![]() “You stack several of those months in a row along with the effects of the pandemic and the next thing you know, you have a problem,” Roach said. MetroLink officials have noted the challenges in recruiting bus drivers in the midst of the pandemic. Louis Public Radio Passengers board a bus on Tuesday at the MetroLink Grand Station. But for several months, 21 to 25 drivers have left each month. The transit agency made the cutbacks because there aren’t enough bus drivers, Bi-State Development CEO Taulby Roach said.īefore the pandemic, Metro Transit typically lost about seven workers a month because of retirement or a new job, Roach said. ![]() So I have to be there for like three buses in a row to even get to work at all.” “Because if I don’t get there that early, chances are whatever bus I wanted to take is going to get canceled. At this point I have to wake up almost, over two hours before my shift starts,” King said. “Normally it would take about an hour to get to work. ![]() As a result, riders are waiting longer than usual at bus stops in the often bitter cold or missing work when buses don’t show up at all.įor commuter Freddie King, the service cuts mean she has to get to the bus stop way ahead of time to get to work on time. The coronavirus pandemic placed a greater burden on bus drivers. A shortage of MetroBus operators in November prompted Metro Transit to suspend six routes, limit service hours on three additional routes and make frequency changes to dozens of others. Louis are having a hard time getting around these days.
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