Posted on 10/23/2007 9:16:59 AM PDT by george76
Steamboat Springs’ winter bus service likely will be curtailed because of a shortage of qualified drivers.
Transportation Director George Krawzoff said despite recent hires, Steamboat Springs Transit still is 20 drivers short of filling all 40 of its positions.
“Our situation is improving,” Krawzoff said Monday. “But we’re a long way from being fat and sassy. … We will start the winter service with very limited service.”
The extent of the cuts remains to be seen. Krawzoff said the city is weighing two options: maintaining frequency on the most heavily used routes while cutting lesser-used routes, or “spreading the pain out across many routes.”
“Until we can recruit 20 more drivers, we will have to cut back somewhere,” Deputy City Manager Wendy DuBord said. “You can’t run a bus system with 20 less people than you have buses for.”
Last winter, nine seasonal, foreign workers drove Steamboat Springs Transit buses. This year, there will be no foreign drivers, mostly because of an energy boom in Australia that has lured away potential recruits.
The hourly wage for drivers is $15.02, which would increase to $15.60 an hour Jan. 1 if, as expected, the Steamboat Springs City Council passes a budget that raises city wages 4 percent across the board.
In addition to bus driver housing being provided through city lease agreements ...
Lanning said Steamboat’s difficulty hiring bus drivers is not uncommon to communities across the country.
“I think the No. 1 issue in my mind is the CDL,” Lanning said, referring to a commercial driver’s license. “Not everyone out on the street has a CDL.”
(Excerpt) Read more at steamboatpilot.com ...
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There are an abundance of locals living in Steamboat with CDL’s who would be available to pick up a shift here and there. There could be dozens of people who are available to drive one or two shifts a week.
The problem is that the city is looking to hire people who want to drive busses as their primary full-time job.
...and they require candidates to spend 3 WEEKS of on the job training to learn how to drive a bus around in circles.
Who can take a month off from their real job to train for a part time job?
( from the comments )
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