CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The CTA couldn’t deliver the number of free trains and buses it promised on New Year’s Eve.
During the agency’s most recent board meeting, CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. blamed delays on “extremely higher than normal employee call-offs or absenteeism.”
“In past years, we were able to rely to some extent on the availability of employees in reserve, what we refer to as our ‘extra board,’ that would supplement these absent operators,” Carter Jr. said. “However, given the current workforce challenges that we're facing, we don't have the size of an extra board available to properly fill these gaps in service impacting customers' wait times on both buses and trains.”
Customers complained they waited for trains and buses that either didn’t show up or were late by up to 45 minutes.
Explaining that the CTA is operating very close to the margins, Carter Jr. said the long-term solution is hiring and retaining more workers.
“Until we get our workforce back up to the level that we need to get to, this will be an ongoing challenge for us because I just don't have the safety net that I used to have that allowed me to basically provide the level of service that can accommodate these types of personnel issues on a day-to-day basis.”
Last month the Chicago Transit Board approved hiring bonuses as well as retention bonuses, which they hope will be impactful heading into 2023.
The CTA also hired 452 new bus operators last year, most of which were full-time employees, but there are still 600 unfilled positions.
“I think it's worth noting that we received more than 1,000 bus operator job applications in December, which is, if not a record, a near record for us in terms of interest in jobs at CTA,” added Carter Jr.
A job fair will be held at CTA headquarters on January 28.
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