SAN JOSE, CA – Twenty new bus operators graduated from an intensive 9-week program and are ready to help fill a chronic shortage of operators at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). The graduation took place Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at VTA’s Chaboya Bus Division. 

VTA has recently augmented efforts to recruit drivers, increasing the number of training classes offered to fill driver shortages that affect the level of transit service VTA can provide.  The agency is chipping away at the shortage, with 70 vacancies in November 2021, reduced to 40 vacancies currently.

The new graduates are also participating in an 18-month apprenticeship program which allows them to earn 18 college credits from Mission College as they work.

Five of the new bus operator graduates have plans to enter VTA’s Light Rail Operator training program, a job that is also experiencing a shortage of operators.