Traffic Control Assistant

Thats the closest translation I can muster for a traffic supervisor 'in charge' of a stretch of roadside where Kristine gets off her school bus.

When Kristine's term 2 began, her school bus schedule changed a fair bit, first between 440-500pm, then 415-430pm, then around 4pm, then 345-400pm. Twice we missed each other. Not knowing Kristine had arrived and walked on her own to Yamaha, I continued to wait. Twice beaten, I then started a habit of checking with my neighbourhood Traffic Control Assistant (TCA) if Kristine's school bus had arrived. She is now my useful telescopic scout.

Yesterday, Kristine's bus was late so I chatted to the TCA. I asked her what her area of work was. She was supposed to 'advise' vehicles not to park along the roadside, between a major traffic junction and a major bus stop. I asked her what happened if the vehicle drivers refused to heed her advice, which was evident as there were 7-8 cars parked along the roadside (notice the car parked even on the pavement). She replied, 'My job is done after telling the drivers that is a no-parking zone'. I then challenged her why she couldnt record the vehicle number plates and report the violators to police (Y200 fine per summon). Apparently they used to that just that, but then it cause too much arguments and they stopped the practice. This is obviously a case of NOT empowering the job holder to uphold his/her duties, thus totally destroying accountability. I then asked if she was not empowered to record the violators, then why couldnt she just call the police to come over, since the nearest police station is 300m away. She said local police stations do not interfere with Traffic Police work. Oooops!

While her main duties are not so effective, she does serve a meaningful purpose keeping an eye out for Kristine's school bus arrival.

From all the interested readers out there: she gets paid by month, on 6-hr shift per day, always the same shift. She gets discounts on retirement savings, medical and something else I forgot (三减， salary plus 3 Discounts）.

Attached a photo of her with back to camera. Foreground is a cyclist manually inlfating his bicycle back tyre. All those cars by the roadside are ignoring her presence!