Metro Transit announced its quarterly service changes–that begin Saturday–with slight adjustments to a handful of bus routes system-wide. According to the agency, these changes come about because of the on-going demand for more drivers.
“We need more drivers in the seat to be able to provide the service we think our community wants and needs,” said spokesperson Drew Kerr.
Kerr said ridership was up by 18 percent in 2022 over the previous year (39 million rides) and is up 18 percent so far this year to nearly 140,000 rides per day. And he said interest is up from those who are seeking jobs as potential drivers and operators.
He said, because of these factors, there’s hope that the quarterly adjustments won’t have to be too drastic as the year progresses. Metro Transit is offering a starting wage of $26.16/hour for operators and will even pay people as they train to get their commercial driver’s licenses if they don’t have them already.
“At this point, things have somewhat stabilized,” said Kerr.