Public transit agencies across the U.S. continue to face a shortage of operations workers, particularly operators. In response, agencies have made adjustments to recruitment, hiring, and training processes to attract more candidates, while also focusing on strengthening agency culture, boosting morale, and improving working conditions to retain staff.

However, agencies have faced challenges in modifying work schedules, a key factor in employee turnover. APTA’s Workforce Shortage Report highlighted that work schedules were among the top reasons employees left transit agencies, yet less than half of agencies have made changes to schedules, despite altering compensation and hiring processes. This indicates that adjusting work schedules is more difficult than altering pay structures.

There is a pressing need to explore how changes to work schedules can help improve recruitment and retention of frontline transit workers.

This study aims to identify changes to frontline transit worker schedules that could improve recruitment and retention. The study will:

• Assess the impact of current scheduling practices on recruitment and retention
• Identify alternative or proposed work schedules
• Highlight success stories of schedule changes that have improved recruitment and retention
• Explore examples of successful collaborations between agencies and unions on work schedules
• Examine North American and international work schedule models for potential solutions.