DENVER — The light-rail R and D lines would see reduced service and six bus lines could be eliminated under proposed cuts to deal with the Regional Transportation District’s shortage of operators, the Denver Post reports.
Other cuts under consideration are the elimination of special bus service to Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, and University of Colorado football games, as well as shortening of 19 bus routes.
The RTD presented its proposed cuts to its board of directors on Thursday.
Light rail cuts would see R Line service, between Aurora and Lone Tree, cut from four trains an hour to two per hour. D Line service between Littleton and downtown Denver would be eliminated on weekends, while Saturday frequencies on the downtown-Aurora H Line would b be reduced.
An RTD press release says the public will get a chance to comment on the proposed changes in January and February. A revised plan will be presented to the board in March with an eye toward implementation in May.
Actually, cutbacks on garbage collection(via transfer sites located throughout the borough) are planned in my community due to lack of employees to drive garbage trucks 7 days/week.
Mark, you are absolutely right.
As for brain damage….it seems to be practically a requirement for bus drivers around here.
But I digress. As an economics major, it seems pretty simple. If you don’t have enough qualified candidates, then the salary you are offering is too low. Supply and demand are like laws of physics.
If the RTD, and I believe they do, falls under FRA rules then marijuana is not legal.
Do away with the urine test for marijuana. Have all operators take a skills test before their shift starts. Just because you may show marijuana in your urine does not mean you are impaired.
John Rice:
The list of qualified (those that can pass a urine test) is small. Metro Transit in the Twin Cities is advertising for bus driver canidates. In addition, driver jobs are always open.
Retired Class 1 and retired bus driver.
MARK – I don’t know what you’ve been smoking. Marijuana in sufficient quantities permanently damages the brain.
My take – zero tolerance. It was that way in my job, and much more so for train operators. One toke even in your own time, you’re out of there. Period.
Based on what a friend who lives in Denver told me earlier this year, I wonder if many of the applicants have been too Rocky Mountain “High” for them to be hired.
I applied but as soon as they heard my qualifications they gave me the bum’s rush. The nerve of some people.
I am still baffled about how a regional transit agency can’t get people hired. Every town has patronage, even for garbage collection. Send the HR director to Chicago and have them trained on how to hire politically connected people to fill jobs.