“Add to that delays to licensing and testing and it makes it very difficult for bus operators to get new people into the industry. He added: “The pandemic is playing a role, causing sickness, isolation and changes to people’s personal circumstances. He said pressures on the haulage industry meant many people who drive for a career were switching to becoming HGV drivers.
#Bus driver shortage driver#
#Bus driver shortage drivers#
He said that driving buses during the height of Covid, and all the pressures that caused, led to many drivers rethinking their careers. If we don’t make it attractive to them, they’ll leave.”
“We also need to make the industry more attractive for people already employed in the industry. Trainee drivers undergoing training at a First Bus depot But there still hasn’t been a major return to patronage.” Enter your postcode for live traffic and travel updates where you are He said: “There are now more young people travelling to school and college by bus which is a healthy sign. The committee was discussing West Yorkshire’s Bus Improvement Plan – a document that will set out how bus services will recover from Covid and needs to be completed by the end of next month for the region to be eligible for millions in funding.īradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe, also chair of the committee, said the plan needed to improve bus services, not just return them to the pre-Covid status quo.ĭavid Pearson, director of transport services, said bus journeys were currently around 65 per cent of what they were in 2019.
One member, himself a bus driver, said much more needed to be done to make the industry attractive to not just potential new drivers, but also to existing drivers who may be reconsidering their careers. It was down to a mixture of drivers being tempted to switch to high-paying haulage jobs, stagnant conditions and the strains of front line work through the pandemic.įor the latest traffic and travel news, click here. A West Yorkshire bus driver has warned of a “massive shortage” of bus staff – with many drivers reconsidering their careers due to the pandemic.Ī meeting of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s transport committee heard the region was currently short of around 250 bus drivers – around 10 per cent of the workforce.
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