Vantaggi
The company will pay you a decent wage to train to become an operator (light rail, commuter rail, bus or paratransit). Once you finish training, your wage will increase, and then go up .50 every 6 months. Good benefit package, including onsite clinics and fitness centers.
Svantaggi
The downside to working in a union environment is that they place a high value on your seniority ranking in determining which runs and shifts you get. When you start out, you'll be doing the runs that the more senior employees would rather not do. You may have to come into work at times when most people are still sleeping, and work in all types of weather conditions. Work schedules can vary a lot, making it difficult to get a good night's sleep. You need to be able to adapt well to changing work hours. If you're an operator, your benefits don't start until 90 days after hire, while office workers get their benefits sooner. Anyone can ride public transit, so you're dealing with all types of people. As a TRAX Operator, you have to pay attention to many things at once while the train is moving, including the signals, your speed (go too fast and the train will shut down), pedestrians at crosswalks near stations, people standing near the edge of the platforms, keeping track of when to let out passengers with disabilities (on the older trains), and monitoring the radio calls and keeping track of all advisories from the control center. It requires a high degree of multitasking.