Driver shortage, absences now affecting bus routes and causing delays, CATS says
Charlotte Area Transit System has been experiencing a bus driver shortage since May, and now it’s beginning to affect routes, CEO John Lewis said.
“In my over 24 years of service in public transit, I’ve never been in a position where it has been difficult to hire bus operators,” Lewis told the Metropolitan Transit Commission on Wednesday evening.
CATS has 571 paid bus operator positions, but 74 are open, Lewis said.
On Thursday, CATS reported 97 driver absences could cause “intermittent delays” on bus routes. That’s down from 107 on Wednesday.
Lewis said CATS had over 100 open positions last month, which is a “record number.” The open positions are having a “rippling effect” that is impacting CATS’ ability to provide reliable transportation services, he said.
CATS needs 292 bus drivers available for weekday service, 227 for Saturday service and 151 for Sunday service, Lewis said. Bus drivers get two scheduled days off, but because some of them work weekends, they pick days during the regular work week, he said.
“A portion of our operators are off every day of the week,” Lewis told the commission, the nine-member governing body for CATS.
On weekdays, 89 bus drivers are off, 159 are off on Saturdays and 230 on Sundays, Lewis said. Vacations and unexcused absences bring the number of available drivers down even further, he said.
CATS had the exact number or more drivers needed for planned services just six times in the past two months, Lewis said. The transit agency has been short 23 employees on average per day since May 1, with the daily driver deficit regularly between 40 to 50, he said.
Krissy Oechslin, chair of CATS’ Transit Services Advisory Committee, called the shortage and route delays a “public transit emergency.”
“We need radical transparency from CATS,” she said. “This is a real crisis for the transit riding public when there’s a two-hour wait for a bus.”
Negotiating with SMART Union
To improve the shortage, CATS and RATP Dev, which manages the agency’s transit services, are in negotiations with the SMART Union about an increase in employee salaries and benefits — including more flexible bus route scheduling, Lewis said.
“We believe that they will be able to negotiate a significantly higher hourly wage for our bus operators at this contract than they ever had in the history of CATS,” he said.
CATS is “drawing a line” by closing the attendance policy loopholes that are allowing so many drivers to call out without discipline, Lewis said. Bus drivers are allowed 10 unexcused absences each quarter. Any remaining unexcused absences roll over to the next quarter, allowing drivers up to possibly 40 a year, he said.
“This is something that we’re seeing, that unfortunately, operators are taking advantage of,” he said.
Bus shootings
Lewis’ remarks and the 107 absences on Wednesday come after two shootings involving CATS buses.
WSOC obtained a video that showed the moments just before a CATS bus was shot into near the corner of Nations Ford and Arrowood roads in southwest Charlotte on May 18. Jason Wright, 37, has been charged in connection with the shooting.
On Feb. 11, bus driver Ethan Rivera was fatally shot while on the job during a road rage incident, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police has said.
After Rivera’s death, unions and other worker groups demanded that CATS provide more security for its drivers and employees — including bulletproof shields.
Asked if Wednesday’s absences were intentional, several CATS bus drivers told WSOC they knew nothing about a planned protest.
This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 10:44 AM.
