![]() Demand for commercial drivers is only increasing with the pandemic-related surge in online shopping, said McFarland with HopSkipDrive.īut working with kids driving a bus can be a rewarding profession, and the hours work well for stay-at-home parents or retirees seeking to supplement their income, contractors say. And people who have them can often find higher-paying work that doesn’t require splitting the day for pickup and drop-off. Driving a school bus requires a commercial driver’s license that can take weeks to obtain. President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered his education secretary to explore possible legal action against states that have blocked school mask mandates and other health measures meant to protect students against COVID-19.Įconomic forces are also at play in the bus driver shortage. Ron DeSantis, who wants to forbid mask mandates, and districts convinced they’re needed to keep kids safe. In Florida, many of the largest school districts are using managers as drivers and implementing other stop-gap measures to get students to class as the school year begins against a statewide political fight over masks between Republican Gov. Greg Abbott initially prohibited Texas school districts from requiring masks, but successful court challenges led the Texas Education Agency on Thursday to suspend enforcement of his ban while the challenges move through the courts. “There’s enough to worry about this year with people getting angry about masks,” she said. She was relieved to know he arrived at school, though his late start time was also a concern since he’s still making up some ground in his studies after falling behind during remote learning early last year. She felt especially helpless because she couldn’t leave to get him herself without putting others at risk of infection.Įventually she learned that the elementary-school bus driver had picked up the older kids and brought them to the high school. Monica Huff was at home in quarantine with a likely case of COVID-19 on Wednesday when she learned that her 14-year-old son’s school bus didn’t show up at his stop in suburban Houston. You’ve got plenty of view.”įor parents, school bus headaches are coming at an especially difficult time. “We actually set up a closed course at the fairgrounds, and we invited the public to come in and learn that it’s not a big deal to drive a big bus,” Redford said. The hope was that it could remove a barrier to those who otherwise might be interested in helping get kids safely to and from school, said Dan Redford, with First Student in Helena, Montana. “It’s really at a breaking point,” McFarland said.įirst Student, a company that contracts bus service for school districts around the county, held test driving events they called “Big Bus, No Big Deal” in Montana and many other states this summer to give people an opportunity to try their hand at driving. Her company conducted a survey in March that found nearly 80% of districts that responded were having trouble finding enough bus drivers. Over the summer, a study released by New York-based advocacy group TransitCenter stated that the staff shortages – just like those seen by RIPTA – are due to an "increased rate of retirement coupled with struggles to recruit and retain new operators.The driver shortfall isn’t new, but a labor shortage across many sectors and the pandemic’s lingering effects have made it worse, since about half the workforce was over 65 and more vulnerable to the virus, said Joanna McFarland, co-founder and CEO of school ride-service company HopSkipDrive, which tracks school bus issues. ![]() News reports from around the country show the driver shortage is a national phenomenon. "They’re working nonstop, 15 hours a day, covering as much service as possible."īut it's not just in Rhode Island. "Everything’s falling on our members’ backs," Sousa said. Steven Sousa, secretary and treasurer for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 618, which represents RIPTA drivers, said the lack of staffing has been hard on drivers still coming into work. Paratransit drivers, who operate routes for people with disabilities who can't use fixed routes, make a starting pay of $16.45 per hour. Drivers on fixed routes have a starting pay of $18.95 per hour. The agency attributed the staffing gap to retirements and challenges recruiting new hires.Īsked when RIPTA predicts it may find relief, Raposo Perry said the agency is "working internally on how we can effectively resolve this issue." In the meantime, it's hosting monthly job fairs through the end of the year to attract applicants. RIPTA has 31 driver vacancies, Raposo Perry said.
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