The labor shortage continues to impact Centro, which is struggling to find people to drive, clan, and fix buses.
CEO Brian Schultz said they’re not alone. Bus systems across the state and nation are having difficulty filling positions. He said Centro is taking a different approach by holding an open house Saturday.
"If you go back, three, four, five years, we would post that we're having a new operator class, and we would get 15 to 20 people to sign up," Schultz said. "Now we're doing television and radio advertising, social media, trying to get the message out to various community groups to try to fill those classes, and it's just become a tremendous challenge."
Bus operator classes for full and part-time positions begin Jan. 23 in Syracuse and Utica. But if potential candidates want something more hands-on before applying, Schultz said they have them covered.
"The applicants are actually going get an opportunity to sit behind the wheel of a bus and drive it and see is this something that I can see myself doing, or something I want to pursue," Schultz said.
Centro’s open house will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at their main office on Cortland Avenue in Syracuse.
