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Orange Line motor person Janelle Pena describes path to stable work and on-the-job demands
Summary
Janelle Pena, who has worked for the transit system referred to in the transcript as “the T” for nearly two years, said she sought a steady job and did not anticipate the range of responsibilities involved in operating trains. She emphasized that transit workers are "just normal people doing our jobs."
Janelle Pena said she has worked for the transit system referred to in the transcript as "the T" for almost two years and took the role to find a stable, consistent job.
"My name is Janelle Pena. I am an Orange Line motor person and I've been at the T for almost 2 years," she said, adding that she "never imagined" herself driving a train when she applied. Pena said she lives near an Orange Line station and that she enjoys reading, cooking and baking.
Pena described the practical demands of the job, saying, "We deal with a lot more than you would think as a driver." She said that when she first applied she did not know "everything it entailed," and framed her work as everyday labor performed by ordinary people: "We're just normal people doing our jobs."
The transcript provides only this brief personal account and does not indicate the venue, precise date of the remarks, or whether they were given during a formal meeting, public comment period, interview, or another setting. The speaker referred to her employer only as "the T," which the transcript uses as the name of the transit organization; no further agency name or institutional context is provided.
