As operators, if we really want to save the sinking ship that is transit

It might be time to start contemplating tossing a few people off of the boat.

One of the driving forces behind the shortage is the lack of flexible opportunities for prospective drivers. On the other hand, one of the driving forces behind the school bus driver shortage is the lack of better working conditions.

Could transit and its trippers be the middle ground that both parties are looking for?

By Jan. 31, all eligible WMATA employees will be required to enter their booster shot information into Metro’s portal as part of the fully-vaccinated requirement. Unvaccinated employees must continue to pass a COVID test every four days, up from once a week, and starting Jan. 16, employees who don’t comply with Metro’s testing and vaccination policies will be placed on unpaid leave, with 30 days to comply or be fired.

Winter’s in Baltimore can be rough! Check out this blog for tips on making traveling via transit much easier in snowy conditions.

MDOT MTA Snow Routes and Detours 2022

To be clear, there was a driver shortage well before Covid, but the pandemic has accelerated and exacerbated the situation tenfold. Every bus company is short-staffed, but why are school bus companies getting the worst of it?

One of bus operators biggest complaints are that policy makers don’t ride the product, are the guilty of the same thing?

“Golden handcuffs are a collection of financial incentives that are intended to encourage employees to remain with a company for a stipulated period of time.

We get it, you think the bus isn’t cool and full of smelly people. That’s not true, but we’ll tackle that in another conversation. What the bus can be, is convenient! Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you, here are 5 cheaper, more convenient instances where the bus is hands down the better optio

Hello, for those of you new to my Linkedin/Medium my name is Patrick and I’m the founder of a start-up called Go Supir. Short version, Supir is a yahoo.com for transit. But before creating Supir, I was actually a bus driver. I did 10 years at the nation’s 13th largest transit agency, and by no […]

Transportation contractors show drivers that they are viewed as a threat to the deal, not as a partner.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, at some point this year you’ve probably heard about the massive bus driver shortage going on in various parts of the country. While it seems to be a shortage of everything as of late, the driver shortage is unique in its own regard. Why? Because it could have been […]

If you’ve read my content before you’ve probably noticed I love driving public transit. If you’ve read the same content you’d see that I’ve also been very critical of transit. I’ve raised valid points and concerns about its culture, its management, infrastructure, and business model. The truth is, transit is a tough gig,  However for […]

As a recruiter, we sometimes overlook the value of a true pitch. I mean, we have a job, we have money people should want to come to get it, right? That was true before the social media boom. The current reality is everything is a social sell nowadays. Don’t believe me? Look at cancel culture. Consumers are […]

I had the cool opportunity to attend a job fair some time ago for an agency looking to find more bus drivers. Long story short, they needed 180, only 12 people applied. It wasn’t because of a lack of effort on their part, rather a result of the new world.  Why Your Bus Operator Recruitment […]

October 21st, 2010. That was when I graduated from MTA Training and started my official career as a bus operator. That was also the day I knew my career as a bus operator was over. I know it sounds weird at first, how could I just start a new job and already know I won’t […]

As the pandemic comes to an end, we find ourselves slowly approaching the other side. A new world with a new normal. A world where we wear surgeon masks, have meetings in our pajamas, and buy cars online. What a time to be alive! As society innovates and becomes more digital, we’re seeing retail giants […]

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. In layman’s transit terms– If you’re a bus operator, it’s a federally protected way to call out or get time off with no questions asked from the agency. If you’ve worked […]

I remember when I was growing up one of the biggest shocks to me was just how expensive college was. I remember standing in the registration line back in 2008, it was so cool. I and hundreds of other 18 years stood and waited, and were excited about building our future.  Then reality hit. College […]

Unfortunately in our line of work one of the tensest relationships is that amongst drivers and supervisors. Drivers think the supervisors are out to get them, supervisors think drivers are bad, the list of reasons why we don’t like one another goes on and on. Now, this isn’t to say that they aren’t bad supervisors […]