Westmoreland bus authority pays $12,500 in overtime in 1st week of running service

Westmoreland Transit Authority paid out about $12,500 in overtime wages for the first week in January after it assumed control over bus and paratransit services from a private contractor.

Officials said scheduling procedures that had been in place for years as well as a driver shortage required the agency to authorize 600 overtime hours in just one week.

“This is a figure we need to address,” transit authority board Chairman Frank Tosto said.

The authority took over operation of its fixed-route and shared ride paratransit programs this month after it terminated its five-year, $39.5 million contract with National Express Transit four years early after both sides failed to agree to a renegotiated deal.

Authority officials blamed the company for driver shortages and maintenance failures that led to route cancelations and fines that totaled more than $262,000 assessed to National Express.

Officials said that the service takeover resulted in no service issues or cancellations during its first week, but that the scheduling of drivers is still a challenge for the authority.

Most of its bus and paratransit drivers were hired from the National Express local employee roster. The authority currently has 49 drivers who operate the agency’s local and commuter bus services. It has 58 drivers for the shared-ride door-to-door rides for low-income, handicapped and elderly riders as part of the Go Westmoreland service.

Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said six drivers for the paratransit system were recently hired and started training classes last week. Two months ago, the authority had a staff of 18. As of Friday, it had 121 full-time and 29 part-time employees.

Scheduling of drivers was dictated by procedures in place for years and agreed to as part of a collective bargaining contract with the union that represents drivers. It allows the most senior drivers to select routes and shifts and leaves the less desired work for newer employees. Restrictions are also in place as to how many consecutive hours drivers are permitted to be on the road, Blahovec said.

With the authority still seeking to fill out its roster of drivers and tweak its scheduling, some shifts had to be covered through overtime, Blahovec said.

The authority’s labor contract with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1735, which represents drivers and maintenance workers, was set to expire at the end of 2019 but an extension was agreed to through the end of March.

Board members said the next labor contract is expected to address the scheduling issues and other factors that impact overtime.

“These are operation issues we can make better in the long run,” Tosto said.

Officials said overtime expenses were not completely unexpected. But the amount, which equaled about 20% of all hours worked by drivers, exceeded estimates and were in line with what was paid when National Express oversaw the transit services.

Ashley Cooper-Brounce, the authority’s fiscal manager, said overtime costs are factored into the budget.

“We did budget for overtime, and there is money in the budget to cover it for about six months,” Cooper-Brounce said. The authority’s budget operates on a fiscal year that runs from July 1 through June 30.

In making the move to operate the transit service, the authority said it expects to save about $2.3 million over the next three years.