CLEVELAND — Patricia Myles likes to try new things, and she's always up for an adventure.

"I felt the need to do something different. I felt like I had done what I could do in banking so I moved on to insurance. I felt like I had done what I could do in insurance, so I'm like I just want to try something different," said Myles, a bus operator for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

Trying something different is what led Myles to apply for a job with the Greater Cleveland RTA. Now because of a partnership between the RTA and Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C), Myles is starting a brand new career.

What You Need To Know

  • The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) created a job hub to create a workforce pipeline in Cleveland

  • The program is part of Tri-C's Institute for Community Engagement and Development

  • Students can participate in an employment pathway at Tri-C that will help them learn the skills and certificates need to get a job working at RTA as a bus driver

"They told me, "OK, well to start we're going to actually help you get your permit,' which from what I understood was not really a thing they normally did. So we had permit training which was four days. We had to be in there from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m. It was a hard four days, but honestly I learned so much."

The partnership with RTA and Tri-C aims to replace the current workforce that's nearing retirement with a new younger workforce that can have lifelong careers with RTA.

"This partnership provides us with an opportunity to not only train up current employees on things that would be entry-level career starts for them or will be opportunities to make them more promotable, but this also gives us the opportunity to reach out to the communities that we serve and recruit more employees because of this partnership," said George Fields, the deputy general manager of human resources at RTA.

Myles recently started her training on the road. With a mentor by her side, she's learning the ropes of driving the bus and will soon learn the routes. She said so far, her favorite part of being a driver is experiencing new parts of the city.

"You know, I was born and raised in Cleveland — on the east side in particular. The west side, I don't know much about and I love the fact that I was placed over here because even the little time that we've been out training on the bus, I'm learning so many different things about the west side (and) the city that you know I grew up in, and half of if I know nothing about. So I just think it's interesting to see you know, all of the different restaurants, and the different landmarks, and the different parks," Myles said.

Myles is a mom and has a fiance. She appreciates that this job will help support her family.

"From the financial stand point, here I would say that you already make a decent wage — a really good wage. Then you also have the opportunity to work overtime, which you'll make a better wage if you do that. So, I just think that in every aspect the benefits are great. The salary is great. You know, there's flexibility. You have vacation time," Myles said. "It's a no-brainer for me."

Myles will soon be on the road by herself and she said she can't wait.

"I'm just looking forward to starting, just truly starting. A full-time worker being on my own being out there and you know, getting to know the people of the city the passengers and still be you know looking forward to learning different things about this city. So, I'm just ready to start," Myles said.