[PRCo] Pat Employee

[Phillip Clark Campbell]

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A26129

"...Mergner pulls out this first rejection letter. Although the letter said
"We are always interested in hearing from individuals interested in
public transit," it went on to say that the money for that program had
been eliminated."

"He pulls out one of his accomplishments there: A charming picture book
he helped produce -- after getting the higher-ups to OK money for an
artist -- to present the otherwise dry, legalistic regulations to the
drivers and other front-line staff. 

At last, in 1994, Mergner
got the job he'd always wanted, working in operations. In his current
post, Mergner is finally able to craft routes, figure out the timing of
buses and trolleys, supervise the production of schedules, promote
public transit to the community and any of a dozen other sundry things.
"I figured it out when I was in high school, then when I was 35 I
finally got the job. I would say it took 20 years to get the job," he
says. "Which is kind of the moral of the story. Things don't just drop
in your lap. People complain, 'You can't do anything here [in
Pittsburgh].' They want everything now. You have to persevere a little
bit.""

"It's not unusual to hear we have great transit here, that we have high
per-capita ridership. But it's getting less so every year. We're going
from exemplary to being dysfunctional."

"Staying in Pittsburgh was a decision I made in high school. I only
looked into going to Pitt or Duquesne, and I only wanted to go to Pitt.
I think about leaving, but it's a cool city. I just like it."


Phil