A $10,000 recruiting incentive was announced by the Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) in an effort to hire more drivers, dispatchers and mechanics to meet growing community demand for public transit.
BATA’s services are currently operating at around 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels due to staffing shortages. The agency says it is struggling to meet the growing transportation needs of the community with limited resources. The community is asking for more service, greater geographic coverage and more buses more often. Additional staff is needed to meet these demands and bring back additional service.
“We appreciate the BATA Board of Directors’ supporting the use of federal funds BATA received to help public transit agencies recover from the impacts of the pandemic,” said BATA Executive Director Kelly Dunham. “BATA remains committed to its mission to link people, jobs and communities through safe and reliable transportation, despite the Great Resignation fallout from the pandemic. We’re grateful that BATA’s Board chose to prioritize exploring innovative solutions like this incentive to rebuild BATA’s workforce.”
How does the $10,000 incentive work?
The $10,000 recruiting and retention incentive is available to both new and current BATA employees for a three-year commitment to the organization.
“The current employment climate has left many businesses across multiple sectors with the challenge of filling open positions, and we have not been spared from that scenario,” said Chris Davis, director of administrative services, BATA. “BATA provides too valuable a service to our community to not continue to look for ways to attract and retain great individuals so we can return more services to the community. Offering a $10,000 hiring and retention incentive is just one way to get us back to full staffing levels.”
Other benefits of working for BATA include:
- Competitive Wages: The average driver salary is $41,234/year with annual wage increases.
- Paid medical with vision and dental benefits available.
- Lifetime retirement plan.
- Training: Paid training and CDL licensing.
- Paid time off program.
- Free BATA transportation for the employee and qualifying household family members.
