Metro Transit is looking to hire more than 100 bus drivers in preparation for a service expansion in 2014 that will require current bus drivers to become light-rail train operators.
 
The 100 new employees will begin as part-time drivers working 30 hours a week at $17.27 an hour, with benefits—which include health, dental, and life insurance; paid vacation; a pension; and an unlimited transit pass, according to Metro Transit.
 
The goal is to train the newly minted drivers for a few months and then upgrade them to full-time workers. Full-time bus operator jobs are only available to current part-time operators.
 
Metro Transit will launch its new Green Line next year, which will cover 11 miles, serve 18 stations, and connect downtown Minneapolis—and the existing Hiawatha (Blue) Line—with the University of Minnesota, the Midway commercial district, the State Capitol complex, downtown St. Paul, and neighborhoods in between.
 
The newly hired drivers will be needed to replace the current full-time drivers that will move to the rail division. The Hiawatha light-rail line currently has 70 rail operators; the new Green Line will likely need just as many, if not more, Metro Transit said.
 
Although a valid Minnesota or Wisconsin driver’s license is required of bus driver applicants, a commercial license is not. Instead, experienced instructors will help trainees earn their commercial driver’s license certification with on-the-job training, in addition to teaching safety protocols and customer service basics.
 
Metro Transit currently employs about 1,450 bus drivers and 60 light-rail train operators. The average tenure of the current bus and rail employees is more than 10 years, the agency said.
 
More details on the openings can be found here.