City scrambling for more bus drivers
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...re-bus-drivers
Hamilton is in the midst of the biggest bus driver hiring spree in city history as it tries to make good on service improvements promised a year ago.
The city wants to train and hire up to 68 new operators this year — and as many as possible before March 25, when HSR plans to ramp up bus frequency along overcrowded corridors such as King Street and Upper Kenilworth Avenue.
Council approved an extra $3 million last year to beef up bus service, but the city couldn’t hire new bus drivers fast enough, said transit director Don Hull.
SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS
“We’re at the point where we’re losing drivers almost faster than we can hire,” said Hull, who noted baby boomers started turning 65 last year. “We’re on the edge of that boomer retirement cliff.”
The city hired 24 new drivers last year, but 18 others retired. Hull didn’t know offhand the average age of the city’s 431 drivers, but he said about 30 of them could retire this year. He anticipates a similar trend over the next few years.
That’s why the transit service is hitting the gas on recruitment in advance of the March service changes. Just improving peak period bus frequency to every six minutes instead of seven on Route 1 will require nine new drivers, for example.
“It’s the biggest hiring in corporate memory,” said Hull, who added the city has also doubled the number of driving trainers to four. “Our classrooms are full and we’re going to be running the (training) school at full capacity for the rest of the year.”
Hull said the city can’t afford to put off service improvements any longer, despite a 3 per cent ridership increase in 2011. “You can’t be planning for LRT when you’re leaving people standing on the street corner,” he said.
That happened to Peter Hutton twice Tuesday as he waited for a bus at Main Street and Emerson Street.
“I was bypassed twice at the same spot around 11 a.m. The buses were too full,” said the member of the Hamilton Transit Users Group. “So yes, I’d say the service improvements are long overdue.”
Hutton said users have been complaining about buses “bursting at the seams” along busy routes such as the King Street corridor for several years. Between 2006 and 2009, a majority of the 4,400 complaints fielded by the city were related to service levels.
Students will appreciate greater frequency along the Upper Kenilworth route, which passes by Mohawk College, said student association president Dan Clark.
“That gives everyone greater flexibility in their schedules, which believe me, everyone will appreciate,” he said. Clark added he is hearing fewer student complaints about overcrowded buses, too, thanks to extra peak buses already added to near-college routes.
Hutton said he’s glad the city is starting to “think about their existing riders” in addition to long-term expansion plans.
He wishes the beefed-up service had rolled in last year — but Hutton doesn’t begrudge the extra time needed to train new drivers. “Hey, it’s a tough job, and an important one,” he said. “I‘d rather they get that part right.”
Service improvements as of March 25:
Route 1 — King Street
Weekdays at peak and midday: buses every six minutes (from 7.5) between Eastgate Square and downtown
Late evening service on weekdays and weekends every 20 minutes (instead of 30 minutes)
Sundays midday service every 10 minutes (from 12).
Route 1A — through McMaster
Weekday midday and peak time service every 12 minutes (instead of 15)
Routes 21 and 33 (Upper Kenilworth and Sanatorium)
Weekdays, midday service every 20 minutes (from 30)
Route 56 — Confederation Park
New seven days a week, year-round pilot service to newly opened Walmart on Centennial Parkway
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