![]() In the Los Angeles area, LA Metro had a shortage of nearly 600 bus operators throughout 2021. The agency also is trying to attract candidates through a partnership with West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, a nonprofit workforce development group that helps people with lower incomes. Starting drivers now earn $19.55 an hour and can progress to $32.59 after four years. It’s still difficult recruiting new operators, despite a 3% pay raise instituted last year, he said. ![]() Spokesperson Andrew Busch said SEPTA had to freeze hiring for six months in 2020, so it couldn’t bring on new drivers to replace those who retired. That has forced officials to eliminate some bus trips, depending on the day and staffing situation, officials said. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, known as SEPTA, now has 2,520 bus operators but still is short 180. That has meant more crowded buses, more frequent delays and longer commutes for riders.” “Lots of agencies have had to cut schedules. “They are struggling to win back public trust without having a sufficient workforce,” said Van Eyken. Ridership has increased, but many transit agencies have fallen behind in hiring bus drivers. There also was a spike in bus driver retirements, and agencies couldn’t replace them. That represented 85% of such incidents against transit employees.ĭuring the first year of the pandemic, ridership plunged nationally, and many transit agencies suffered big drops in revenue, forcing them to freeze hiring and make other cost-cutting moves. Over nine weeks in August and September, there were 223 incidents in which transit employees were harassed on buses and 11 cases of assault. In New York, Metropolitan Transportation Authority data shows that the vast majority of harassment and assault against transit workers is aimed at bus drivers. “And while train operators are in an enclosed cockpit, the bus operator is right there, in the vehicle with you.” They’re being yelled or spat at or even physically assaulted,” said Chris Van Eyken, a TransitCenter program manager. ![]() “It has definitely gotten worse during the pandemic and has impacted operators. Researchers cite Federal Transit Administration data that showed transit operator assaults by passengers increased fourfold from 2009 to 2020. Safety concerns also may be dissuading some would-be drivers. Operators with years of tenure can make much more. Starting salaries for drivers at agencies in the top seven ridership regions range between $19.55 and $29.61 an hour, not including overtime, according to the report. Like school bus, delivery and truck drivers, city transit drivers must have a commercial license, which means they must pass a specialized exam and road and drug tests.Ī July report by TransitCenter, a nonprofit research and advocacy group based in New York, found that while lots of agencies offer a middle-class salary and good benefits for city bus drivers, housing and living costs in many areas have skyrocketed, and operator pay hasn’t kept up. “We’ve had a high rate of retirements, and now, with low unemployment and the increase in e-commerce, transit agencies are in competition with package delivery companies and others for drivers,” he said. The highest level of vacant positions were bus operators.ĭickens said the shortage was becoming a problem before the coronavirus pandemic because of an aging workforce and a lack of interest from younger people. “It involves doing all sorts of things to try to make it easier for people in the jobs and for people to apply for the jobs.”Īn October report by the association found that 96% of 190 transit agencies that responded to a survey reported experiencing a workforce shortage overall. “It’s a big deal, and it’s probably an issue we’re going to be dealing with for some time,” Matt Dickens, director of policy development and research at the American Public Transportation Association, a trade group, said of the shortage. In the meantime, driver shortages have forced them to reduce service or delay expansion plans, meaning longer wait times and more crowded buses for some passengers. Many agencies have boosted pay rates or offered bonuses and are trying to streamline hiring practices and improve worker schedules. Hostile interactions with passengers, often because drivers must enforce fares or intervene in onboard incidents.ĭriving a public bus isn’t an easy job, and many transit agencies around the country are having trouble finding people who want to do it.
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