Ghosted by Your Bus?

Operator shortages are causing transit agencies to cut service unpredictably, leaving riders waiting for ‘ghost buses.’

2 minute read

November 1, 2022, 6:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Bus shelter from behind at night with mist and streetlights

Oleg_Yakovlev / Bus stop

A blog post from Transit Center explains the phenomenon of “ghost buses,” buses that appear on smartphone apps as minutes away only to never materialize at the station.

“What’s behind this alarming rise in ghost buses? Amid a national shortfall of transit operators, years in the making and worsened by the pandemic, there simply aren’t enough bus operators to run all the trips that transit agencies schedule.” In Los Angeles, the county’s transit agency canceled 1 in 6 trips in January of this year due to a shortage of 600 operators.

There are technical challenges to tracking ghost buses, for riders and agencies alike. Transponders aboard en-route buses share their locations via GPS, feeding real-time arrival boards and trip-planning apps. Canceled trips don’t generate GPS locations, so apps reference and display scheduled arrival data instead. This misleads riders into thinking their bus is running when it’s not.

The blog post recommends that transit agencies begin by tracking and publishing canceled buses to provide more transparency and identify solutions. “Agencies also need to be realistic about the amount of service they can provide with the labor force they have, and adjust schedules accordingly.”

The root of the problem, the blog post cautions, is the structural problems leading to the operator shortage. Transit agencies “must radically improve the job for operators by raising pay and improving working conditions. They must also attract new operators by offering signing bonuses and addressing roadblocks to starting the job, like long waits to receive commercial drivers’ licenses and unnecessarily strict drug testing.”

Monday, October 31, 2022 in Transit Center

View form second story inside Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota with escalators and model cars parked on downstairs floor.

The Mall Is Dead — Long Live the Mall

The American shopping mall may be closer to its original vision than ever.

March 21, 2024 - Governing

Houston, Texas skyline.

Report: Las Vegas, Houston Top List of Least Affordable Cities

The report assesses the availability of affordable rental units for low-income households.

March 22, 2024 - Urban Edge

View of Austin, Texas skyline with river in foreground during morning golden hour.

The Paradox of American Housing

How the tension between housing as an asset and as an essential good keeps the supply inadequate and costs high.

March 26, 2024 - The Atlantic

Aerial view of Anchorage, Alaska downtown with mountains in background at golden hour.

Anchorage Leaders Debate Zoning Reform Plan

Last year, the city produced the fewest new housing units in a decade.

58 minutes ago - Anchorage Daily News

Young man in wheelchair crossing zebra crosswalk.

How to Protect Pedestrians With Disabilities

Public agencies don’t track traffic deaths and injuries involving disabled people, leaving a gap in data to guide safety interventions.

1 hour ago - Governing

Aerial view of mountain town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado in the winter with snow at dusk.

Colorado Town Fills Workforce Housing Need With ‘Dorm-Style’ Housing

Median rent in Steamboat Springs is $4,000 per month.

2 hours ago - CBS News

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

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.