Jay Kluge’s grandfather spent more than 40 years as a bus driver. So when Kluge turned 18, he knew just where to turn. He began his career at the Metropolitan Transit Commission “with a bucket and a broom” cleaning buses at the old Northside Garage, worked his way into management and ultimately built his own four-decade long career. “I’m very, very fortunate that I was able to put on so many different hats and have so many different experiences,” Kluge said shortly after retiring in 2020 with 41 years of service.
Kluge’s first day on the job, March 27, 1979, was spent wiping the walls of a breakroom covered in soot, and his first months were spent sweeping up to 80 buses during each of his overnight shifts. But he learned as he went and eventually bid up to jobs as a fueler and a mechanic. When he transferred to the Overhaul Base and finished work at 2 p.m., he followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and started picking up extra hours as a miscellaneous bus operator. “I thought that would be a lot easier than welding and sanding and busting your knuckles, which it was,” Kluge remembered. “And I’m such an extrovert – that made it probably one of my most fun jobs.”
His six years as a part-time operator sparked an interest in the transportation side of the business and led Kluge to go back to school so he could apply for a job in management. After two years as a maintenance supervisor, he got the chance to jump from maintenance to transportation that he’d been looking for, filling in for an assistant transportation manager on long-term leave at the Shingle Creek Garage. He was the first person at Metro Transit to ever move from a management role in maintenance to a management role in transportation. “I was ecstatic that I was able to do that,” Kluge said. “There was a real culture of separation, that maintenance stayed in maintenance and transportation stayed in transportation.”
Kluge went on to spend the next 15 years as an assistant transportation manager, and five years as a garage manager. His final four years were spent at the Heywood Garage, where he enjoyed the challenge of building and supporting a successful team and focused on employee wellness. “I always wanted to manage people the way I wanted to be managed, and that meant trusting the drivers until they proved you wrong, and it was the same thing with the assistant managers,” he said.
Reflecting on his career, Kluge said he would miss the companionship of his co-workers and that he would always be proud of the career he was able to make for himself. “When I was in blues, I thought someday that I wanted to have my own office, so that that was a really big deal that I was able to accomplish that,” Kluge said. “I’m very proud of where I’ve come and what I’ve accomplished.”
In retirement, Kluge and his wife planned to move to Wisconsin and spend more time to hunting, fishing, riding motorcycles and traveling the world.