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Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide (2023) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 2 - Bus Operator Workforce Needs Assessment
Pages 15-20

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
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From page 15...
... ; performing gap analyses to assess the skills possessed by the current workforce compared to the skills the workforce needs to meet organizational goals, and developing workforce trends and forecasts to anticipate future staffing changes and needs.53 Identifying sources of job candidates. In addition to primarily being a tool to plan for recruit ing applicants from external sources, workforce planning can be used to better understand how a transit agency will fill positions using its existing workforce.
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From page 16...
... Data on Current and Past Workforce and Service Patterns Quantitative information collected from human resources, service, and planning departments can help to provide a better understanding of a transit agency's workforce needs, but many tran sit agencies expressed that this information is minimal, nonexistent, or not shared strategically between the two departments and other relevant entities. Information like turnover rates and workforce demographics (e.g., median age of the work force)
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From page 17...
... ; • Succession planning or other regular review (e.g., on an annual basis) of employees eligible for retirement; • Hired firm conducts and scores employee engagement responses; • Reviews of short- and long-term staffing plans; • Monitor industry trends; and • Cross-departmental absence and attrition review (e.g., regular meetings between human resources, operations, and planning staff to review current and future staffing needs)
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From page 18...
... Thus, medium- and long-term planning should involve coordination across departments such as planning, scheduling, training, budget, and human resources departments. Focus group par ticipants indicated that factors like planned service hours, planned service changes, estimations of attrition and staff shortages, operator leave averages, and retirement projections can all be used to inform future workforce planning efforts.
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From page 19...
... hires coach operators based on budget, planned service hours with consideration for attrition and estimated percentages of staff shortages, operator leave averages, and any planned expansion. Develop Workforce Staffing Models San Diego Transit and Utah Transit Authority forecast staffing levels from the transit agency's historical experience.
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From page 20...
... These models must be updated on a regular basis.66 Determine Optimal Workforce with Forecasting DART developed an Excel-based tool to determine general and extraboard workforce sizing needs. The tool uses data that most transit agencies already collect and is formulated in a way that different audiences (e.g., executive staff, human resources, and hiring managers)
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Key Terms

  • transit agencies
  • workforce planning
  • bus operator
  • transit agency
  • operator workforce

  • future workforce
  • regular bus
  • utah transit
  • transit authority
  • workforce assessment

  • conduct workforce
  • succession planning
  • planned service
  • service hours
  • stakeholder interviewee

  • survey respondents
  • extraboard bus
  • metro transit
  • service planning
  • workforce development

  • operator leave
  • agencies view
  • planning efforts
  • planning departments
  • hiring managers

  • resources departments
  • leave averages
  • staff shortages
  • work assignments
  • dart bus


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