JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A bus driver shortage is impacting Jacksonville residents at their jobs.
It's the first week of service changes again for Jacksonville Transportation Authority. For months now, First Coast News has been staying on top of how things are going at JTA ever since a group of people contacted us claiming late buses have been making them late for work.
For the first time, JTA is doing a sit-down interview on the topic with First Coast News. JTA Communications Director David Cawton says the organization is doubling down on recruiting bus operators.
JTA has not had to cut routes like other cities, but some riders still claim they can't depend on the buses.
"Every day it was either there was a mechanical issue with the bus or there wasn't a driver," said Tiffanie Roberts, who rides the buses.
In September, October and now January, commuters like Roberts have contacted First Coast News about problems making them late for work.
"I was simply told there's not a bus," Roberts said. "'There was a mechanical issue with the 12, so that bus won't be coming.' It said literally on the phone 60 minutes until the next bus. I have to be to work at 8:00. That doesn't make sense."
For each story, Cawton has answered questions in writing. This time he agreed to a face-to-face interview.
"It all starts with bus operator recruitment," Cawton said. "That is our main focus right now."
Cawton says JTA is about two dozen bus operators short.
"I'd say we're very competitive right now compared to a lot of agencies that are dealing with the same thing," he said.
A $15,000 bonus comes with a bus operator job if you already have a commercial driver's license. If you don't have one, the bonus is $10,000, paid out over time.
"What we've done is we've waived the requirement to have your CDL to even apply," Cawton said. "So we're providing that training."
Roberts wants to see a quicker fix.
"It's still unacceptable," she said. "We have to work every single day, so there needs to be a bus every single day. We need them to be empathetic with us because you're already on your clock. We're trying to get to ours too because we have a livelihood too."
Cawton says for Route 19, which Roberts and other riders say has had problems, there were four trips missed between early October, the last time First Coast News reported on this, and late December. Cawton says problems are evaluated on a trip-by-trip basis.
"We look at that route, make sure that it's not something that's happening daily," Cawton said. "We try to ensure that that's not something that's happening regularly in that time slot, on that trip on that route. But again, it all goes back to operator availability."
Cawton says he hopes the bus driver shortage will lessen in the spring and encourages riders who have problems to report them to customer service. Roberts says she already does that.