Applicants for jobs at the MBTA will no longer be subject to a lottery process previously used to whittle down the field, part of an ongoing effort to mitigate a driver shortage.
With the agency scrambling to hire more bus operators, everyone who applies will undergo at least an initial screening process rather than face a drawing to determine if they could advance, officials said Thursday. The T previously faced “extremely strong demand for these opportunities,” which led to the use of an application lottery, according to Transportation Secretary Jamey Tesler.
“As a board and as an organization, we all need to be aware of the demand problem that’s larger than just the MBTA. It will require all of us to be open to identifying what works and make us as attractive as an employer can be,” Tesler said at an MBTA Board of Directors meeting. “The demand for that lottery system no longer exists.”
MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said his team is working “incredibly hard” to generate interest in open bus driver positions at the T amid a shortage. The agency more than doubled the size of its recruiting team, Poftak said, and promoted 75 part-time bus operators to full-time to help retain them.
A winter service schedule that takes effect Sunday will pare back frequency on bus routes by about 3 percent in response to the lack of available drivers. Subway schedules will not be affected.
“It’s clear that a number of other transit agencies are struggling with this,” Poftak said. “We’re actively out there competing for eyeballs in terms of folks who might be available.”
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