Transpo drivers earn 40% starting wage increase meant to ease staff shortage

SOUTH BEND — Arguing for a raise while pulling extra duty to limit a spike in missed bus routes, Transpo bus drivers have earned a higher starting wage of $20.34 an hour in their union's latest round of bargaining, the public transit agency announced Thursday.

New fixed-route drivers with the South Bend Public Transportation Corp. will make 40% more than the previous hourly starting pay of $14.42, while more experienced drivers can earn more than $27 an hour.

Drivers will earn $17 an hour during a four- to six-week training period, Transpo CEO Amy Hill said Thursday. The $20.34 hourly wage will then take effect.

Drivers hadn't received an hourly wage increase in about three years, according to Kevin Edwards, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 996, which represented workers in collective bargaining efforts. Drivers did receive two lump-sum payments in each year of the previous two-year contract. Full-time drivers saw $1,350 payments each year, and part-time drivers received an additional $675 each year.

Earlier this summer, he told The Tribune drivers were becoming "burned out and fed up" as they worked extra hours to alleviate a surge in the number of canceled daily trips. Part of a national shortage of bus drivers, Transpo was short about a dozen fixed-route drivers from the 57 positions budgeted.

Despite the new starting wage, Transpo is still in a dire position for at least the next year, Edwards said Thursday.

He acknowledged the wage increase will be helpful and that it's tough for any manager trying to hire workers right now. But with looming retirements and efforts to hire just five people every six weeks, the math tells him Transpo is a year from fully restoring its standard service.

When The Tribune reached him, he said, "You actually probably caught me on the worst day that I've ever seen at Transpo in terms of filling tomorrow’s work. … The amount of work that I’m trying to fill tomorrow is undoable.”

He had to end the call after a few minutes, saying he was "swamped" while trying to plan for Friday.

The new wage scale brings public transit drivers in line with regional wages for school bus drivers that are often $20 an hour or higher, Hill noted.

She told The Tribune that management's two goals while negotiating contracts were to raise starting wages to competitive levels and to lower the amount of time workers must spend at Transpo before earning substantial raises.

She hopes the new contract broadens the pool of candidates in upcoming rounds of hiring. The four-year deal began Aug. 17 and lasts through Aug. 16, 2026.

The timeline for progressing to the top wage rate has been reduced from five years to three years, and new employees are eligible for vacation after 90 days. Other benefits include more paid time off and a retention bonus for all full-time Transpo employees.

Maintenance employees also earned higher wages, a faster path to pay raises and the same improved benefits.

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With the agreement, Hill said, Transpo is "recognizing the dedication and hard work of our employees who have worked through the pandemic, have been on the front lines, and have been going above and beyond to pick up as much missed trips as possible in order to minimize their impact."

Missed trips spike in August

Missed trips rose drastically last month because there simply aren't enough drivers to meet the 20 standard bus routes offered and the four additional routes serving the School City of Mishawaka, according to Hill.

As service requirements increased with the return of college students, Transpo missed more than 100 trips in August, Hill said.

She noted that's only around 1% of the total trips completed for the month, but still unprecedented. Before worker shortages plagued the economy, Transpo would miss only 17 trips in a given year because of mechanical failures or inclement weather, according to Hill.

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Buses failing to arrive for a scheduled route often means riders must wait an hour. If several consecutive trips are canceled on the same route, missed trips are even more disruptive.

Just hours before the announcement Thursday morning, buses failed to come for three straight hours on route 3B serving Portage Avenue, according to a Transpo Facebook post that has become part of a grim routine.

Unless Transpo chooses to reduce its overall coverage, the agency must begrudgingly accept the jump in missed trips, Hill said. Transpo tries to limit the disruption by serving routes where a bus comes only once an hour and preferring to cancel routes served twice an hour.

The four trips serving students at Mishawaka schools have never been canceled, Hill said.

“We work very diligently to ensure that, if any trips are going to be missed, we're minimizing the impact to our riders," Hill said.

Hill expects five trainees to soon become fixed-route drivers. Transpo's budget for 2023 proposes several more full-time driver positions and will increase by $675,000 to nearly $12 million.

“We’re facing an aging workforce as it is," Hill said. "We’re very fortunate that a lot of our drivers have been here 20, 30, 40 years, but that means we have a lot of drivers nearing retirement age.”

Although many transit agencies require applicants to already have a commercial driver's license, Transpo offers to hire and train applicants who have a commercial driver's permit so they can then earn the license. Paid training classes are scheduled for October and November after a recent course in August.

Those interested in working for Transpo can apply for open positions in the employment section of the agency's website or apply in person from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at 1401 S. Lafayette Blvd.

Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jordantsmith09.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend public transit drivers earn $20 hourly starting pay