STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A bus driver shortage on Staten Island is forcing the MTA to cancel scheduled trips, leaving frustrated commuters wondering why their bus never arrived.
Currently, Staten Island is down about 40 bus drivers from pre-pandemic levels, according to Danny Cassella, president of ATU Local 726, the union representing Staten Island bus drivers.
Many of the outstanding vacancies are a result of drivers retiring in the past year due, in part, to fear of contracting and spreading the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
“A lot of members did retire due to the pandemic if they had the age and time. Some guys who weren’t planning to leave have left,” Cassella said. “We certainly have had more people retire than in a normal year. That certainly has happened.”
On top of the 40-some drivers who have left, the union is still dealing with the impacts of the pandemic, with the remaining staff members unable to work if they’ve recently been exposed to the virus.
“You also have people who are out for COVID or people out who were in contact with someone with COVID,” Cassella said. “I think it’s just been a perfect storm type of situation, where whatever could go wrong goes wrong.”
And with less bus drivers available, there has been an additional strain on the remaining drivers to try to complete as many trips as possible.
“It’s a strain on the guys, for sure. A lot of them have worked overtime to try to fill some of these trips, but depending on the time, there’s not always a driver available,” said Cassella.
REDUCTION IN SERVICE DELIVERY
The result has been a significant decrease in the amount of trips being completed on Staten Island compared to pre-pandemic levels, leaving commuters wondering why their bus that was scheduled to arrive failed to do so.
The MTA uses a metric called “service delivery” to measure what percentage of scheduled trips during peak times are actually completed by their drivers.
On Staten Island, service delivery in April 2019 sat at 98.2%, tied for the highest of any borough, according to MTA data.
In April 2021, that number plunged to 92.2%, with Staten Island now completing the lowest percentage of its scheduled bus trips of any borough.
Though Staten Island now has the lowest levels of service delivery of any borough, the issue is not unique to Staten Island, with citywide service delivery down more than 2.5%, from 97.7% in April 2019 to 95.1% in April 2021.
While missing trips has been an issue across all Staten Island bus routes, express bus riders have seen an even bigger drop-off than those riding locally.
“What happens with the express is you have certain trips, like early in the morning with the construction workers between 5 and 6 o’clock, where it’s hard to get someone to work overtime for that time. It’s a little harder to cover the real early trips,” Cassella said.
On express buses, service delivery fell from 98.6% in April 2019 to 91.2% in April 2021, according to the data. On local buses, the percentage of scheduled trips completed fell from 97.6% in April 2019 to 93.3% in April 2021.
MTA officials said that the majority of the metrics used to assess bus service are similar to pre-pandemic levels, with the agency currently in the process of hiring new bus drivers to allow them to provide more service.
“Our primary customer metrics show improved or comparable bus service performance compared to pre-COVID levels. This is in spite of the modest uptick in absences due to the pandemic and a hiring freeze that was recently lifted. We are actively in the process of hiring additional bus operators to cover vacancies,” said MTA spokesman Shams Tarek.
The MTA noted that the agency is currently running 100% of pre-pandemic service on Staten Island express buses despite ridership hovering at just 36% of pre-COVID levels.
Additionally, while service delivery is down, bus speeds and run times have improved on Staten Island’s express buses, with speeds rising 7% from April 2019 to April 2021 and average run times down approximately six minutes.
IMPACT ON COMMUTERS
The no-show buses have been a pain for Staten Island commuters, particularly those who are dependent on the borough’s express buses to get them to and from work in Manhattan in a timely manner.
Filippa Grisafi, an express bus rider and founder of a popular Staten Island express bus advocacy group on Facebook, said she’s been hearing from riders non-stop about missed trips leaving borough residents stranded during their daily commute.
“I’m hearing from riders every day, and they are beyond furious,” Grisafi said. “They understand the situation, but of course they’re frustrated. If you have to be at work at 6 in the morning and you’re at the bus stop to get a 5 o’clock bus but it doesn’t come, then you’re getting to work late every day.”
“It’s not good, and it’s not going to get any better until they get more drivers,” she added.
Members of the Facebook group have voiced their frustration in recent weeks, as their scheduled buses have repeatedly failed to arrive.
“Here we go again. Second week in a row the first SIM31 isn’t showing up! It’s one thing to miss a day or two, but all last week and now this week too?” one member wrote during a morning commute.
“Just to top it off, the first SIM31 was a no show tonight from Manhattan to Staten Island,” the person later commented.
Others said that with their bus not coming, they were forced to alter their route and transfer to a local bus to get home at a reasonable hour.
“What is going on with these buses today? SIM3 was a no show so I had to grab the SIM6 to the transit center and transfer to the S59,” another member wrote.
IMPORTANCE OF QUICKLY FILLING VACANCIES
With more people expected to return to the mass transit system this fall, as schools fully reopen and additional workers return to the office, union leadership said it’s imperative that the MTA start hiring immediately, so that new bus drivers are prepared for the post-Labor Day rush.
“I know it sounds crazy, but we need to prepare for September right now. They need to start preparing now, not in August, because by then it’ll be too late,” said Casella.
He explained that it can take up to three months for new bus drivers to be hired, trained and familiarized with their routes, meaning the MTA would need to start hiring in the coming weeks in order to be prepared for the fall rush.
“It takes about two months for an operator to get trained and hired, and then when they come to Staten Island, it takes another four weeks to learn all the routes,” he said. “They’ve got to start now.”
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