NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The MTA is planning to accelerate the training process for new subway operators, taking about a month off the onboarding process, according to a new report.
The report from The City explains NYC Transit will be trimming the amount of time that new hires spend moving out-of-train cars into rail yards and terminals, making the total training process about seven months rather than eight.
Eric Loegel, a vice president with Transport Workers Union Local 100, told The City he is in favor of the plan saying, “The main thing is just getting the bodies — we really need the bodies in here.”
The City reports there were more than 10,000 canceled trips in June 2021 due to staffing shortfalls. The D, B, A and N/W lines are being hit the hardest with cancelations.
The shortened training is just one of the many measures the MTA is considering now to reduce the number of canceled subway trains, which have been on the uptick because of a hiring freeze that was put in place during the pandemic.
The training change also comes as ridership is expected to pick up significantly over the next month, as more and more New Yorkers return to their offices.
New figures from the agency showed subway ridership has already climbed to around 2.5 million passengers per day (which is still about a 50% decrease from pre-pandemic numbers).
Even with more new hires coming onboard, however, the MTA is still facing a challenge to increase current vaccination rates among workers.
According to the report, thousands of MTA employees have still not been vaccinated against COVID-19, despite a mandate that goes into effect on Labor Day.