CATA reduces MSU and Lansing bus routes due to driver shortage as classes resume

A passenger gets off a bus at the MSU-CATA Transportation Center on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing.
A passenger gets off a bus at the MSU-CATA Transportation Center on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing.

EAST LANSING — A bus driver shortage is leaving some Michigan State University students out in the cold.

When classes resume in person Monday at MSU, those who take the bus to, from and around East Lansing will have to settle for less-frequent service after the Capital Area Transportation Authority cut back its routes.

CATA announced on Jan. 14 that it would reduce pickup frequency from 10 to 30 minutes on six weekday routes servicing MSU: 30, 31, 32, 33, 38 and 39.

Six non-MSU routes will also see reductions, including Routes 1 and 3 from downtown Lansing to the Meridian and Lansing malls, Routes 5 and 9 to the South Pennsylvania Meijer, Route 8 to Holt and Route 18 along Mt. Hope Road to MSU.

The agency will also continue holiday service reductions through Feb. 6 on off-campus routes that service MSU, including 20, 23 and 24.

The MSU service reductions began Jan. 17, when many students were still home due to classes beginning remotely this semester.

Now that they're going back to classrooms, students are concerned about long wait times in the cold.

Deon Bennett, a senior from Detroit, takes the bus every day during the semester. He learned of the schedule reduction after seeing a petition calling for MSU bus routes to run every five to 10 minutes, which had gained 1,700 signatures as of Friday.

“There’s so much stuff going on, including COVID, it’s already kind of a hassle to get to class,” Bennett said.

But CATA has no other options, according to spokeswoman Lolo Robison.

Between bus drivers exposed to COVID-19 and an uptick in retirements, the agency has a serious driver shortage. CATA leaders met this week and found their roster is short 50 drivers, Robison said.

“We are down drivers and working very, very seriously to hire,” she said. “We’re not sitting idly by. We’re looking at solutions on how to get by.”

The most obvious solution — hiring more drivers — is a work in progress. CATA launched a driver recruitment campaign running May 2021 through December 2022 and hosted job fairs in May and June that Robison said were “highly successful.” Recruitment is ongoing as CATA continues accepting applications.

A new class of bus drivers will begin training in February. Training generally takes about six weeks, Robinson said.

CATA offers a starting wage of $17.50 per hour and a $2,500 sign-on bonus after the first year. Hourly rates top out at $27.78 per hour, Robinson said — the highest among transit systems statewide.

Based on driver availability, CATA plans to deploy “trippers,” or extra buses that follow other buses to pick up riders left behind by a full bus.

To offset the impact of reduced schedules, MSU is offering free parking for MSU students in metered lots and spaces not already reserved for MSU staff, spokesperson Dan Olsen said.

MSU has offered free student parking for the first three weeks of the semester during mostly online classes, he said, and will continue offering it through next week. MSU officials will re-evaluate the busing issue at the end of the week.

Bennet said fewer bus runs doesn't just mean waiting in the cold longer, but waiting longer after dark, raising concerns about student safety.

He also said more students will likely be late for class. Bennett hopes faculty excuse students arriving late when they've had to wait longer for a bus.

“Unless we get more bus drivers on campus, faculty need more understanding for students making it to class,” he said.

Contact Mark Johnson at 517-377-1026 or at majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: CATA reduces MSU bus routes due to driver shortage as classes resume