But even with boosts in pay, a lot of workers are sitting on the sidelines rather than getting behind the wheel. Juste, an Uber and Lyft driver who stopped driving because of the pandemic in March and has been living on unemployment. Juste said she doesn't want to return to driving. She wants to go back to school so she can work in an office. About half of Uber and Lyft drivers stopped driving during the pandemic, many of them due to reduced demand for rides and health concerns.
But low wages were also a factor. Generous unemployment benefits are also keeping drivers on the sidelines. The driver shortage is at odds with a rapid post-pandemic economic expansion, as consumers open their wallets to shop and travel. Goldman Sachs predicts the U. An ergonomic design process for a US transit bus operator workstation.
Heavy Vehicle Systems, 4 2 , Efforts related to manual gear is something that needs to be always discussed in order to reinforce the need to rethink minimum comfort conditions for drivers, which are not yet regulated in the country. The conditions of the roads and of the traffic, the maintenance of the job position associated with its configuration, the demand for attention and good posture over time - forcing the muscle groups of the neck, back, shoulders - help to justify medical leaves indicated by the medical service, relative to musculoskeletal problems.
Upper body quadrant pain in bus drivers. Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, 65 4 , The back pain of bus drivers: prevalence in an urban area of California. Spine, 17 12 , City bus driving and low back pain: A study of the exposures to posture demands, manual materials handling and whole-body vibration. Applied Ergonomics, 38 1 , Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in urban bus drivers of Hong Kong. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 17 2 , In the case of vehicles with front engines, there is greater exposure to noise, heat and vibration, which can increase the risk of hearing disorder, hypertension, and as it has been very prevalent in the category, varicose veins Blood et al.
Whole body vibration exposures in metropolitan bus drivers: a comparison of three seats. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 1 , Self-reported low back symptoms in urban bus drivers exposed to whole-body vibration. Spine, 17 9 , We have identified problems of other sorts that are also worrisome, such as medical leaves for psychiatric problems, as well as the consequences of work accidents.
We found further evidence that psychological distress is quite prevalent in the category. An increase in complaints related to services related to workers' health and welfare is also reported.
Moreover, they have to deal with robberies, often involving guns, with the most diverse forms of aggression and dispute that may occur in association with other drivers, besides the risk of injuring a passenger or other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, which is part of their journey Gobel et al.
Stress and strain of short haul bus drivers: psychophysiology as a design oriented method for analysis. Ergonomics, 41 5 , Bus driver well-being review: 50 years of research. Its expression is manifested in the change in the break times, especially during peak hours, as they are substantially reduced. This fact itself is not a problem, but it can be one if the reality of the drivers' work is not considered and if the conditions conducting to the development of chronic fatigue and different types of pathologies are not avoided Gilbert-Ouimet et al.
Intervention study on psychosocial work factors and mental health and musculoskeletal outcomes [Special issue]. Healthcare Papers, 11, Also to be highlighted is that, if on the one hand the driver is a regulator, on the other hand he lives under constant conflict situations and pressures from the organization and from the system management to maintain the service level; this is expressed in indicators that can often be analyzed without a more systemic view that considers the complexity of such reality.
Taking all these aspects into account, this is a major challenge for both the company and the system management. The regulatory agency has a remote monitoring system.
In general, each vehicle is checked at three distinct points per trip. There is a tolerance of 4 minutes at the electronic monitoring check points, making vehicle arrive at most 4 minutes late or in advance. On average, 2, trips are held per day distributed in tables through which the crews of each line are set. The transport system morning peak is due to the amount of passengers, which generally requires cars in operation.
During the operation, monitors located in the terminals control the progress of the service. Drivers are responsible for making decisions in the face of events. For example, when necessary, a vehicle is moved from one zone to another or directed from one line to another. The drivers are not penalized for being late, but are penalized for arriving earlier.
According to the operation planners, the times are so well established that, theoretically, it should not be possible to arrive in advance. The drivers often complain about the planned times.
They say that these times are too tight, and cannot be carried out. The Planning Department asks for these delay events to be reported in the trip report so as to consider them to make the necessary adjustments to the times, yet they are rarely reported by the drivers. In recent years, there have been significant changes in the profile of the system passenger as an evident process of social inclusion.
The number of exempt passengers have notedly become diligent users of this mean of transportation, such as the elderly, generate different impacts on the system, from costs to the operation itself. The company counts on a consumer care service. Through it, the user is able to request information, make compliments, suggestions or complaints. In case of problems with vehicles, the user is asked about the location, date if possible, the time , name of the line, direction of travel and license plate.
There are two kinds of complaints, the valid and invalid ones, i. Once the company receives the complaint, the employee is involved in the decision on how appropriate the complaints are. Interestingly, the company analyzed has the highest gross number of complaints over the years, but in comparison to the amount of passengers transported, there are few complaints, especially if we consider the private consortia companies rates.
The analysis of the most recurrent complaints focus on issues directly or indirectly related to the system sizing. Accordingly, peak periods can be considered the times when there is greater time pressure and, at the same time, a higher variability, making it difficult to work and causing constraints to the drivers. Furthermore, these periods also interfere with the driver-passenger interaction, since the user is also impacted by the system conjuncture, causing delays in their personal schedules and dissatisfaction that can be eventually reported, blaming the bus drivers for such a situation.
The user will rarely have enough information to report the real cause of the events that happen unexpectedly. Thus, some issues may be associated with the moods and behavior of the driver and others may be beyond governance. However, note that an analysis of these issues from the perspective of the drivers' work leads us to infer that one of their main tasks concerns the relationship with passengers, as well the management of events that occur inside the bus.
Driving a passenger vehicle also requires the driver to consider the diversity of the population and their desires, within the limits imposed by the characteristics of the operation.
We do not intend to build a relationship of cause and effect of the probable reasons that subsequently generated complaints at the moment. It is possible to present other interpretations for each indicator which, as mentioned earlier, can be directly or indirectly related with time pressures and their sizing system.
In a first approach to these facts, we will present some explanatory hypotheses derived from observing activities and drivers' utterances:. Some vehicles, especially front-engine ones, feature a high level of noise that can impair the detection of the acoustic signal.
Moreover, in the early morning and late afternoon, there is solar incidence directly on the panel, which affects the driver's vision, and can make it difficult to visualize the light signal on the panel.
The variables and events that are presented throughout the operation escape their governance, so all there is left to be done is trying to adjust to the facts, which sometimes result in conflict. Usually, this type of procedure is an attempt to distribute users, when the driver realizes there is an emptier vehicle behind him that will do the same itinerary.
The bus drivers' work is determined by conditions that are external and internal to the organization. It is possible to work under a two-dimension perspective that mediates excellence: the first concerns the conditions that are external to the company, and the second, the norms and rules that organize the company internally. Among the external factors that influence operation excellence, we have found different elements acting differently and over which the company has little power: the quality of the fleet - this decision is taken in accordance with external demands on when and how to proceed with the fleet's renewal; system strategic planning - creation or modification of lines, diversion of routes, allocation of lines to companies from other consortia and dimensioning of lines frequency, type of car ; the revenue of the company's transportation system - meaning the differential cost in the revenue sharing; traffic - a punctuality mediator that influences the user's evaluation; the quality of roads - which is very irregular and interferes with speed, maintenance and, consequently, with the punctuality during the journey; unexpected events - robbery, accidents among others, passengers' evaluation which is performed considering punctuality, people's criticism and interpersonal relations with motorists.
Although these factors go beyond the action power of the company, it is ultimately the drivers' obligation to build operational ways to cope with this variability that is inherent to their work. Thus, throughout the work day, drivers create operational strategies to overcome constraints arising from various factors, such as speed, traffic, irregular routes, and punctuality.
These strategies are regulatory processes performed by them in an attempt to meet the demands of the tasks. And by managing this process, one of the dimensions of the drivers' skills within the excellence frame is manifested.
This interdependence between such disparate factors leads us to assert that working under the perspective of achieving and maintaining high excellence standards goes beyond planning for proper sizing and renewal of the fleet. Excellence is achieved through a service that also requires inter-social relations, many of which, not to say the most, result from the driver's action. Therefore, his work can also be considered as a system regulator, since the driver must manage the times imposed by the system and the most diverse types of events that are part of reality Lima, Lima, F.
In addition, there are a number of requirements by passengers such as their expectations regarding the quality of service.
The data analysis has shown that the driver's activity is permeated by unforeseen events that occur randomly and, in some situations, if not most, the expected action is to anticipate incidents and accidents.
The driver must act preemptively Salmon et al. Distraction "on the buses": A novel framework of ergonomics methods for identifying sources and effects of bus driver distraction. Applied Ergonomics, 42 4 , The right management of such situations reveals their different skills.
One is its ability to manage the various events, with which they are confronted during their workday in order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in transporting people. However, these are difficult things to be measured and valued because, when successful, their action is invisible Daniellou, Daniellou, F.
This situation is due to the fact that classic management indicators do not consider alertness able to cover reality, there is little or no room for the work reality to be evident. Goldstein et al. The service concept: the missing link in service design research? Journal of Operations Management, 20 2 , Driver activity in an ergologic sense: new territories of knowledge and intervention. This engagement changes both the service evaluation from the perspective of those who use the system Zarifian, Zarifian, P.
Salerno Ed. La relation de service: une convocation nouvelle pour l'ergonomie? Hubault Ed. Ensuring an organizational alignment that integrates the needs of the population, financial issues, techniques and the different types of work developed by the company, contributes to health, preventing work-related diseases which are very prevalent in this profession.
Moreover, it is important to provide conditions in order to obtain professional development, such as constant training and recognition of drivers' role in order to assure citizenship.
These aspects compose an excellence framework. Continuously monitoring and improving these aspects is fundamental to achieve and to maintain excellence. The excellence attributed to the service provided by the company is one of the pillars of the support offered to its employees at different times in their lives.
Therefore, the data indicate an effort and organizational alignment that reaches different structures in the company, aiming at the construction and maintenance of excellence.
The question of establishing what degree of quality is expected from public transport is an issue that should be regarded as a political-strategic decision, involving different social actors who, in one way or another, affect the citizenship issue providing mobility for the population.
Hence, it goes far beyond timing a route schedule; it is necessary to consider the different needs and the differences among users, as well as a conceptual expansion of what the mobility service is.
This is why providing this service with excellence depends on areas outside the company's governance, in its strict sense. There is a great challenge for the company: to make the issues that arise in the operation and system's day to day visible to the public spheres of power.
Another question must be asked: Is it possible to operate with service excellence, but not to do the same in relation to the operation?
In this case, one has a tri univocal relationship among service quality, economic and financial issues, the promotion of professional development and workers' health. If there is no operation excellence, there will be no service excellence, and operation excellence requires work excellence. Furthermore, we emphasize that the service quality depends on a systematic alignment, covering strategic decisions from the management of the transport system and organizational governance within the company that modulate the operation itself.
The contact with citizens is the last instance of service's relationship, the quality of which is modulated by the way the driver acts. In this perspective, to provide conditions that enable service excellence, it is important to maintain and to strengthen the company's policies to provide drivers and other workers, working conditions and professional and personal support aiming at the development of professional identity and health maintenance.
The quality of the fleet and its standardization, both in relation to the facilitation of maintenance activities and the quality elements for the passenger and the driver rear engine, low floor, air conditioning, brake assist, automatic transmission have a strong impact on the three sets of elements constitutes the quality for the user, for shareholders and taxpayers and for the worker. Occasionally, the increased investment in quality to the user or to the driver investment in technology, for example can have significant financial impacts, at first.
This is a critical point that concerns the definition of the company's strategy: the ideal combination of indicators temporally planned to conduct the company's management. A company that offers a better quality public service, even when there is no requirement or obligation, demonstrates that it is possible to rethink and even to embed several issues addressed in this study that can mark the progress of the new guidelines for public policies to regulate public transport and the urban mobility system.
This becomes more relevant in the current political and socioeconomic context of the country in which the study was conducted, which is rethinking how to provide public services to society with better quality and excellence. There are also evidences that the idea of excellence modulates the service logic, including the operation.
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