With Public Transit Expanding, Metro Transit Needs More Drivers
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- New rapid bus routes and light rail expansion has Metro Transit preparing for the future of public transit. And drivers are needed.
Metro Transit has a pilot program meant to help people who want to be bus drivers get experience behind the wheel.
At a secret location in St. Paul, future Metro Transit drivers are given lessons on a closed course on how to handle buses. There, rookie drivers are paired with experienced drivers.
"We get them behind the seat for the first time, getting them to turn the wheel, tilt the wheel, adjust the seat, get behind the windshield and actually go through a course where they can learn how to turn and get comfortable doing stops and just maneuvering the bus," workforce supervisor Gary Courtney said.
WCCO's Reg Chapman was present the first time Deangelo Buffington had ever driven a bus. Courtney says more half of the applicants do not have commercial driving experience, so it's a good place to get experience before tests.
"It was scary at first but the instructors were really good. It wasn't as difficult as it seems and I'm looking forward to it," Buffington said.
Many of the trainees are making a serious career change and cite the nearly $20 an hour with benefits as a contributing factor.
"There is learning in the watching (and) there is learning in the doing, and so when we have it structured like this, individuals get to actually get off the bus and watch the bus maneuver, get on the bus and watch the bus maneuver, and get behind the wheel and maneuver the bus themselves," Courtney said. "We're expanding services. We have a number of new lines that are coming online, we have the C line and, again, just keeping up with the demand of service."
For many of the trainees, this is a change in career, and an opportunity to have a bus provide that office window while they work.
"I worked for the Roseville school district and driving a bus seemed like a great opportunity," Buffington said.
Metro Transit also just secured funding for the new Orange line. The 17-mile transit way will connect Minneapolis, Richfield, Bloomington and Burnsville along Interstate 35W.
