Howard County To Commit $2 Million For Bus Driver Bonuses

3 years ago 355

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) — Howard County Executive Calvin Ball connected Tuesday announced helium is committing $2 cardinal of the county’s American Rescue Plan allocation to bonuses for autobus drivers.

The backing volition supply retention bonuses for existing autobus drivers and attendants and signing bonuses for caller autobus drivers and attendants. The sum of each bonus hasn’t been announced.

“With astir 100 autobus operator vacancies facing our autobus driving workforce since the opening of the schoolhouse year, our existing autobus drivers person often been forced to implicit aggregate routes astatine nontraditional times,” Ball said. “The impacts person been experienced deeper into our community, arsenic families person been forced to nonstop their children to schoolhouse earlier and person them get backmost location later.”

The announcement comes connected the heels of a sick-out staged by astir 80 drivers successful the region Monday.

“We had to instrumentality a basal and combat for what we consciousness similar we request and what we deserve,” Bowen Bus Service operator Sharon Decker said Monday.

Howard County isn’t the lone region taking enactment to summation compensation for overworked autobus drivers. Baltimore County connected Tuesday announced a plan to summation wages for the county’s autobus drivers and assistance with pre-employment barriers.

Bus drivers successful Anne Arundel County connected Monday voted 49 to 29 to signifier a national contempt the county’s efforts to appease them. Last week, County Executive Steuart Pittman announced currency incentives, $5,000 bonuses for some caller and existent drivers.

Ball said determination could beryllium much incentives connected the way, acknowledgment to the schoolhouse system’s fund surplus.

MORE NEWS: Columbia Location Of THB Bagelry Will Give Out Free Bagels Nov. 18 To Mark 1-Year Anniversary

“Our schoolhouse strategy has savings from reduced services that could besides beryllium applied to addressing the existent vacancy issues portion rewarding those who person continued to service successful these challenging circumstances,” Ball said.