Cities like St. Louis, Denver, and Minneapolis have have fewer bus drivers than the transit system requires. The shortages are effecting the quality of service.
Around the United States, cities are having trouble hiring the bus drivers they need to keep systems running. Last week, St. Louis's bus service was so understaffed, buses couldn't make trips. "MetroLink, which runs St. Louis’s 83 bus routes and 46 miles of light rail, blamed an “unusually high number of operators calling off work” that Monday. Transit union leaders said Metro simply hasn’t hired enough workers to run its system," Aaron Short writes.
Whether the issue was the fault of the agency or its drivers, it's clear that not having enough drivers is a problem in many communities. "Thanks to the labor shortage, bus service has been struggling in Denver, San Francisco, Miami, Omaha, Nebraska, Minneapolis, Toledo, OH, and northern New Jersey, drivers and union leaders told Streetsblog," Short writes. There are 188 unfilled positions for bus and rail in Denver alone.
Many who would drive say they can’t afford to live in the cities they drive for because the rent is too high. The Denver bus service and San Francisco's Muni have both dealt with this issue. "With housing out of their price range, a lot of drivers work six to seven days a week and live 90 minutes to two hours away in places like Sacramento, Modesto, Stockton, and Patterson. Some even drive part-time for ride hail companies to supplement their income," Short writes.
FULL STORY: Driver Shortages Causing Transit Delays Nationwide
Addressing a Bus Driver Shortage in San Francisco
The ongoing quest to fix Muni enters a new chapter, after a driver shortage impacted bus service earlier this year.
Driver Shortages and Service Reductions: The Crisis in Public Transit Continues
While transit systems around the country had reason to celebrate the new funding made available in the federal infrastructure bill, long-term concerns about operational capacity have not been resolved.
San Francisco Seeks Public Input on Post-Pandemic Muni Service
The SFMTA is considering a "high-access network" that would let people reach more destinations and increase frequency on some Muni lines.
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
Report Outlines Strategies for Resilient Wildfire Recovery in LA
Project Recovery offers a roadmap for rebuilding more sustainable and climate-resilient communities after wildfires and other disasters.
New Executive Order Renews Attack on Public Lands
An order issued late last week pushes for increased mineral extraction on federally owned public lands.
Study: Larger Vehicles Lead to More Congestion
New research links large SUVs to lower traffic throughput.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Florida Atlantic University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Piedmont, CA
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland