#When the world stopped making sense driver
#When the world stopped making sense series

WeвЂ™re here to help people get to work and to school and essential workers get to their jobs. вЂњIt was a long battle to recovery-daily prayers and constant worry,вЂќ says Soliz.вЂњIвЂ™m not personally concerned about where IвЂ™m going when I take my last breath, but while IвЂ™m here, we all have a job to do and a service to perform. After a brief stay in a hospital in early August, he spent the next two months fighting the virus at home, returning to work on October 11. So far, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 136 members of the ATU, the nationвЂ™s largest union for public transit, intercity, and school bus drivers. Army veteran is also the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1039. ItвЂ™s led to physical threats, being cussed at, even spit at,вЂќ says Soliz, who has been working for the Capital Area Transportation Authority since 2018. вЂњThereвЂ™s occasions where I have to deny a ride to a customer who doesnвЂ™t have a mask, and who then gets very upset with me. His least favorite part of the job: The unpredictable shifts and the unruly passengers-a problem the pandemic has amplified. вЂњYou develop friendships with people who ride your bus route on a regular basis, and after a number of years, you feel like you contributed to helping them more than just by providing transportation.вЂќ вЂњWhat I like best is the tangible help you give people every day, taking them to work, school, appointments, etc.,вЂќ says Soliz.

#When the world stopped making sense driver

The 54-year-old married father of two says being a bus driver is вЂњmy calling.вЂќД®ven a year fraught with danger, uncertainty, and other challenges hasnвЂ™t soured him on life behind the big wheel.

Steve Soliz has been helping people get from point A to point B in Lansing, Michigan, for more than three decades. Among other much-needed aid, the relief package, called the American Rescue Plan, allocates $90 billion in transportation and infrastructure support.Д«elow are the stories from three transportation workers who have been trying to deliver passengers safely-whether by bus, plane, or car-during a pandemic thatвЂ™s left around 10 million people in the country out of work and 530,000 dead. And today, President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill into law. Just days before the pandemic relief measures passed in December were set to expire, Congress sent another lifeline to struggling Americans, parents, caregivers, hard-hit businesses, and stretched local governments. When they are able to work, the mask requirements that protect them also put them on the receiving end of a lot of flak from unruly passengers. Hundreds of thousands of workers have gotten laid off, been furloughed, or have had their shifts (and income) severely cut. Additionally, grounded flights, increased sanitation protocols, and shrunken revenues have taken a toll on the industry. Thousands of public transit operators have fallen ill with COVID-19, hundreds with fatal infections. And month after month after month, transportation workers helped them get there-at great risk to themselves. Across the country, throughout the ebb and flow of infection and unemployment rates, people were on the move to grocery stores, hospitals, and any number of essential workplaces. Over the year, ridership on public transit, such as the New York City subway, has fallen considerably-but less so in low-income areas, where many essential workers live and continue to rely on it daily. The world seemed to stop-except it didnвЂ™t. When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a pandemic a year ago today, businesses shuttered, events were canceled, and schools and offices closed.

#When the world stopped making sense series

The вЂњ Pandemic at WorkвЂќ series explores the work environment in the era of COVID-19 through the voices of those trying to survive through it.