Columbia officials say recruitment and retention of high-performing bus drivers is a top priority.
The city council met Monday evening in its pre-council session to discuss a detailed 36-page report about GoCOMO, which is Columbia’s bus system.
939 the Eagle News has confirmed that Columbia is currently short 11 bus drivers. Columbia Public Works spokesman John Ogan tells 939 the Eagle that having 45 bus operators would be considered fully-staffed. He says GoCOMO currently has 31 full-time and three part-time bus operators who are ready to drive.
Another possible recommendation in the 36-page report is doing weekday night bus service until 10:25 and also running the buses on Saturday evenings until 10:25. The report also notes that 26 percent of Columbia households have either one or zero vehicles, and that more than 11 percent of Columbia’s population is disabled. The report says GoCOMO’s ridership last year was just under 500,000.
