Background

Public transit agencies are facing significant operator workforce shortages. While the crisis started prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the nation rebounds, the APTA Transit Workforce Shortage Report (2022) found agencies are more than ever struggling to attract and retain these frontline employees. At the same time, the transit industry has an aging workforce, and TCRP Research Report 240: Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide (2023) found that more than 50% of the industry’s workforce is estimated to retire during the next 10 years. The lower-than-normal hiring and retention rates, coupled with high retirement rates, and an increasing number of stressors affecting operators’ physical and mental health is contributing to the workforce shortage.

Existing research finds that transit operators experience adverse impacts on health and wellbeing because of the demands and stresses of the occupation. The are documented direct impacts on physical health  (i.e. obesity, diabetes, and hypertension) and mental health (i.e. trauma from passenger assaults). Increased probabilities of poor health outcomes for transit operators may be tied to the larger social issue of racial health disparities, as many transit operators are Black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC)—groups that disproportionately experience health issues such as diabetes and heart disease. Among women operators, and especially those who are BIPOC, the likelihood of poor health outcomes is even higher. These factors are contributing to the workforce shortage phenomenon. To address the operator workforce shortage, transit agencies are starting to pilot innovative approaches aimed at reducing the stresses associated with role. 

A few examples include alternative scheduling approaches, new classifications of leave time that allow for recovery following trauma exposure, and material benefits such as childcare supports. While these approaches are in a novel stage, there is limited research exploring the relationship between operator health and workforce challenges. Transit agencies need to better understand how operators’ health and health concerns relate to attitudes about employment and identify meaningful solutions to address the workforce challenges. If the known (or presumed) health risks of being an operator are impeding the desire to pursue employment as a transit operator or stay in that role, questions for consideration are:

• What does that mean for the success of recruitment and retention in the long term?
• What would it take to design workforce interventions or initiatives that directly respond to known health issues for operators and potential risks for future operators, especially those whose race or gender put them at even higher risk for poor health outcomes, including diabetes and heart disease?

Synthesis Objective

The purpose of this synthesis is to examine emerging experiences of transit systems to better understand the relationship(s) between operator health, the health risks associated with being a transit operator, the desirability of the role, and how actual or proposed workforce solutions consider these issues. The synthesis shall also examine the state of practice for monitoring and addressing operator health as part of agencies’ strategies to overcome persistent recruitment and retention challenges. Lastly, the synthesis shall identify, how agencies currently collect and link data about, at a minimum:

• Operator health and wellbeing (on-the-job injury claims, short-term disability leave, health insurance claims, job satisfaction, stress, and mental health indicators)
• Workforce strength (recruitment, retention, vacancy, etc.).

This synthesis will provide insight on the relationship between operator health measures and workforce measures, and the extent to which agencies are tracking the potential relationship. The synthesis will provide a better understanding can provide transit agencies and the industry implement workforce solutions that protect operators’ health and do not exacerbate negative health outcomes, especially among BIPOC operators and those who identify as women.

Information to be Gathered

• At a minimum, the contractor shall gather the following information:
• Demographic information of operators, including race/ethnicity, age, and gender.
• Human resource data around operator seniority and tenure, employee classification, and leave data that can be linked to demographic data.
• Transit agencies’ current practices related to tracking or monitoring operator health data (data availability, how data are used, privacy concerns, etc.).
• Transit agencies’ current practices related to examining operator health data in conjunction with workforce data.
• Analyses to understand how operator health data are linked to workforce shortages.
• Partnerships and/or programs that involve transit agencies and unions that address operator health and workforce strength.

How the Information will be Gathered

• Literature Review
• Survey of transit public transit agencies
• Case examples (a minimum of five, identified from the surveys)