Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide (2023) / Chapter Skim
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Operators are responsible for driving a bus as well as passenger safety, answering passenger questions, logging trips for transit agency records, and maintaining communication with dispatchers and controllers about dangers, crashes, or weather-induced disruptions.3 Numerous research studies address the range of workforce challenges across the transportation industry.4 Recent studies have addressed specific types of bus operators or specific issues among bus operators, but there has not been a holistic assessment of workforce challenges and strategies in more than 20 years.5 Here, we provide characteristics of the types of bus operators that are evaluated in this report. Fixed-route bus operators operate mid-size to large transit buses on scheduled routes across urban, suburban, and rural communities.6 These operators typically work for local, regional, or state government transit agencies, and are subject to regulatory and funding oversight from FTA through safety standards, workforce development grants, and worker training.7 Bus services can be directly operated by transit agencies or can be purchased and provided by private firms.
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Occupational Outlook Handbook, Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity; Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Passenger Vehicle Drivers, Except Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity.
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However, new fare payment technologies may also require operators to become familiar with new apps and technologies, particularly to help troubleshoot technological issues riders may have when paying their fares.18 Transit Ridership Ridership on public transit, particularly buses, had been declining in many parts of the United States prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many transit agencies responded by re-designing their bus networks, adding new routes, expanding service, and increasing frequency.
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These services include BRT to decrease travel times and attract new riders, flexible route services to cover areas that may not be well-served by fixed-route services or in response to on-demand ride-hailing, as well as new partnerships with private firms. The introduction of new service models may introduce new training needs or demands for bus operators.
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, as shown in Table 2.35 Paratransit operators earned a median annual wage of $32,570 in 2021, only about half of the wages of fixed-route operators working with local government transit agencies and significantly less than rural bus transit and privately owned bus services in urban areas.36 By comparison, the median annual wages of related transportation and material moving occupations are shown in Table 3. Table 2. 2021 median annual salaries for bus operators by industry.
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experienced an average of 134 assaults each year, most of which were instances of verbal abuse or spitting.48 As transit agencies take steps to improve operator safety, the potential safety issues of the occupation are likely to weigh on the minds of candidates considering whether or not to join the industry. 1.4 Research Scope While many of the challenges facing the transit workforce more generally are well-documented, relatively few research-based sources address workforce considerations specific to bus operators.
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In addition, much of the previous research has addressed the general transit workforce, therefore this research fills an important gap by focusing specifically on bus operators. The research team representing Eno Center for Transportation, The International Transportation Learning Center, and Huber and Associates, Inc., began this project with a comprehensive review of current literature on workforce management for bus operators, including relevant TCRP studies.
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Although each chapter represents a critical aspect of bus operator workforce management, it became evident while conducting the research, that due to the industry-wide shortage of bus operators, recruitment is a primary concern for transit agencies. Transit agencies were them selves so focused on this aspect of operator workforce management that, particularly in the focus group discussions and case study interviews, the research team was provided with more material relating to recruitment than other aspects.
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Bus operators assigned to this standby role fill in for regular employees who cannot make a shift. They are not guaranteed work and are often required to work on short notice, which can deter new hires.55 Extraboard bus operators are typically called on for any of three reasons: service has not been assigned to regular bus operators, regular bus operators are called on for non-operating work assignments, or regular bus operators are absent.56 Building succession plans.
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Nearly 50 percent of survey respondents in this study indicated that their transit agencies do not conduct workforce needs assessments for bus operators (Figure 2)
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Figure 2. Bus operator workforce needs assessments at transit agencies. • Computer modeling/forecasting (e.g., of regional population growth expectancy, of staffing needs based on fixed-route and contracted service, operator needs based on turnover rates)
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