Transit Center has published Bus Operators in Crisis: The Steady Deterioration of One of Transit’s Most Essential Jobs, and How Agencies Can Turn Things Around, as well as blog posts and tweets on the topic.
The document offers a table of starting salaries for seven transit agencies, all of which are much larger than SacRT. Cost of living is also higher in most of these areas, so the dollar amounts are not directly comparable, but it seems that SacRT is not out of line.
SacRT has three operator-related jobs open currently:
- Bus Operator, $22.42 – $32.03 Hourly, full time
- Operator (Elk Grove Service), $17.80 – $21.76 Hourly, part time
- Paratransit Operator/Trainer, $18.83 – $26.11 Hourly, full time
SacRT is now offering help new hires get a commercial drivers license (CDL), the the job description does set pre-existing conditions of a Class B license and experience. STAR doesn’t have information on how much of a bus operator shortage there is. It is well known that shortages are causing bus cancellations on a fairly regular basis, but SacRT has not provided any statistics on that.
The Transit Center document offers eight solutions (and details on each):
- Getting new applicants in the door is the first step to rebuilding the workforce
- Improve hiring processes
- Competitive compensation
- Improve employee facilities
- Supporting people in their careers and lives
- Operator safety is paramount
- Flexibility in scheduling, to the extent possible
- Listen to Operators
Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) 