Resource Center

Session Summary: A headline issue confronting all transit systems today – how to attract and retain bus operators in a tight labor market. This lively session began with presentations from the TCRP F-28 research team and TransitCenter on their recently published national research findings on recruiting, developing and retaining transit bus operators.  Labor and management industry practitioners from multiple locations then shared their recruitment approaches and strategies that have been most effective on the ground, and TWC staff summarized the National Transit Frontline Worker Recruitment Campaign.

Moderator

• Rob Puentes: President and CEO – The Eno Center for Transportation

Speakers

• Julia Castillo: Executive Director – Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency
• James Duff: Assistant Vice President, Human Resources – Dallas Area Rapid Transit
• Jeff Hazen: Executive Director – Sunset Empire Transportation District
• Steve Jovel: Transportation Superintendent – Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
• Robin Phillips: Executive Director – National Rural Transit Assistance Program
• Harpreet Singh: JWI Director – Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265
• David Stephen: Senior Communications Specialist – International Transportation Learning Center/Transit Workforce Center
• Chris Van Eyken: Program Manager – TransitCenter

Driving Bus Operator Recruitment and Retention Session Slides ISU Returning Citizens Presentation Slides

Organizations

Akron METRO Regional Transit Authority (METRO): Transit agency serving Summit County, Ohio and the city of Akron, with a fleet totaling 231 vehicles: 140 large buses and 91 smaller paratransit vehicles. METRO employs 425 team members.

Stark State College:  Local event venue and partner in advertising campaign. METRO is currently in the final stages of an agreement with Stark State to supplement its CDL training program.

Program Summary

METRO’s “Come Drive with (B)us” event was a major initiative designed to recruit bus operators.  Held at Stark State College, the event featured on-site bus-related activities, interviews and job applications.  Extensive outreach activities before the event through diverse outlets, combined with the themed ad campaign, brought 99 interested participants and resulted in 71 contingent offers. The key “draw” to this event was the ability to test drive our vehicles on a closed course alongside our staff.  METRO’s idea was that if the thought of driving a bus was keeping people from applying, they could offer a nontraditional mechanism to overcome that hesitancy.  Once that challenge was overcome, the process could focus on the soft skills related to empathy and great customer service that are critical to success.

Key Program Elements

• Pre-event publicity
  • Pop Art themed ad campaign (viewable on Facebook; an example is attached below as a PDF)
  • Free and purchased advertising through social media, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts
  • Information on METRO’s website
  • Print ads in local daily and weekly publications
  • Two digital billboards, and flyers on buses and posters at METRO’s transit center
  • A radio ad on several local radio stations
  • Two days before to the event, Stark State College promoted the event on their digital sign, readable from the expressway
  • Four radio personalities from four different stations drove the bus two to three weeks prior to the event and promoted on the air, including one station that put together its own video.
  • Television interviews that resulted in a full story and a variety of mentions of the event on other stations
  • Creating two bus wraps with the pop art feel (see PDF below) on careers, though not event-specific
  • Outreach to past applicants
  • Videos of three in-house of staff driving for the first time, along with videos featuring County Executive and Representative Casey Weinstein, and an invite video from METRO’s CEO
• Event activities and design (see PDF of signage below)
  • Participants were told to bring a valid driver’s license
  • Four clearly-marked stations for applicants to go to where they had the opportunity to:
    • Apply
    • Interview
    • Secure a mobility device
    • Drive a bus
  • Every applicant moved through all four stations
  • At final stop, attendees received:
    • Bag of information
    • Swag
    • Digital and paper copies of the CDL training booklet for them to start studying
  • Event planning activities
    • Started six to eight weeks before event
    • Committee was made of HR, Marketing, Operations, Maintenance and Safety/Security
    • Eighteen staff members worked the day of the event – five working check-in/applications, five doing on-site interviews, two working the mobility station, five running the “test drive” station, and one runner to move between all stations to relieve backlog
    • Used seven 40 foot buses (2 spares) and 2 paratransit vehicles

Outcomes

• Ninety-nine event attendees interviewed and were able to test drive
• Twenty-five additional people applied who could not attend; follow up interviews were planned
• 71 of the 99 were moved through to a “contingent offer” pending background checks with a start date of September 26^th
• Twenty-three of the 99 had areas of their application that required reviewing before proceeding

For more information on this event, contact: Jarrod Hampshire – Chief Operations Officer, METRO RTA 330.808.0144

More recruitment advertising materials and resources can be found here.

Event Flyer 1 Event Flyer 2 Bus Wraparound Ad Design Come Drive With (B)us - Event Signage

Basic descriptions of some current state and local programs can be found at the links below.

Chicago Second Chance Program Idaho Second Chance Program Indiana Second Chance Program Iowa and Oregon Second Chance Program

This resource also includes a link to a webinar hosted in July, 2022 presenting information from the report and slides from the webinar.

Bus Operators in Crisis Webinar Slides Webinar: Operators in Crisis: How Did We Get Here? Bus Operators in Crisis Report

Golden Gate Transit (GGT) serves four counties in San Francisco’s North Bay. GGT suspended approximately 90% of its commute service during COVID. As of Spring 2022, the agency was operating at roughly 50% of pre -COVID service levels, but needed to hire and retain large numbers of bus operators as ridership demand returned. To achieve this goal, a GGT and ATU labor-management partnership created a high-road training partnership that worked with local colleges and California Transit Works to establish bus operator mentorship, pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs. To guide its initiatives and actions, the partnership also examined data and asked underlying questions about the root causes of their employment challenges, resulting in reevaluating and adjusting some of its pathways to employment and hiring guidelines.

This resource contains presentation slides and video of a Golden Gate Transit/ATU presentation. The entire June 7, 2022 TWC webinar, Recruiting and Developing Today’s Transit Workforce, can be found here. It includes a question and answer session, beginning at 51:53, that covers more detail on this and other recruitment initiatives discussed in the webinar.

Bus Operator Recruitment and Retention Webinar Slides

While the U.S. public transportation industry has long had a significant bus operator shortage, it has been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic.  COVID-19 has not only exacerbated existing trends, but also introduced new labor market dynamics.  This brief describes overall workforce trends for bus operators, obstacles to recruitment, and challenges for workforce retention, to help inform efforts to recruit more drivers nationwide.

Overall workforce trends

According to 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, there are 162,850 bus operators nationally.  Federal government projections indicate strong growth for bus operators; BLS estimates the occupation will grow “much faster than average (15 percent or higher).”[1]  To keep up with growth and make up for retirements and turnover, the industry will need to recruit scores of new workers.  BLS reported an annual average of 24,600 projected bus operator job openings for 2020 to 2030.[2]

According to BLS, annual wages for the occupation were $45,900 in 2020, which was higher than the national median of $41,950.[3]  Despite having a reputation for paying relatively well and providing robust benefits,[4]^{, [5]}  transit agencies have faced significant challenges to recruit workers in sufficient numbers to meet the growing demand.  The rise of COVID and the omicron variant have created a “labor crisis” in transit, leading Houston Metro to offer bonuses of $4,000 for new drivers, and NYC to try to lure workers out of retirement, for example.[6]

Demographic challenges

One major demographic challenge contributing to the current operator shortage is the disproportionately older bus operator workforce.  As Figure 1 on the next page shows, the median age of U.S. workers was 42.2 years in 2021, and 42.8 years in transportation and warehousing.  For the bus service and urban transit industry, it was 52.7, which is substantially higher than both the nationwide median age for workers and the median age for other subsectors within transportation and warehousing, such as air or rail transportation.[7] The higher median age of urban transit workers is largely attributable to the older age of bus drivers (median 53.3 years)[8], who constitute 60 percent of the workforce[9]. A large percentage of workers are expected to retire in the coming years.[10]^, [11]

COVID-related health and safety issues

Figure 1. 2021 Median Age of Workers for Selected Transportation Sectors

As frontline workers, bus operators risk exposure to COVID-19, and serious health consequences, even death.  For example, in New York City, 136 MTA operators died around the start of the pandemic.[12]  As of December 2021, more than 2,000 COVID cases have been reported among WMATA workers since the pandemic began; seven of the workers died.  According to CTAA, some member agencies have experienced as many as 40 percent of their operators absent from work due to sickness.[13]  COVID-related factors have resulted in bus operator shortages and service cuts,[14] a trend which has occurred in transit systems nationwide.  In addition, some drivers have quit due to fears about the virus or been terminated due to failure to comply with vaccination and testing policies.[15]

Pre-existing labor market dynamics

The pandemic has also exacerbated existing workforce challenges, such as competition for pay.  Stakeholders interviewed for a GAO study reported that other industries which hire workers with similar levels of education, including fast food, may attract workers instead of transit, especially in rural areas or areas with low unemployment.[16]  When the economy is strong, construction also tends to attract workers who might otherwise work in transit.  Furthermore, some workers leave the transit industry once they have earned their CDL.[17]

CDL and new requirements

Transit bus drivers are generally required to hold Class B Commercial Drivers’ Licenses and passenger (P) endorsements. Due to the high cost of self-funding CDL training, employer-sponsored training programs in which costs are covered, such as those run by transit agencies, are an attractive option for job seekers. However, the potential exists for trainees to pursue employment in commercial driving or another sector after completing a transit-oriented training program.[18]  This dynamic is particularly challenging given concurrent shortages of truck and school bus drivers.[19]

Individuals are required to hold a standard driver’s license to qualify for a commercial learners’ permit, which in turn is needed to pursue CDL training.[20] These requirements may impact recruitment of young people, as rates of driver’s license attainment for 18–24 year-olds have decreased slightly in recent decades and may be lower during recessionary periods and among minority populations and residents of cities.[21]

Regulatory changes impacting entry level driver training (ELDT) may also affect agencies’ ability to fill positions. As of February 7, 2022, the FMCSA has started enforcing universal training standards for entry level driver training and maintaining a database of qualified providers (the Training Provider Registry).[22] Professional organizations representing transit agencies such as APTA and CTAA have expressed concern about these additional regulatory requirements. Agency contacts have also identified challenges related to requirements around license renewal, medical fitness testing, the availability of training during the pandemic and delays with local DMVs processing CDL application due to pandemic staff shortages. FMCSA has granted waivers around certain other CDL requirements during the pandemic, and recently announced a grant to support state capacity for CDL licensing, though the emphasis appears to be on commercial trucking. [23]^, [24]

Assaults against drivers

Driver safety has been a persistent problem.  Assaults against drivers and altercations with passengers have been well-publicized in communities that transit serves.[25]^, [26]A 2015 Monthly Labor Review article identified violence as a key challenge facing drivers, with examples including a 2012 attack with rocks in Washington, DC and a 2013 shooting in Seattle.[27] More recently, drivers have reported increased stress during the pandemic and face threats including violence related to passenger non-compliance with mask mandates, among other issues.  Such incidents have deterred potential applicants from considering a transit driving career and contributed to early retirements.[28]

Lack of interest from younger generations

Younger workers have different expectations about the workplace, which has made it challenging for agencies to recruit them.  Younger workers tend to value flexible schedules, yet operators must often work on holidays and weekends, especially when they first start in the field.  New hires in general may not find this attractive.[29]

Advances in technology­­­

Advances in technology present challenges to recruitment and retention.  ­­The rise of automation and apps requires drivers to possess technical knowledge to operate newer buses and assist customers; this means there is a relatively small pool of qualified workers.  Additional and new types of training are needed for both incumbent and new workers to adapt. Furthermore, drivers report feeling stress from being monitored more often by cameras and tracking technology.[30]^, [31]

Stress and burn-out

Finally, being a bus operator is a highly stressful occupation.  Drivers must operate large vehicles on congested city streets on tight time schedules.[32]  They work relatively long hours with infrequent breaks.[33]  As discussed earlier, technological advances have contributed to worker stress as well.  Operators also experience burn-out due to the stress of dealing with passengers, who may ignore COVID safety rules,[34] or be unruly or violent.

Conclusion

Bus operators have been in short supply for years, and this problem has been magnified by COVID-19.  An aging workforce and labor exits related to COVID have largely contributed to the shortage. Top obstacles to recruitment and retention include pandemic-related health and safety issues, pre-existing labor market dynamics including competition over pay, CDL requirements, assaults against drivers, and lack of interest from younger generations.  Other contributing factors include advances in technology, perceptions of inflexibility, and stress.  To address these workforce recruitment and retention issues for bus operators, key stakeholders from management and labor should keep these data and trends in mind.

Bus Operator Recruitment Campaign

The Transit Workforce Center (TWC) is currently developing a national campaign in coordination with the FTA, along with key labor and industry partners, to effectively address the national bus operator shortage. The TWC is preparing to create a toolkit of materials designed to be adapted by agencies and labor union locals that will consist of templates for commercial scripts, postcard mailers, exhibit banners, talking points for public meetings, social media postings, informational video scripts, and letters of introduction. If any organization has existing models that should be incorporated into these plans, please contact Senior Communications Specialist David Stephen at dstephen@transportcenter.org.

Contributing Authors: Benjamin Kreider (Consultant); Xinge Wang; Douglas Nevins

[1] Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020.  53-3052 Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity.  https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes533052.htm

[2] Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 1.7: Occupational projections, 2020–30, and worker characteristics, 2020.  https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupational-projections-and-characteristics.htm. 

[3] Summary Report for: 53-3052.00 – Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity.  O*Net Online.   https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/53-3052.00?redir=53-3021.00.

[4] Shared-Use Mobility Center. “Case Study: Managing the Labor Shortage at Transit Agencies.” November 5, 2021.  https://learn.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/casestudy/managing-the-labor-shortage-at-transit-agencies/.

[5] Laura Bliss. “There’s a Bus Driver Shortage. And No Wonder.” Bloomberg City Lab. June 28, 2018. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-28/there-s-a-bus-driver-shortage-and-no-wonder.

[6] Eli Rosenberg.  “Labor shortages are hampering public transportation systems, challenging the recovery of city life.” Washington Post.  December 28, 2021.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/28/worker-shortages-public-transportation/.

[7]Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Table18b: Employed persons by detailed industry and age.  https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18b.htm.

[8] Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 11b: Employed persons by detailed occupation and age, 2020.  https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11b.htm.

[9] Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix. https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=485100&ioType=i.

[10] Jack Clark.  Testimony before the House Transportation Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways.  March 13, 2019.  https://transportation.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony-%20Clark.pdf.

[11] Robert Puentes et al. “Practitioner’s Guide to Bus Operator Workforce Management.”  Transportation Research Board of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.  November, 2021. Unpublished interim report.

[12] Benito Perez.  “After COVID, who’s driving the bus?”  Transportation For America.  Nov 2, 2021.  https://t4america.org/2021/11/02/bus-operator-shortage/.

[13] Justin George.  “Omicron deepens bus driver shortage, frustrating passengers as transit agencies pare back service.”  Washington Post.  January 15, 2022.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/01/15/covid-omicron-bus-transit/

[14]  Justin George.  “Bus operator shortage due to covid prompts Metro to reduce bus service.”  Washington Post. December 23, 2021.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/23/dc-metro-bus-shortage-covid/.

[15] “MARTA Making Temporary Service Modifications to Address Bus Operator Shortage.”  Metro Magazine. https://www.metro-magazine.com/10155945/marta-making-temporary-service-modifications-to-address-bus-operator-shortage.  November 12, 2021.

[16] US Government Accountability Office. “Transit Workforce Development – Improved Strategic Planning Practices Could Enhance FTA Efforts.” GAO-19-2090. March 2019. https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/697562.pdf.  P. 15.

[17] Puentes et al., 2021.

[18] Puentes et al., 2021.  P. 37.

[19] Bliss, 2021.

[20] FMCSA. “Commercial Driver’s License: States.” December, 2019. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/states

[21] Tefft, B. C. & Foss, R. D. “Prevalence and Timing of Driver Licensing Among Young Adults, United States, 2019.” October, 2019. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/19-0500_AAAFTS_Teen-Driver-Safety-Week-Brief_r1.pdf

[22] FMCSA. “Commercial Driver’s License: Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT). February, 2022. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/entry-level-driver-training-eldt

[23] FMCSA. “Waiver in Response to the COVID-19 National Emergency –For States, CDL Holders, CLP Holders, and Interstate Drivers.” December 15, 2020. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/emergency/waiver-response-covid-19-national-emergency-states-cdl-holders-clp-holders-and-1

[24] U.S. DOT. “DOT, DOL Announce Expansion of Trucking Apprenticeships, New Truck Driver Boards and Studies to Improve the Working Conditions of Truck Drivers.” January 13, 2022. https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/dot-dol-announce-expansion-trucking-apprenticeships-new-truck-driver-boards-and

[25] Puentes et al., 2021.  P. 36.

[26] Luz Lazo.  “Citing attacks directed at buses, Metro weighs service cuts in Anacostia.” Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/citing-attacks-directed-at-buses-metro-weighs-service-cuts-in-anacostia/2012/10/28/3afd6fec-1d29-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_story.html.  October 28, 2012.

[27] Bureau of Labor Statistics. “When the wheels on the bus stop going round and round: occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities in public transportation.” 2015. https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/when-the-wheels-on-the-bus-stop-going-round-and-round.htm#_edn1..

[28] Chris Teale. “Transit workers face growing rate of assaults: ‘There’s not much we can do.’” Smart Cities Dive. February 17, 2021. https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/transit-workers-face-growing-rate-of-assaults-theres-not-much-we-can-do/594959/

[29] Puentes et al., 2021.

[30] Puentes et al., 2021.

[31] GAO, p. 16.

[32] Bliss, 2018.

[33] GAO, 2019; Puentes et al., p. 14.

[34] Justin George.  “Omicron deepens bus driver shortage, frustrating passengers as transit agencies pare back service.”  Washington Post.  January 15, 2022.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/01/15/covid-omicron-bus-transit/.