THE USE OF THE AMERICAN TRANSIT MOTOR ABILITY TEST IN THE SELECTION OF BUS AND STREET CAR OPERATORS

THE AMERICAN TRANSIT MOTOR ABILITY TEST WAS APPLIED TO 290 BUS AND STREET CAR OPERATORS DURING THEIR FIRST WEEK IN TRAINING AND THE TEST SCORES WERE LATER CORRELATED WITH THE ACCIDENT RESPONSIBILITY RATES OF THE MAN PER 100,000 HOURS OF OPERATION AND WITH RATINGS OF THE INDIVIDUALS BASED ON THEIR TOTAL DESIRABILITIES AS EMPLOYEES. THE TEST ATTEMPTS TO SAMPLE SUCH FUNCTIONS AS ABILITY TO LEARN QUICKLY, REACT QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY, FOLLOW DIRECTIONS, EXECUTE MOVEMENTS AND COORDINATE THEM WITH VISUAL STIMULI, AND AVOIDANCE OF EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS. THE TEST EQUIPMENT UTILIZES A STEERING WHEEL, GEAR SHIFT LEVER AND TWO FOOT PEDALS WHICH ARE ACTIVATED BY THE SUBJECT IN RESPONSE TO LIGHT PATTERNS PRODUCED BY A SIGNAL BOARD CARRYING A SERIES OF SMALL GREEN, AMBER AND RED LIGHTS AND A REGULATION TRAFFIC SIGNAL WITH GREEN, AMBER AND RED LIGHTS. THE TEST WAS ADMINISTERED IN ACCORDANCE WITH DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS WHICH ALLOW THE EXAMINER LITTLE DISCRETION. THE TESTS ARE IN FIVE CONSECUTIVE SEQUENCES WHICH INCREASE IN DIFFICULTY AND COMPLEXITY. THE SCORING OF THE TEST IS IN TERMS OF ACCURACY AND SPEED OF REACTION. THE SUBJECT MUST MAKE THE CORRECT MOVEMENT FOR THE STIMULUS PRESENTED AND IN TERMS OF TWO TIME INTERVALS; THE INITIAL RESPONSE TIME AND THE LAPSED TIME TO PERFORM THE MOVEMENT. THE PRODUCT-MOMENT CORRELATION BETWEEN ACCIDENT RESPONSIBILITY RATE AND TEST SCORES WAS FOUND TO BE: STREET CAR OPERATORS, R = 0.292; BUS OPERATORS, R = 0.432; COMBINED, R = 0.331. THE CORRELATION OF THE TEST SCORES WITH SUPERVISORY RATINGS WAS 0.089, WHILE THE CORRELATION OF ACCIDENT RESPONSIBILITY RATE WITH SUPERVISORY RATINGS WAS 0.482. ALTHOUGH THE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ACCIDENT RESPONSIBILITY RATE AND TEST SCORES ARE TOO LOW FOR CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS OF INDIVIDUALS THEY ARE SIGNIFICANT FOR ESTABLISHING USABLE EMPLOYMENT RANGES OF TEST SCORES. AS USED BY THE CAPITAL TRANSIT COMPANY THESE ARE: SCORES OF 65 OR MORE INDICATE THE MOST SUITABLE CANDIDATES: SCORES BETWEEN 50 AND 64 INDICATE CANDIDATES WHO SHOULD BE EMPLOYED IF OTHER FACTORS ARE FAVORABLE: AND SCORES OF 49 OR LESS INDICATE THOSE WHO SHOULD BE REJECTED. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/26/26-028.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 26, pp 340 - 353, 4 FIG, 9 TAB. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Wait, J V
• Publication Date: 1947

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 5-8, 1946
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 26
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus drivers; Crashes; Driver performance; Drivers; Personnel performance; Reaction time; Simulation; Testing; Training simulators
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver reaction
• Subject Areas: Highways; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221314
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 5 1972 12:00AM