Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations (2010) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 23-48
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The survey was sent electronically to the persons listed as the primary APTA contacts with instructions to forward it to the appropriate individuals in the agency. A second electronic mailing was conducted in May 2008 to 282 public transit agencies listed as members of the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
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indicated that vehicle operator recruitment had minimal impact. Twenty-five agencies (30%)
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indicated that they do not always have a full complement and experienced some service issues related to operator recruitment and retention. Ten respondents (16%)
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16 systems (23%) only require CDL licenses for operators who drive larger vehicles in the fleet.
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completed the training. A training completion percentage was then calculated for each.
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12 months. An annual turnover rate for vehicle operators was then calculated.
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29 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Average Turnover Rate Among all Providers: 27 Percent Average Turnover Rate Among Public Transit Agencies: 14 Percent Average Turnover Rate Among Private Providers: 30 Percent Private Providers Public Transit Agencies Figure 3-6. Annual ADA paratransit vehicle operator turnover rates.
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On average, 22% of the full-time paratransit operators in these systems worked split shifts. Only 18 of the respondents indicated that part-time operators were used for split shifts in paratransit operations.
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Only eight systems reported using pay differentials -- two public transit agencies and six private contractors. The six private contractors indicated that pay differentials were only used in ADA paratransit operations.
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indicated that all paratransit operators were represented by a union. Union representation of all operators was higher among public agencies -- 71% of public agency operators were all represented, while 58% of private vehicle operators were represented.
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Impacts on wages of union representation. Public Transit Agencies Private Contractors Paratransit Fixed Route Paratransit Fixed Route PT1 FT2 PT FT PT FT PT FT Number of Systems Responding 18 23 14 17 37 44 7 9 Paid Vacation 7% 81% 0% 76% 27% 68% 14% 67% Paid Holidays 11% 100% 14% 100% 44% 93% 71% 100% Individual Health Care 28% 70% 29% 76% 19% 75% 0% 67% Family Health Care 22% 70% 21% 76% 19% 68% 0% 56% Long-Term Disability 11% 39% 7% 41% 8% 34% 14% 22% Paid Sick Leave 22% 48% 14% 53% 27% 54% 14% 56% Retirement Plan 33% 65% 36% 76% 35% 57% 14% 56% 1 PT = part-time 2 FT = full-time Table 3-7.
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operators with paid vacations. Part-time fixed-route operators received paid holidays from 14% of the public agencies, individual health care benefits from 29% of the public agencies, family health care benefits from 21% of the public agencies, long-term disability benefits from 7% of the public agencies, paid sick leave from 14% of the public agencies, and retirement benefits from 36% of the public agencies.
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accruing immediately. In some cases, it was noted that vacation time starts to accrue after a 6-month period of employment.
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• Paratransit and fixed-route operators are hired and managed separately and there is little crossover between the two groups. • Vehicle operators are typically hired first for paratransit and then can move to fixed-route if there is an opening -- but this relationship has not resulted in significant turnover problems for paratransit.
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did not have equal pay and were not moving in that direction. Twelve of the 19 public transit agencies that directly operate both types of services (63%)
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The union also encourages grievances and EEOC complaints, but all grievances and EEOC complaints have been lost by the employees who filed them." It is interesting to note that the second comment, which cited starting wages that were too low to attract experienced 38 0 1 2 3 4 5 Vehicle Type/Size/Design Union Issues Lack of Career Advancement Opportunities Competition with Other Paratransit/Transit Services Drug Testing Background Checks Job Description/Nature of the Job Shift Structure/Hours Available Labor Market/General Shortage of Workers Pre-Qualification Requirements Fringe Benefits Offered Wages Offered Private Contractors Public Agencies Figure 3-9. Factors that impact vehicle operator recruitment.
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operators, was from a system that reported a $9 starting wage for sedan operators and a $10 starting wage for van operators. Efforts Made to Improve Recruitment Respondents were asked to indicate what types of efforts had been made to improve the recruitment of ADA paratransit operators.
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2.2 on average. No other type of effort rated above a 2.0 with private contractors.
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of effort. Table 3-12 shows this tabulation.
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retention (2.9 of 5 rating) , followed by demands of the job (2.7)
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or "Used with Good Success" (coded as a "4")
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fourth with a 2.5 average rating. Team-building efforts, increased training opportunities, and training in personnel management for managers all were rated at 2.2.
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was reported to have resulted in good success by more than 10% of respondents who tried each. Some level of success was reported with several other efforts.
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One service provider is a small in house unit of BART's bus partner in East Bay Paratransit -- Alameda Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit)
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• "Required at least status quo on wages and benefits required retention of existing qualified workforce." • "There are penalties in place that cover completing the daily work schedule." • "TARC pays contractor a retention bonus of $100/per employee every 3 months." • "Here's the real issue here: the union contract that First Transit has with the Teamsters provides for shift and work bidding based on seniority (i.e., oldest operators pick first)
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obviously has to incentivize/penalize to set some baseline expectation of service. Initially the language and/or the living wage had impacts.
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