TITLE:
Wage Study for Alabama’s Section 5311 Drivers
AUTHORS:
Mehrnaz Doustmohammadi, Michael Anderson, Eric Merschman
KEYWORDS:
Rural Transit, Wage Study, Public Transportation, Alabama
JOURNAL NAME:
Current Urban Studies,
Vol.10 No.2,
May
30,
2022
ABSTRACT: Driving a transit bus for a Federal Transit Administration Section 5311 agency
is a difficult job that requires training and commitment. As such, it is
important to hire qualified and competent individuals into these positions.
Within the hiring process, starting pay is a major factor in hiring both for
drivers and the agency. This paper documents the results from a survey which
collected wage data for transit bus drivers in Alabama. The results show that
average starting full-time pay for transit bus drivers is lower than that of school
bus drivers, other county employees and even fast food workers in the area
where the transit service is provided. The paper concludes that starting pay
for Alabama’s Section 5311 drivers is below the poverty level for a family of
four and this low pay has the potential to make future hiring of qualified and
competent bus drivers an issue in the future.