“As cities continue to grow, so too does the local community’s reliance on public transport. That means that as a business, we need to grow too. For me that means training and upskilling more of our people and mentoring their development. No one day’s the same; I could be interviewing new applicants, a day of induction, or even safety training drills out on the river.”
One of the projects Ray is most proud of during his stint with the business is the development and roll-out of the latest training modules and materials. “We need to adhere to MSQ (Maritime Safety Queensland) and ASO regulations and stay ahead of all changing legislation. It’s also a Transdev business imperative to make all of our travel as safe as possible. Re-writing the training materials took over 18 months but it doesn’t stop there – it’s down to me to make sure our people are living them daily.”
Recent industry reports state that Transdev has set the benchmark for safety management systems, an accolade that Ray puts down to the support of his colleagues on the water. “Getting our training plans right requires our crew members to trial them, and feedback suggestions. It really is a team effort.”
Ray has put a lot of hard work to get to where he is today, and he’s positive about what the future holds for the business, and for the city of Brisbane. “To be part of such an iconic service, and to play a role in affecting the daily lives of thousands of people is exciting. Things have changed massively over the last 20 years. And now I get such a buzz out of telling new starters that we’re part of something much bigger. Few people realise how big Transdev really is and the benefits that brings.”
But our growth hasn’t changed the way his teams feel about their work. “It can be challenging, and we need to think on our feet to deal with timetable and procedural changes. But we get great feedback from customers (recent customer satisfaction scores came in at 88%) and above all we’re out on the river every day. I think most of us would say that that makes it the best job in the world.”