trimet is hiring bus

A TriMet bus headed back to the garage displays "TriMet is Hiring" on its route sign.

(Elliot Njus/Staff)

I keep seeing buses with a destination sign that reads, "TriMet is hiring." Now there are announcements on MAX. Why is TriMet so desperate for bus drivers?

TriMet has dramatically ramped up hiring. In recent months, it's brought on 20 new part-time operators every three weeks, or about 347 over the course of the year.

And it's trying hard to sweeten the deal. In July it boosted drivers starting pay from $11.21 to $14.25 per hour during their six-week training period. (After completing training, they make $15.63 an hour as part-time operators. Many are bumped up to full time in about six months.)

But why the hiring spree?

When it opened the Orange Line, in particular, it expanded its corps of MAX operators, drawing from its pool of bus drivers. Added service accounted for most of the driver shortage, said Randy Stedman, TriMet's executive director of human resources and labor relations.

But TriMet also seen increasing turnover in recent years.

This year, it expects to lose about 11.5 percent of its drivers to retirement, resignation and termination, up from 6.6 percent in 2011. What's more, the agency has a high number of retirement-aged union employees, which could point to more turnover in years to come.

All in all, service expansion accounts for 55 percent of hiring, while turnover accounts for the other 45 percent.

Applications, meanwhile, have slowed. The economy has improved, leaving job-seekers with more options. And some young people are getting driver's licenses later in life, which means fewer have the established driving record TriMet requires.

That's a trend that's been seen throughout the transportation industry. Freight companies, too, are struggling to hire young drivers.

"Driving is a difficult job, and it has some inherent challenges associated with it," Stedman said.

So TriMet has amped up its efforts to attract the applications it needs to fill its ranks.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757, which represents TriMet's union employees and is in the middle of a contentious round of contract negotiations with the agency, had a different take.

Local President Shirley Block said the TriMet "has created a toxic culture of fear and intimidation" that has driven employees away.

"Experienced bus drivers, who have long been the top recruiters for quality new employees, no longer recommend working at TriMet to their friends, families, and community members," she wrote in an email. "This has resulted in TriMet's need to dramatically expand recruitment efforts and to lower standards for new hires."

TriMet said that its turnover is lower than other public and private employers, and that other transit agencies are facing the same problem.

Interested? The agency is holding a job fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the Oregon Convention Center.

***

Have a commuting question? Contact Elliot Njus at enjus@oregonian.com or on Twitter @enjus