Safe Driver Awards 2021

Safe Driver Awards 2021
By Pamela Johnson

Navigating any type of vehicle, no matter the size, through miles of hilly San Francisco terrain and sharing the roadway with others is no easy feat. Add Ubers, private and commercial vehicles, taxis, bicycles, scooters and pedestrians into the mix and the challenge escalates quickly.

But what is even more truly remarkable is that we have 282 Muni transit operators who've managed this safe driving record with no avoidable safety incidents year after year for more than 15 years. Some for several decades!

This year, the Muni operators named as honorees for the annual Safe Driver Award Program have met that challenge to be called a Safe Driver. Additionally, 20 new operators were welcomed to this elite club of which three have at least 35 years of safe driving:

Oliverio Valle, Cable Car Division, 47 Years Safe Driving
Lonnie Moore Jr, Green Division, 44 Years Safe Driving
Jason Lao, Green Division, 37 Years Safe Driving

Typically, we hold a banquet dinner to formally honor these operators who have proven to be the best of the best and the safest of the safe, but as you know, like the previous year, 2020 was anything but typical. While we cannot celebrate in person again this year, the accomplishment does not go unnoticed. A special recognition will take place during the Tuesday, January 18th Board of Director’s meeting at 1 pm. Director of Transportation, Jeff Tumlin and Transit Workers Union Local 250A will be presenting the awards. The meeting will be streamed live through SFGovTV.

What are the criteria for being a Safe Driver?

Simply put, operators who have driven a minimum of 1,952 qualifying hours* each fiscal year with no avoidable safety incidents on record. Safe drivers are also recognized with belt buckles, patches and certificates at various points.

Qualifying hours are defined as the sum of actual hours spent operating a transit vehicle (platform hours, including both regular and overtime) plus hours of vacation taken and holiday hours granted (including floating days) within the qualifying period. Due to COVID-19, qualifying hours for FY2021 also include COVID Sick and Furlough. The qualifying period of the fiscal year is July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

It goes without saying that receiving a Safe Drivers Award is a career milestone achievement for transit drivers everywhere. Muni operators who exemplify the term "safe driver" have clearly demonstrated excellence in service and have furthered the SFMTA's ongoing commitment being a transit first city.

This year the 282 transit operators being honored with the Safe Driver distinction have at least 15 years of Safe Driving experience and will receive a commemorative 2021 token, belt buckles, patches to wear on their uniform shirt or jacket, and a certificate. 

We thank all our drivers for their exemplary work moving San Francisco regardless of the number of years involved. The following list honors those with 15 years or more of safe driving who have earned the coveted distinction of being called a Safe Driver.

Safe Driver Awards 2021 token, belt buckles and patches

Published December 21, 2021 at 04:41AM
https://ift.tt/3J30mka

Comments

New top story from Time: Angry Youths Rattle Spain in Support of Jailed Catalan Rapper Pablo Hasel

https://ift.tt/2NUGSpC BARCELONA, Spain — The imprisonment of a rap artist for his music and tweets praising terrorist violence and insulting the Spanish monarchy has set off a powder keg of pent-up rage this week in the southern European country. The arrest of Pablo Hasél has brought thousands to the streets for different reasons. Under the banner of freedom of expression, many Spaniards strongly object to putting an artist behind bars for his lyrics and social media remarks. They are clamoring for Spain’s left-wing government to fulfill its promise and roll back the Public Security Law passed by the previous conservative administration that was used to prosecute Hasél and other artists. Hasél’s imprisonment to serve a nine-month sentence on Tuesday has also tapped into a well of frustration among Spain’s youths, who have the highest unemployment rate in the European Union. Four in every 10 eligible workers under 25 years old are without a job. “I think that what we ...

New top story from Time: How Facebook’s Australia News Ban Could Hamper Vaccine Rollout to Aboriginal People

https://ift.tt/37E8rL1 The COVID-19 vaccine rollout was never going to be easy in Australia’s sparsely populated, desert-covered Northern Territory. With many small towns located hours apart by road, organizers even considered using drones and dry ice to make deliveries. But the vaccination campaign is facing an even greater uphill battle after Facebook removed news content across the country of 25 million on Feb. 18 following a battle over a bill that would force Big Tech companies to pay for the use of news stories. The ban also swept up Indigenous media organizations, meaning that Aboriginal people, who make up more than 25% of the region’s population may not have access to reliable information about vaccinations. Many Aboriginal people rely on Facebook as a portal to the Internet. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Facebook has become “a primary vehicle for promoting health information to remote Aboriginal communities,” says Malarndirri McCarthy , a senator in the Northe...

New top story from Time: How a Belarusian Teacher and Stay-at-Home Mom Came to Lead a National Revolt

https://ift.tt/3bD4WG2 On a hot summer day last August, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was pacing up and down her empty apartment in Minsk, the capital of Belarus in Central Europe, her life—and her country—in turmoil. With her husband in jail, she had sent her two small children out of the country, to safety, and she now faced a stark choice, bluntly handed to her by the nation’s hard-line security forces: flee into exile herself, or face arrest. “I had a couple of hours, but I could not pack anything, because I was so overstressed,” she recalls. “It was a shock. I was not prepared for this.” Indeed, it is hard to imagine how Tikhanovskaya could have prepared for the jolting transformation of her life. Within the space of a few months, she emerged from obscurity to become the leader of Belarus’ biggest revolt in decades, determined to bring down President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the former Soviet republic with an iron hand for more than 26 years as what many call Euro...

New top story from Time: President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines Has Changed His Mind About Scrapping a U.S. Security Pact

https://ift.tt/3fe21WW MANILA, Philippines — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has retracted a decision to end a key defense pact with the United States, allowing large-scale combat exercises between U.S. and Philippine forces that at times have alarmed China to proceed. Duterte’s decision was announced Friday by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in a joint news conference with visiting U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin in Manila. It was a step back from the Philippine leader’s stunning vow early in his term to distance himself from Washington as he tried to rebuild frayed ties with China over territorial rifts in the South China Sea. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “The president decided to recall or retract the termination letter for the VFA,” Lorenzana told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Austin, referring to the Visiting Forces Agreement. “There is no termination letter pending and we are back on track.” Austin thanked Duterte for the decision, which he sai...

New top story from Time: ‘I Will Cry When I Deliver That Last Yogurt.’ Small Ranch Owners Are Selling Their Herds For Lack of Water

https://ift.tt/3l9IavO Gail Ansley delivered her final batch of homemade Picabo Desert Farms goat yogurt to Atkinson’s Market in Hailey, ID two weeks ago. As usual, each 16-oz unit of rich, creamy goat’s milk yogurt was packaged in a plain plastic container with a simple disclaimer stuck to the lid: “We know this label isn’t Chic, but the Yogurt inside is the best you’ll Eat!” it proudly proclaims . The ingredients: raw goat milk, culture, and sometimes gourmet vanilla bean paste sourced from nearby Boise, or fresh lemon curd, or peach jam. But this chapter is all over: she sold her last goat, a Nigerian dwarf named Kea, the weekend before. Kea was the final remaining animal in Ansley’s hundred-plus goat herd, which she grew and raised over the past six years on her small farm in Richfield, ID. “ And I will cry when I deliver that last yogurt tomorrow, ” Ansley says over the phone, audibly tearing up. “ When we started, my husband had a pickup truck and a camper, that’s wha...

New top story from Time: U.S. Lawmaker Wants to Ban Booze ‘To Go’ at Airports Amid Surge in Unruly Passengers

https://ift.tt/3kExvs4 Limiting the sale of “to-go” alcohol at airports and creation of an industrywide no-fly list are among the steps that may be needed to help stem the epidemic of air rage incidents on airline flights. But disagreements over which ones to pursue emerged at an often contentious U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing Thursday that also highlighted the deep divide among industry sectors and the emotional politics surrounding mask requirements during travel. While most lawmakers decried the surge in unruly passenger incidents some Republican lawmakers attacked what they called hypocritical policies by the Biden administration and criticized airlines for enforcing the mask rule. Democrats, in turn, said lax standards in some states contributed to the problem. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “I would agree totally that there are mixed messages out there and that it’s confusing to the public and at times makes it very difficult for f...

5 dead as two boats capsize in Bengal's Murshidabad https://ift.tt/3jwj3yN

At least five people were killed after two boats capsized in West Bengal on Monday. According to the police, the incident was reported from Murshidabad in the state, where two country boats capsized in a water body. The bodies of those dead were later fished out of Dumni water body, a senior police officer said.

Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett confirmed as Supreme Court justice in partisan vote https://ift.tt/35zb3rW

Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court late Monday by a deeply divided Senate, with Republicans overpowering Democrats to install President Donald Trump’s nominee days before the election and secure a likely conservative court majority for years to come.

Upset on app ban, China urges India to restore normal trade relations https://ift.tt/2UZaL8L

China on Wednesday urged the government to restore the trade relations for mutual benefit. The development comes after reports of China being upset by India's latest ban on 43 Chinese mobile applications. According to an official statement issued by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, "China and India are the opportunities of development to each other rather than threats. Both sides should bring bilateral economic and trade relations back to the right path for mutual benefit and win-win results on the basis of dialogue and negotiation."

NASA confirms presence of water on sunlit surface of Moon https://ift.tt/3osteYN

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed the presence of water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. In a statement, the American space agency has said this discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places. On Monday, a scientist from NASA had said though the moon lacks the bodies of liquid water that are a hallmark of Earth, the lunar water is more widespread than previously known, with water molecules trapped within mineral grains on the surface and more water is perhaps hidden in ice patches residing in permanent shadows.

My precise view

Search This Blog