Facilities Technician

Matt Homan didn’t have to look far to see that working in transit could be a good way to make a living. Homan’s two older brothers, Jan and Jake, began at what was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Commission in 1975 and 1978. In 1984, Homan began his career as a fueler at the newly opened South Garage. Like his brothers, Homan also stuck around – he retired in February 2023 after more than 38 years of service.

When Homan began, he was much younger than many of his peers and it took time to gain seniority. He spent his first 16 years working overnights as a fueler and technician. As time went on, though, he was able to rise through the ranks and take on more and different responsibilities. At the Overhaul Base, he worked on transmissions, at the electrical bench, swapped engines, spent time in the frame shop and worked on non-revenue vehicles. Some of his favorite jobs, he said, were also the biggest – transmissions, differentials, trailing arms and suspension.

Homan worked on cars throughout high school and attended vocational school after graduating. Still, he continued learning throughout his career. The variety and chance to continue learning on the job, he said, helped keep him interested over the years. The job had some less-than-ideal moments, though. After exchanging a broken down bus on a particularly cold winter day, Homan recalled having to wait four hours for a tow truck and trying to stay warm by sitting on top of the engine. “You forget how cold cold can be,” he said.

In 2009, Homan moved to building maintenance as a facilities technician. His years in building maintenance were spent entirely at the Ruter Garage, a building he became quite familiar with and for six years was solely responsible for. “I’ve been here so long I know every wire hanging from every rafter,” he said. He also took pride in his work: “I always thought how the building looked and how things worked was a reflection of me,” Homan said.

In retirement, Homan planned to put his sawmill to work, cutting lumber and building a cabin.