Shortage in Bus Drivers across America

[Ron2themax]

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/06/why-wont-anyone-drive-the-bus/563555/

 

Good topic read

[azspeedbullet]

a similar problem exists in the trades too (plumbers, electrician)..there is something about the millennials that do not want to work in these fields

Edited January 6, 2019 by azspeedbullet

[bobtehpanda]

6 hours ago, azspeedbullet said:

a similar problem exists in the trades too (plumbers, electrician)..there is something about the millennials that do not want to work in these fields

We created a culture where nobody wants to do that anymore. Tell kids for the first twenty years of their life that trades are dumb and they won't go into trades.

=================================================================================================================================================

Part of the issue is that unemployment is at record lows, and driving a bus has more onerous requirements than other blue-collar work (customer service aspects, different licensing, etc.)

In Seattle, where I am now, a major issue is that drivers here have a probationary training period where they get paid less. That same person could go to any construction site and get a high-paying blue-collar job on the spot. Why would anyone voluntarily take the worse job?

[B35 via Church]

On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 1:27 PM, azspeedbullet said:

a similar problem exists in the trades too (plumbers, electrician)..there is something about the millennials that do not want to work in these fields

Manual labor is not respected by the younger generations, because there's little to no value placed on them anymore by their parent generations..... The more time progresses, the worse this is getting...

[N6 Limited]

They have to deal with the public, drivers cutting them off, pedestrians running in front of them, if any minor incident happens they get blamed and drug tested. 

if anyone tries to assault them they have to smile and go about their business, because if they retaliate in self-defense they get fired. Not enticing.

[N6 Limited]

8 hours ago, Elmhurst said:

And that's why they always look depressed. They deal with so much crap but they have to bottle up their emotions until they break or retire.

Indeed, I remember a new B/O on the N4 years ago, was smiling and greeting passengers,etc , it didn't take long for the miserable passengers to drain that energy away.

[aemoreira81]

In addition, there is also a shortage of drivers with commercial licenses period...both bus and truck drivers. In addition to transit agencies, long distance companies like Coach USA and First Transit (Greyhound) are hiring people who might not otherwise have been considered. The problem is greater for interstate operators (regionally also includes all the transit operations in NJ), though as those drivers have federally mandated rest periods.

I wish I had seen this post earlier.

Bringing it back to NYC relations and other large agencies---might this influence larger agencies to buy more articulated buses, since you need fewer drivers but can offer more capacity? I see this hitting the smaller end of the transit bus market more so, as agencies are going to be more loath to buying smaller buses when a larger bus at a reduced frequency can work.

Edited May 12, 2019 by aemoreira81

[Deucey]

Well when you sell generations on the dream of being rich by incurring tend to hundreds of thousands in debt to have a piece of paper from a learning institution that leads to a job unrelated to what you studied, then you get these kinds of shortages.

The thing that bugs me is that all these folks complaining about not being able to find work in their fields and not having enough money to not have 13 roommates is that they’re not applying for blue collar jobs because they’re “beneath” them. So they’re rejecting reliable income to be freelance or otherwise underpaid and uninsured because it may not lead them to a Pulitzer or as a feature on House Hunters.

Meanwhile, me - the guy who didn’t graduate and worked himself up to Operations Director at another startup (and occasionally collects 15% when you get an apartment in this city) is steady debating applying to be a bus driver or other city job because pensions are more reliable than chasing equity hoping for a buyout or IPO...

[Missabassie]

There are shortages everywhere b/c every kid wants to be a YouTuber

[46Dover]

On 1/6/2019 at 8:22 PM, bobtehpanda said:

We created a culture where nobody wants to do that anymore. Tell kids for the first twenty years of their life that trades are dumb and they won't go into trades.

=================================================================================================================================================

Part of the issue is that unemployment is at record lows, and driving a bus has more onerous requirements than other blue-collar work (customer service aspects, different licensing, etc.)

In Seattle, where I am now, a major issue is that drivers here have a probationary training period where they get paid less. That same person could go to any construction site and get a high-paying blue-collar job on the spot. Why would anyone voluntarily take the worse job?

Especially when some bus companies have the nerve, the temerity, the unmitigated gaule to pay only just beyond minimum wage, which if what is true about minimum wage up to $15 coming to pass, you’d make more money flipping burgers than driving a bus

[Lil 57]

More people have been going to college than ever before and these people are trying to get a white-collar job. People don't want to do blue-collar work anymore because they don't pay as much and people want to do something else than work in a store, drive a bus, etc... for their entire lives. A lot of people that work in places like Starbucks and other blue-collar places are students who are working to pay for school. I wonder if there are going to be a rise in student bus drivers who work part-time since that would be a decent solution because when the students finish with school and go get a white-collar job, new ones would take their places.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

More people have been going to college than ever before and these people are trying to get a white-collar job. People don't want to do blue-collar work anymore because they don't pay as much and people want to do something else than work in a store, drive a bus, etc... for their entire lives. A lot of people that work in places like Starbucks and other blue-collar places are students who are working to pay for school. I wonder if there are going to be a rise in student bus drivers who work part-time since that would be a decent solution because when the students finish with school and go get a white-collar job, new ones would take their places.

lol The  would LOVE that. Part-time would mean no benefits, among other things...