National Academies Press: OpenBook

Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide (2023)

Chapter: Appendix B - Methodology

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Page 118
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×

APPENDIX B

Methodology

The methodology and research used to inform each of the workforce management phases comprised the following: (a) literature review, (b) stakeholder interviews, (c) focus group discussions, (d) industry survey, and (e) case studies.

Literature Review

To develop the literature review, the research team scanned the Transportation Research Board’s Transport Research International Documentation database and conducted searches on Google Scholar for relevant documents. The literature review is interspersed throughout this Report in the relevant thematic sections. The research team drew from research reports, government documents, news articles, and publicly available datasets on various aspects of transportation and bus operator workforce management.

For some topics that were explored as part of this research effort, there was limited existing research. For example, the topics of onboarding staff and employee motivation had less existing documentation than topics like promoting operator health and safety. Our stakeholder interviews and original research added new insights where there is minimal existing information available.

Stakeholder Interviews

The research team conducted interviews with key stakeholders and industry experts for guidance on additional materials and topics to address. These discussions allowed the team both to both ask clarifying questions about issues identified in the literature review and to uncover new information about opportunities and best practices with respect to bus operator workforce management.

The research team interviewed nine experts representing various aspects of the industry, including representatives from transit agencies, industry associations, labor unions, and academia. These interviewees were chosen for their expertise in topics like small and rural transit delivery, paratransit, operator apprenticeships and training, transit safety and workplace conditions, and labor considerations. Interviews were held off the record to allow for candid responses, and two individuals from the research team were present at each virtual interview, one to primarily conduct the interview, and one to primarily record notes.

Focus Group Discussions

As an added form of data collection within our survey research phase, the research team conducted a focus group with a panel of respondents. The focus group consisted of attendees at a summer 2021 International Transportation Learning Center Joint Transit Coach Operator

Page 119
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×

Apprenticeship Committee meeting. There were 19 attendees, consisting of representatives from 11 transit agencies of all sizes. The Committee was composed of two subject matter experts for most of the transit agencies represented, one from management and one from labor. Some of the transit agencies have apprenticeship programs in place, while others have some level of interest in implementing their own programs. Transit agencies with apprenticeship programs serve to guide the transit agencies as they work toward registration and implementation. They also share best practices and help troubleshoot issues as they arise.

The focus group discussion was 1 hour in length and conducted in a virtual format where the team asked open-ended questions mirroring the key topics addressed in the longer-form industry survey. This allowed us to gather more contextual information on these topics.

Industry Survey

The research team contacted prominent transit organizations to distribute the industry survey to their email lists. The names of each organization distributing the survey and number of responses received are shown in Table B-1. In total, the research team collected 347 viable responses.

The majority of survey responses came from public transit agency employees (58 percent) and 31 percent came from representatives of a labor union.260 Other entities accounted for a small fraction of the survey responses (Table B-2). Based on the responses from survey respondents who provided their position titles, there was a wide range of transit occupations represented. Among the many other positions represented, 17 respondents were bus operators with several also filling leadership roles in their union; 35 held high-level positions within transit agencies (e.g., division managers and directors of various departments, CEOs, general managers); 43 were union presidents and vice presidents; and eight respondents were financial secretaries.

Survey respondents represented a range of geographies. Thirty-four percent of respondents were from transit agencies that serve large urban geographies, 30 percent from small urban, 20 percent from suburban, 15 percent from rural transit agencies, and 1 percent from tribal transit agencies.

Table B-1: Number of responses based on the organization distributing the industry survey.

Organization Count of Responses
American Public Transportation Association (APTA) 69
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 242
Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) 14
National Rural Transit Assistance Program (N-RTAP) 1
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) 2
International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC) 3
Transport Workers Union (TWU) 16
Grand Total 347

Source: TCRP F-28 Industry Survey, Summer 2021.

Page 120
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×

Table B-2. Survey respondent characteristics.

Question: What type of organization do you represent?
Count of Responses Percent of Responses
Public transit agency 202 58%
Labor union 109 31%
Local, municipal, or tribal government (not a transit operator) 3 1%
Non-profit 6 2%
Private transportation provider 19 6%
Other 8 2%

Source: TCRP F-28 Industry Survey, Summer 2021

Table B-3. Number of bus operators employed at the survey respondents’ transit agencies.

Roughly how many bus operators (fixed route and paratransit combined) does your transit agency employ?
Number of operators employed Full-time operators Part-time operators
Count of responses Percent of responses Count of responses Percent of responses
1001 or more 65 19% 11 3%
501-1000 45 13% 5 1%
101-500 115 33% 26 8%
51-100 65 19% 23 7%
50 or fewer 50 14% 260 75%
I don’t know 7 2% 22 6%
Grand Total 347 347

Source: TCRP F-28 Industry Survey, Summer 2021.

Survey respondents were primarily from transit agencies with directly operated fixed route bus service (55 percent) and the remaining 45 percent had contracted service or both contracted and directly operated service. Survey respondents were also asked about their transit agency’s demand response service. Thirty-six percent of respondent transit agencies had directly operated demand response service, 29 percent had purchased, 25 percent had both, and 10 percent responded that their transit agency does not provide demand response service.

A range of transit agency sizes was represented, as measured by the number of full-time operators employed. The majority of transit agencies represented in the survey responses employed 50 or fewer part-time operators (Table B-3).

Case Studies

Based on the survey results along with consideration for qualitative data gained through the literature review, stakeholder interviews, and focus group discussions, the research team identified seven transit bus agencies that demonstrated innovative and effective programs for in-depth case studies. These case studies characterized the transit agency’s operator workforce management system and practices as a whole and also focused on the innovative or particularly effective components or programs.

The information collected in the case studies was comprised of qualitative and quantitative data. Collection methods included interviews with individuals or small groups, as well as the

Page 121
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×

collection and review of organizational data. In the case studies, the research team aimed to go deeper in detail on questions not fully answered in the earlier research tasks, and included the following topics:

Workforce needs assessment:

  • Method used to calculate the number of bus operators (full and part-time, if applicable) required to provide transit services
  • Information on schedule adherence, season, absenteeism, and overtime

Recruitment:

  • How transit agencies attract prospective bus operator candidates

Selection and onboarding of qualified bus operators:

  • Application process and access
  • Selection of qualified bus operators
  • Pre-screening and certification requirements

Training and mentoring:

  • Length of training program
  • Components of training program
  • Cost of training per operator
  • Mentor program and length, if applicable

Compensation:

  • Compensation rate
  • Benefits package
  • Value of seniority
  • Number of years to reach top pay

Working conditions:

  • Perception of safety of vehicles and workstations (driver’s compartments)
  • Perception of condition of vehicles and work stations
  • Perception of design of vehicles and work stations
  • Work schedule considerations, including minimum number of hours between shifts
  • Timing and location of breaks
  • Access to restrooms
  • Child care options
  • Other amenities

Retention and motivation:

  • Current retention rate
  • Programs designed to increase employee engagement
  • Employee recognition programs

Transit senior management, program coordinators, operators, and local union representatives were recruited for the interviews, covering varying areas of expertise and experience related to operator workforce programs being implemented to improve metrics. Simultaneously, researchers collaborated with local program administrators, staff from human resources or information

Page 122
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×

technology departments, and others to collect quantitative data related to compensation and workforce needs assessment. For each case study, the team aimed to conduct at least two interviews.

The case studies focused specifically on the area in which the transit agency being studied demonstrated success. Each topic area or program had a set of interview questions. For all topic areas, the interview and data collection process will attempt to reveal the benefits of that process or program over others and determine if there are qualitative or quantitative impacts observed or tracked by the stakeholders. The interviews included questions on the rationale for a program or method and what led the transit agency to implementation.

The research team prepared case study interview protocols (including selection criteria and interview questions) and completed a preliminary case study of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority based on their demonstrated best practices per their survey responses. The pilot case study review feedback was utilized in later case studies.

Page 118
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×
Page 118
Page 119
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×
Page 119
Page 120
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×
Page 120
Page 121
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×
Page 121
Page 122
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Methodology." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26842.
×
Page 122
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As of 2020, nearly 50 percent of the bus-operator workforce was over 55. Evidence indicates that many younger job seekers are often not aware of the potential career opportunities and employee benefits that are available at transit agencies.

TCRP Research Report 240: Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide, from TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program, provides recommendations and resources enabling transit agencies to better assess, plan, and implement their operator workforce management programs.

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