Being a bus driver can be challenging at times, but there's another transit job in Sacramento that really has its ups and downs.

Earleen Pringle is a SacRT elevator attendant. She operates the two-story lift at the Watt Avenue and Interstate 80 light rail station, keeping an eye out for trouble.

In the mid-1900s, there were 90,000 elevator operators across the nation. Today, the job's virtually extinct, along with telephone operators, one-hour photo workers, video store clerks and other positions replaced with modern technology.

Now, SacRT is bringing them back. The transit company's security chief says crime and intentional damage to the elevators had been a real problem in the past.

"Obviously, there's graffiti and vandalism and lights broken and trash," said Lisa Hinz, SacRT's vice

See Full Page