Bus 'Roadeo' Obstacles Are Wheel Gas for MBTA Crew

By Marie Szaniszlo, Boston Herald

Bus Maintenance workers Mike Vartabedian, Craig Hughes, and Joe DePrimio with Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen and MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas.

Bus Operator O.D. Fitzpatrick with Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen and MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas.

9/29/07 - You ride them or pass them on the street every day. But try wrestling with a 40-foot-long bus.

Yesterday, dozens of MBTA drivers and maintenance technicians competed in the annual bus operations and bus maintenance "roadeos" at the Charlestown Bus Garage.

In one obstacle course, competitors have to drive their right front and rear wheels through two rows of yellow balls set progressively closer together, leaving about an inch to spare on the side of each wheel by the end.

Drivers also have to weave through a series of barrels without hitting them, and pick up speed and then stop abruptly without hitting an orange cone.

"I just like the challenge of maneuvering these big, old buses and the camaraderie between the drivers," said O.D. Fitzpatrick, an MBTA driver for eight years who yesterday won his third roadeo.

"It's nothing compared to what you have to deal with every day on the street, with people cutting you off and squeezing you in. A lot of drivers get frustrated with that," Fitzpatrick said. "But a good driver will block that stuff out. I just use it as practice for this."

The winners of both competitions will represent the MBTA in next year's International Bus Roadeo in Austin, Texas.