Berkshire Regional Transit Authority reduces service, begins hiring push

The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority (BRTA) will be working has institued temporary service reductions on select bus routes and an increased employee hiring incentive, aimed at improving the reliability of the public transit system. This is due to many factors facing most employers in today’s labor market, including a continued lack of available bus operators. The service changes will be effective starting May 20, 2024.

“Our Operations and Maintenance staff are the backbone of our agency. They work tirelessly to provide the transit services that our customers deserve. Despite continued hiring and training efforts, the unfortunate reality is that we just don’t have enough operators. Therefore, we need to adjust our services to a level where we can provide the greatest reliability possible” said Robert Malnati, BRTA administrator. “BRTA continues to coordinate employment services with our community partners including Berkshire Community College and MassHire, on innovative ways to increase our staffing.  We hope to restore these reduced bus services as soon as we are able to increase our staffing. In the meantime, we want to maintain the service reliability that our customers need and deserve.”

The temporary service changes impact a few fixed route bus schedules but will not affect the ADA and non-ADA paratransit services. The Route 921 Express will also increase trips during this timeframe to supplement the scheduled service.

Service changes can be found on BRTA's website.