June 12, 2024–Public Advocates’ Senior Policy Advocate for Transportation Laurel Paget-Seekins spoke with Oaklandside Reporter Jose Fermoso at the AC Transit Board Meeting on June 5, where operators and supporters gathered to advocate for change in AC Transit’s new Realign Project—specifically break time for operators. While bathroom breaks and a respite to grab food or stretch one’s legs after multi-hour driving seems humane and basic, currently drivers are forced to miss these critical intervals.
“This is the case because, according to Laurel Paget-Seekins, a policy advocate for transportation justice with Public Advocates, a nonprofit public interest law firm, the recovery time built into the bus schedules isn’t actually “break time for the operators.”
“That is time to make sure the bus stays on schedule. So on paper it might look like the operator gets breaks, but if the schedules aren’t accurate, they don’t get it in practice,” she said.
