MBTA sees bump in bus driver purposes following new contract

The MBTA has seen a wave of bus driver candidates after inking a brand new cope with its largest union and boosting advantages, in accordance with Normal Supervisor Phillip Eng.

Throughout an look on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” Friday, Eng stated the T has seen almost 400 bus driver purposes to date in August, coinciding with the brand new contract between the transit company and Boston Carmen’s Union Native 589. 

The four-year labor settlement notably elevated bus drivers’ beginning hourly wage to $30, up from $22.21. 

“Previous to this contract, a variety of of us needed to virtually take a pay reduce to return and be a bus operator, simply for example,” Eng stated. “And picture the problem now with all of the rising prices of dwelling, and housing, and meals prices — simply caring for your loved ones. That’s a troublesome factor to ask individuals to do. This contract now places us on par with a variety of personal sector entities that we’re competing towards.”

And, he continued, “the one lovely factor that has come out of this proper now: Within the first 10 days of August, now we have seen [a] 129% improve within the purposes for bus operators.”

The MBTA has lengthy struggled with staffing and retention, leaving riders grappling with service cuts even because the T doubled down on an “aggressive” hiring marketing campaign. In relation to bus drivers specifically, the T has been short-staffed for greater than a yr. 

The T continues to be seeking to develop its ranks; the transit company is budgeted for 1,916 bus drivers for fiscal 2024, MBTA Chief Workforce Officer Ahmad Barnes informed the T Planning, Workforce, Improvement and Compensation Subcommittee final week. 

That leaves 368 vacancies to fill, he stated.

Barnes outlined plenty of steps the T is taking to fill these roles, together with a bus driver advertising marketing campaign and “hiring on the spot” occasion. 

Talking on “Boston Public Radio,” Eng stated the brand new contract helps deal with most of the recruitment and retention challenges the MBTA has confronted — together with attrition, which has notably offset a few of the T’s hiring positive aspects.

“Being a bus driver, being a motorperson, these are difficult jobs,” Eng stated. “Think about attempting to function a bus in a metropolis as dense as this, with the quantity of site visitors. However what we’ve finished is the contract has incentives for retention to encourage individuals to remain. It has incentives for those who have stayed longer, longevity funds.”