... they're all hopping on planes and jet-setting across the country for new opportunities at the drop of a hat. And guess what? You can do that too. You've got the skills, the drive, and the potential to chase after whatever opportunity comes your way. So why limit yourself to just one place for your entire career? The world is your oyster, my friend – go out there and grab those opportunities by the horns!
Oh, and here's the cherry on top – with most state government-sponsored agencies, you've got the freedom to move around within the state's Department of Transportation. Picture this: you could go from working on buses to handling DMV matters, and if you're feeling adventurous, even join the State Troopers. It's all within reach, and surprisingly straightforward to make happen. So, if you've got the itch for some variety and want to explore different facets of transportation, the possibilities are endless and just a hop, skip, and jump away!
No other industry is offering that bruh.
So, let's talk AI. Truth be told, it's not going anywhere anytime soon, but it's definitely shaking things up in terms of jobs. Now, this blog wasn't penned by ChatGPT (just to clear that up), but in the future, you can bet that a lot of them will be.
Remember the Hollywood writers' strike? There were murmurs about replacing writers with robots. But you know who won't be replaced by robots? Major Metro bus drivers. Take it from someone who's lived in Baltimore for 34 (soon to be 35 as of March 11th - Happy Birthday to me! 🥳) years – I dare you to build a robot that can navigate Greenmount Avenue better than me. Trust me, some things just can't be automated!
I'm sure there'll be some slick automated upgrades to enhance the transportation experience and streamline certain tasks. But are we looking at a full-blown AI takeover? Unlikely, and here's why.
At its core transportation isn't just about getting from point A to point B. It's a high-level game of customer service, where the journey itself is as important as the destination. We're in the business of moving people, and as long as human lives keep evolving, so will their travel patterns. With changes happening at lightning speed, trying to algorithmically predict every twist and turn is like trying to mop the ocean...or should I say Chesapeake Bay
In this fast-paced world, human intuition and adaptability are the secret sauce that keeps the transportation industry cruising ahead. So yeah, automated enhancements are cool, but the real magic happens when human ingenuity meets cutting-edge tech. That's the unstoppable combo keeping transportation on the pulse of progress.
Here's the thing about transportation that we all probably know deep down inside – most of us stumbled into this field by accident, but once we're here, we're hooked. We thrive on the rush, we thrive on stress, and dare I say, we even thrive on the chaos of navigating someone or something from point A to point B. Sure, we may have our moments of frustration and say "I'm done with this," but let's face it – we know deep down that we'd be bored to tears if we ever ventured into something non-transportation related.
There's just something about the pulse-pounding energy of this industry that gets under your skin and keeps you coming back for more. So yeah, we may flirt with the idea of leaving, but in the end, we're here to stay because nothing else quite compares to the wild ride of transportation.
Let's keep it real – none of us are out here dreaming of becoming full-time real estate agents. It's just not our vibe, and deep down, we know it. Even those who step away from the transportation game find themselves circling back in some form or fashion. Take my buddy, for example – he recently fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a firefighter. How do I know? Because I was right there with him during childhood. (I got receipts lol)
We grew up together, rocked the roads at MDOT MTA together, and now we're both living out our childhood dreams. Transportation isn't just a job – it's a way of life. We eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff. We're the ones silently judging you when you drive poorly, the walking GPS when you're lost, and the budget-friendly tour guides when you're exploring. This is our jam, and there's always room for more in our home.