The shortage of public transport workers affects the economy of California

Bus driver Brandi Donaldson describes the early days of the pandemic as living under a dark cloud.

Week after week, the 38-year-old AC Transit employee wondered when, not if, she would become infected with COVID-19 and bring it home to her husband, four children and elderly parents. “It wasn't until April 2021 that the black cloud finally lifted,” she said, “and that's when I was able to get my second COVID vaccine.”

But now, with the omicron surge, that dark cloud is back.

Transit agencies across the state are experiencing a worker shortage, and service is disrupted in Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Southern California because too many workers are sick, quarantined, or afraid to go to work. work.

Every day, Donaldson says, at least one or two of his coworkers test positive. And that means fewer drivers on the road and more frustration among passengers.

“A lot of people have said, ‘Well, you signed up for this job,’ and yes, I did. I didn't sign up to be a police officer with a face mask. I didn't sign up to be a passenger limit cop. I signed up to pick up passengers and take them where they need to go,” said Donaldson, who lives in the Bay Area city of Rodeo.

Some counties are also in the process of issuing vaccination mandates for employees, including transit workers. That could lead to some layoffs for those who don't comply, further reducing manpower and passenger service.

“Before the pandemic, there weren't enough bus drivers to run the routes we have, unless most of us worked a lot of overtime,” said Sultana Adams, 47, who also works for AC Transit. “We were already short. Imagine what it is like now."

The labor shortage is part of a national trend and is not limited to transit workers.

But because transit systems are arteries that get employees to work, especially low-income workers, the impact is reverberating throughout California's economy.

Giovanni Circella, director of the Mobility of the Future program at the UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies, said that while remote work has allowed California's economy to recover, many jobs, typically lower wages, they still require people to report to work. Bus passengers in particular, he said, "don't have many other options."

A clogged transportation system also means more foot traffic for small businesses, he said.

Ridership was already declining before the pandemic: From 2012 to 2016, the number of public transit trips statewide fell by 62 million a year.

Still, while only about 5% of workers statewide took public transit before the pandemic, in larger metropolitan areas like San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, nearly 19% of workers, or 462,000 used buses and trains, according to census data.

Keeping Public Transportation Alive

Transit operations across California have never come to a complete halt during the pandemic: while the systems have suspended some routes and limited ridership, they have provided an essential service who took employees to hospitals and grocery stores and helped others get around who couldn't afford a car, or to call a ride-sharing service. Some offered free rides.

But keeping that lifeline running wasn't easy for transit workers.

Stephanie St. Onge, a driver for the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in Santa Clara County, said arriving operators feel overworked trying to maintain service. After a VTA employee killed 9 co-workers on the San Jose Railroad last May, the light rail system was shut down for two weeks, which meant increased demand for bus service.

“When you're overworked, what happens?” asked St Onge. “Your immune system goes down. It starts to wear off."

Burnout isn't the only problem

“I got spat at in April 2020, then four more times because of ridership caps and not being able to pick people up,” recalls Donaldson of AC Transit, the third-largest bus system in the state with about 175,000 riders a day before the pandemic.

“I got knocked on the bus door on two different occasions. A guy tried to hit me with an umbrella. They put up plexiglass to put a barrier between us and the passengers, and I had someone drill through it, all because of having to enforce the mask policy and the passenger limit.”

While mask rules differ from city to city and have changed within cities during the pandemic, buses and other public transportation have been under the grip of federal rules requiring face coverings since January 2021.

Not all passengers know that, or want to follow the regulations, which have been extended until at least March 18.

Drivers across the state said some agencies were slow to provide protective equipment, or that it wasn't enough.

And while transit workers were deemed essential in an executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom, not all counties prioritized drivers to get vaccinated at the same time as grocery store workers, for example, at the vaccine rollout on last year.

The impact has not been limited to drivers. Mechanics say there are not enough staff to sanitize buses at the end of their routes, and as the CDC has eased the guidelines, it has become less of a priority.

Officials with the Sacramento Regional Transit District said the rise in omicron has caused more workers to be sick than at any time during the pandemic. Some employees have also had to deal with school closings, child care and other challenges affecting the workforce nationwide.

There are usually employees who can fill in for drivers who are out, but the recent surge has meant more trip cancellations and delays, said Jessica Gonzalez, a public information officer for the agency, which operates the buses and the light rail system in Sacramento.

It restored full service in September 2020 and was also one of the few agencies to expand, adding a service similar to Uber.

The agency has launched a major effort to recruit new workers. To maintain the existing workforce, he provided a $750 bonus, funded through a grant from the American Public Transportation Association.

Still, officials acknowledged the additional tasks for drivers, such as enforcing mask mandates, though supervisors or police officers are sometimes asked to intervene.

“We can't deny it, and it's been difficult, especially for our frontline workers,” said Shelly Valenton, SacRT's vice president of integrated services and strategic initiatives. "We're doing our best, you know, within the resources that we have available."

Regional Transit offered paid sick time for workers to get vaccinated and for any side effects before the state required supplemental paid sick leave. Officials said they are waiting to see what happens with the budget from Gov. Gavin Newsom who has a license reinstatement proposal.

But there are no specific plans for danger pay in SacRT.

At AC Transit, that's something the workers' union has been pushing for and formally demanded last fall.

“We have had more than 180 workers infected with COVID and several members have passed away,” said Robert Coleman, president of union ATU 192, in a December 4 statement. "We're just asking for the back hazard pay we deserve for staying the course."

AC Transit's board is set to vote on $5 million in “thank you pay” for employees.

This article was originally published by CalMatters.CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that explains public policy and political issues in California.