By: Madison Smalstig
The Muncie Indiana Transportation System (MITS) fixed-route transportation supervisor’s job is to ensure that MITS is providing the people of Muncie with a reliable and safe public transportation system. Working with drivers, monitoring routes and managing the transportation section of the website are just a few examples of what these supervisors oversee on a daily basis.
Each day begins by entering information into a program which maps out the bus routes and their arrival/departure times for the website and app. This way, the riders can receive information about their daily routes as soon as possible. Another daily responsibility of the fixed route transportation supervisor’s job is handling various tasks involving the drivers, including scheduling, disciplinary actions, hiring, background checks, and firing. They are also in charge in monitoring the drivers on their routes, looking at idle time spent at bus stops, and the speed of the buses during routes to make sure the drivers are not breaking speed laws.
Another equally important duty of the MITS transportation management team is making sure all the buses are safe for the riders and MITS ensures that all people riding the buses are in a hospitable environment. Although this involves a lot of work, each minute spent keeping all riders safe is worth the extra effort.
The transportation supervisor also works to make the bus rides simple as well as safe. In order to do so, they recently “revamped” two routes, numbers 14 and 16, which makes it easier for Ball State students to ride with MITS. These buses now run through areas such as Best Buy and the many apartments on Baker Lane. Students living in that area can access campus simply by hopping on a bus right outside of their apartment and ride for free to any place in Muncie.
Having a job as a transportation supervisor means something very different now than it did a few years ago. Their primary job used to only be working with the drivers. Now, with the app for real time information and website updates, accurate arrival times have become a huge part of their everyday schedule. Although some of these changes have added new tasks to their workload, these upgrades have improved the system and made the experience of riding a MITS bus simpler and easier.