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Get a view from “the seat” as Muni bus driver Mc Allen opens up about why he loves his job and San Francisco and public transportation in general.
Mc shares facets of the role we rarely see: a bus driver’s schedule, time off, and pay, as well as the levels of autonomy, job demands, and social support that define job stress.
Listeners familiar with employee wellbeing will note Mc’s sense of purpose and belonging, as well as how he uses his skills as a poet to exemplify job crafting.
Learn more about Mc on his website, mc-allen.com — a site he says he “doesn’t really maintain” — where you can read the poem he describes in the interview, The Bee of Moffitt Street. Mc is on X (formerly Twitter) at that_mc and on Mastodon at that_mc@sfba.social.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Mc’s appearance at Muni Diaries (video).
Mc’s anecdote in A Bus Driver’s Story of Connection, Kindness, and Trust, the first Heigh Ho post in this series.
The second post in the series: Steering Thru Stress: What Bus Drivers' Working Lives Teach Us About Wellbeing. Understand the science that supports everything Mc shares regarding bus drivers’ working life.
About Mc Allen
Mc Allen believes that high quality public transportation is a powerful and essential part of the city. In 2021 he became a transit operator for the “Municipal Railway” (Muni) in San Francisco, where he lives with his wife and kids.
A San Francisco Bus Driver Navigates the Ups and Downs of Transit Operation