About This Career

Operates subway or elevated suburban trains with no separate locomotive, or electric-powered streetcar, to transport passengers. May handle fares.

This career is part of the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics cluster Transportation Operations pathway.

A person in this career:

• Monitors lights indicating obstructions or other trains ahead and watches for car and truck traffic at crossings to stay alert to potential hazards.
• Drives and controls rail-guided public transportation, such as subways, elevated trains, and electric-powered streetcars, trams, or trolleys, to transport passengers.
• Operates controls to open and close transit vehicle doors.
• Reports delays, mechanical problems, and emergencies to supervisors or dispatchers, using radios.
• Regulates vehicle speed and the time spent at each stop to maintain schedules.
• Makes announcements to passengers, such as notifications of upcoming stops or schedule delays.
• Directs emergency evacuation procedures.
• Completes reports, including shift summaries and incident or accident reports.
• Greets passengers, provides information, and answers questions concerning fares, schedules, transfers, and routings.
• Attends meetings on driver and passenger safety to learn ways in which job performance might be affected.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 10 lbs., sometimes up to 20 lbs. You might do a lot of walking or standing, or you might sit but use your arms and legs to control machines, equipment or tools.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Exposed to conditions such as high voltage electricity, combustibles, explosives, and chemicals more than once a month
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Judging how far away an object is, or which of several objects is closer or farther away
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Rotating shift work