LAFAYETTE PARISH — In Lafayette, Mayor-President Monique Boulet's administration is working towards addressing a staff shortage that affects multiple departments, including city bus transit.
Currently, there are nine bus drivers in place, with a remaining 11 positions to be filled. Lafayette Consolidated Government Director of Traffic, Roads, and Bridges, Warren Abadie, said this shortage has affected transit for years, "We were generally fully staffed on bus drivers, but post-Covid, ever since 2020 to 2021, the amount of bus drivers that we have has got less and less and less.
Abadie said they've had to change their routes, "The public and the bus drivers see we have a reduced amount of service because we have a bus driver shortage. That's not anything we want. We want to be fully staffed, we want to provide the best transit service we can, and getting more bus drivers is something that has to happen for that to happen."
In Boulet's proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, there's a proposed pay plan adjustment to address staff shortages and low wages impacting basic services. It increases the lowest pay range minimum from $8.68 per hour to $12 per hour and increases all other ranges proportionally. Municipal civil service employees would receive at least a 2% increase with some experiencing as much as 30%.
If Boulet's budget is approved and adopted, it will go into effect on November 1st.
