After years of chronic driver shortages, Pittsburgh Regional Transit ramped up its recruitment and training efforts in the past year.
That work is beginning to pay off.
CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman told the authority board last month that for the first time since before the pandemic the agency is able to fully staff its route schedule. As a result, the number of missed trips — where riders are left stranded because no driver was available to drive a scheduled route — is down to an average of about 0.7% with many days of no missed trips.
“It means our out-of-service time is down,” Kelleman said. “Most days, we’re meeting every trip. We might not be where we want to be, but we’re almost there.”
Through last week, the agency had 1,111 operators available. It needs 893 to cover all shifts, but the agency stressed that the number available includes those out on family leave, workers’ comp, long-term illness, jury duty, military leave and excused absences.
The budgeted amount of operators is 1,232, but the agency rarely reaches that level.
Although PRT often experiences a “mad dash” of retirees at the end of the year as operators reach full retirement age, Kelleman said she is confident the agency will be able to meet service needs through 2025.
In February, the agency boosted its number of operator trainers from 24 to 32 and this summer often ran two shifts of on-the-street training for student operators.
In addition to more trainers, the agency made changes to its union contract and offered incentives such as a $1,000 signing bonus to those who already have a CDL license to increase the number of applicants to be operators.
The agency also went through a series of service reductions in the past three years, reducing the number of operators needed to meet service from 1,050.
The Amalgamated Transit Union contract raised the training wage from $18 to $19 an hour and allowed new drivers to have sick leave during their first year of work. Additionally, the agency is offering bonuses to employees who refer candidates who complete training.
Like many transit agencies across the country, PRT has struggled for years to maintain adequate staffing. That became worse during the pandemic, when the agency fired 43 drivers who refused to comply with a mandatory requirement for all employees to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
As a result, the number of missed trips spiked, reaching as high as 18% during March 2022. The agency has slowly rebuilt staffing since then.
“It has been a challenge,” Kelleman said. “What we have now and the classes we have coming in should cover us for quite some time.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.