Wausau MetroRide buses. Image courtesy: WAOW TV.
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — It isn’t perfect but Wausau MetroRide director Greg Seubert says they are in a better place now than they were in the spring when it comes to staffing.
He told the Transit Commission on Thursday that the strategy to take four part-time driver positions and bump them up to full-time yielded seven applicants including one person who had been a driver in the Eau Claire area but was relocating to Wausau.
“I would suggest to you that the strategy was effective,” said Seubert.
But it’s not all good news, as driving for MetroRide doesn’t come with full-time hours. So Seubert says they have been getting creative with how to keep everyone busy. “We are leaving vacant a Utility worker position, some of that work is going to go to drivers. During the pandemic, we developed a routine of wiping surfaces down so we have continued some of that. We are getting as creative as we can.
“We are doing our best to get them 38-40 hours [per week,] and that’s what we described to them in the interview,” added Seubert.
He says Wausau’s public transit system isn’t the only one that employs these tactics to keep employees busy. “Madison Metro did away with part-time for this very reason. [They do] everything and anything to fill out their hours and make it meaningful. You can’t make a bus move without a person, so if it means it’s a full-time person and they do other stuff and that’s how you retain them, then that’s what you do.”
Those from the original applicant pool that weren’t offered the full-time positions will be offered part-time work after the new MetroRide wage scale is approved. Seubert says if it seems they can attract drivers on a part-time basis at the new wage scale, which mirrors the full-time wage but does not offer benefits, they may re-evaluate if the newly created FT positions are needed.
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