MADISON, Wis. — Due to staffing and bus shortages, Madison Metro Transit has been experiencing delays and cancellations.
Camille Robinson has been relying on the Madison Metro to get across the city since her car was totaled on Nov. 15.
“Riding the bus has been pretty nice, but it sucks when the buses are late,” said Robinson.
Robinson is also between jobs and she said using Metro to find jobs has proven difficult.
“I can’t get to places fast enough. It takes hours to get from the East Side to the West Side,” said Robinson. “The first thing I tell employers is that I am on the bus line and I have gotten turned down a couple of times.”
Metro Transit spokesperson Mick Rusch said the delays were originally caused by a bus driver shortage.
“We hired pretty much all of our drivers and we have our schedules straightened out, but now we have run into this issue where we are short buses,” said Robinson.
Federal mandates require buses to get inspected after reaching a certain mileage.
Rusch said the company is having trouble getting buses back on the roads because of a mechanic shortage.
“We had a problem through the years hiring mechanics as well, and now we have hired all the mechanics, but they are in training,” said Rusch.
Rusch said he expects things to be back to normal by Jan. 2.
“We still don’t want to promise that. There are still some issues to workout,” said Rusch.
The most notable impact has been on Route 38 in the morning and Metro officials said they are encouraging those passengers to ride the C Route or other nearby routes.
To view an up-to-date list of the disruptions, visit mymetrobus.com