How to become Subway and Streetcar Operator in 2024

Subway and Streetcar Operator Operate subway or elevated suburban trains with no separate locomotive, or electric-powered streetcar, to transport passengers. May handle fares.

Subway and Streetcar Operator is Also Know as

In different settings, Subway and Streetcar Operator is titled as

  • Combined Rail Operator
  • Light Rail Operator
  • Light Rail Train Operator
  • Light Rail Vehicle Operator (LRV Operator)
  • Rail Operator
  • Rapid Transit Operator (RTO)
  • Streetcar Operator
  • Train Operator
  • Transit Operator
  • Trolley Operator

Education and Training of Subway and Streetcar Operator

Subway and Streetcar Operator is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Subway and Streetcar Operator

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Education Required for Subway and Streetcar Operator

These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Degrees Related to Subway and Streetcar Operator

Training Required for Subway and Streetcar Operator

Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Subway and Streetcar Operator in different industries are

What Do Subway and Streetcar Operator do?

  • Operate controls to open and close transit vehicle doors.
  • Drive and control rail-guided public transportation, such as subways, elevated trains, and electric-powered streetcars, trams, or trolleys, to transport passengers.
  • Monitor lights indicating obstructions or other trains ahead and watch for car and truck traffic at crossings to stay alert to potential hazards.
  • Direct emergency evacuation procedures.
  • Regulate vehicle speed and the time spent at each stop to maintain schedules.
  • Report delays, mechanical problems, and emergencies to supervisors or dispatchers, using radios.
  • Make announcements to passengers, such as notifications of upcoming stops or schedule delays.
  • Complete reports, including shift summaries and incident or accident reports.
  • Greet passengers, provide information, and answer questions concerning fares, schedules, transfers, and routings.
  • Attend meetings on driver and passenger safety to learn ways in which job performance might be affected.
  • Collect fares from passengers, and issue change and transfers.
  • Record transactions and coin receptor readings to verify the amount of money collected.

Qualities of Good Subway and Streetcar Operator

  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Subway and Streetcar Operator

  • Customer-to-operator two-way communication systems
  • Deadman pedals
  • Diesel powered train engines
  • Door opening controls
  • Electric train engines
  • In-train public address systems
  • Multipurpose fire extinguishers
  • Portable two way radios
  • Railcar defrosting systems
  • Streetcars
  • Track switches
  • Trolley bell foot pedals
  • Trolleys
  • Wheelchair exit or entrance ramps
  • Whistle pulls

Technology Skills required for Subway and Streetcar Operator

  • Microsoft Office software
  • Word processing software