With bus drivers in short supply, some Triangle transit agencies must cut service
Some Triangle transit agencies are having trouble hiring enough bus drivers and are starting to cut back service as a result.
GoTriangle says it will temporarily suspend weekday buses between downtown Cary and Raleigh and reduce frequency on seven other routes across the region starting Monday, June 14.
Meanwhile, Chapel Hill Transit says it will modify its schedules this summer to deal with a deficit of 25 full-time and 15 part-time drivers. Brian Litchfield, the agency’s director, said transit agencies across the country are struggling to attract and keep drivers.
“Like many systems we are implementing some adjustments to routes with hopes to return them as staffing levels stabilize,” Litchfield wrote in an email.
GoRaleigh has been able to keep ahead of the shortages so far. Transdev, the company that manages the system for the city, has seen a decline in applications lately but now employs 203 drivers, enough to cover all GoRaleigh routes, said city spokeswoman Andrea Epstein.
But to stave off any shortfall, GoRaleigh is joining Chapel Hill Transit, GoTriangle, GoDurham, GoCary and GoWake ACCESS in a driver job fair Tuesday, June 15. Representatives from all six agencies will be at GoTriangle’s offices on Emperor Boulevard in Durham from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. meeting prospective drivers.
“Bus operators are absolutely essential to the fabric of our community as they transport people where they need to go,” Charles Lattuca, GoTriangle’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “And we hope to be able to communicate what a rewarding career it is to people looking to make a change.”
A commercial driver’s license is needed to drive a transit bus, though applicants can get the license after they apply. Information and online job applications can be found at gotriangle.org/jobfair.
Pandemic and recovery make hiring more difficult
Demand for people with commercial driver’s licenses was fierce even before the coronavirus pandemic. The Wake County Public Schools System has struggled for years to hire and retain enough drivers to keep all its school buses on the road, and trucking companies in North Carolina and elsewhere have long listed a lack of drivers as their top concern.
But the pandemic created new challenges, as ridership plummeted and transit systems cut back routes. Litchfield said Chapel Hill Transit didn’t lay anyone off in the past year, but a town hiring freeze meant it couldn’t replace several drivers who retired.
And while bus systems have taken steps to reduce contact between drivers and passengers, some prospective drivers may have lingering concerns about the coronavirus, Litchfield said.
“Filling transit jobs pre-COVID was a challenge,” he said. “I think COVID has made public-facing jobs more challenging, especially those where you have close interactions with people.”
The sudden rebound in the economy as the pandemic wanes is causing labor shortages for all sorts of businesses around the country, including restaurants, retailers and manufacturers. Some employers have responded by increasing pay, which is what GoTriangle is doing. The agency’s board recently voted to raise the hourly starting wage for bus drivers by $2, to $17, starting July 1.
Transit systems in the Triangle had been expanding bus service in the Triangle with the help of local sales tax revenue approved by voters. The addition of new and more frequent service is expected to resume after the pandemic, if transit agencies can find enough drivers.
This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 11:58 AM.
