There are a handful of important pieces of information you'll want to know in order to insure your operator receives your praise. You don't necessarily need all of these to succesfully send a commendation, but the more the better.

• Operators ID number. This is a four digit number that is on the right sleeve of our uniforms. At Muni, we call this the Operators Cap Number. You may also be asked to give a brief physical discription of the operator

• Vehicle ID number. Every Muni bus, train car, streetcar, and cable car has a unique number. These are found both inside and outside the vehicle. 

• Route. Were you on the 29 Sunset? The 1 California? The 5R Fulton Rapid? 7 Haight-Noriega? 43 Masonic? 38 Geary? N Judah? F-Market? Powell-Hyde Cable Car? Just the number or letter is usually enough information to cover this question.

• Direction. Every route has an inbound and outbound direction. Inbound is generally toward Downtown. If you don't know for sure which direction is inbound on your route, you can also say which place or neighborhood you were heading toward. For example the 29 Sunset to Baker Beach (inbound), the 5R Fulton Rapid to Transit Center (inbound), 44 O'Shaughnessy to Hudson and Newhall (outbound), or the 54 Felton to Newhall and Hudson (inbound)

• Time and Date. When did you take your trip?

• Location. You can say where you boarded or where you got off, or somewhere in between.

• Reason. What is the reason you want to praise your operator?

We can think of countless reasons to commend transit operators. Maybe they greeted you cheerfully, they drove smoothly, or they lowered the bus for elderly passengers. Perhaps thye handled a prickly passenger with grace, or they announced stops and transfer points. They were driving the 14 Mission, the 22 Fillmore, the 29 Sunset. You can simply say "The operator got me safely to my destination, and I want them to know they are appreciated." Any reason to praise an operator is a good one on March 18th!

If you didn't manage to get all of that information, you can still submit a commendation. Just say "I'm not sure" if you don't have any of these pieces, it should still be possible for SFMTA to find your operator.

Commendations are rather rare. Often, they will be posted inside the division common areas for everyone to see. Whenever I get a commendation, I feel fantastic. It makes my whole day, often I get a boost of morale that lasts a week.  Unfortunately, operators often go long periods of time without receiving any kind of formal recognition of our hard work. Worse, some operators have worked for years, even decades, and never been formally commended by their passengers. This isn't because they are bad at their jobs, or not deserving, but more often than not because they are quiet, focused, and do not call special attention to themselves. In my opinion, every Muni Operator puts in the effort, skill and dedication worthy of this recognition, but few San Franciscans are aware of how to share their appreciation of our efforts.

SF Transit Operator Appreciation Day is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness and encourage people to submit commendations.