MARTA to lay off 371 paratransit drivers

MARTA intends to lay off 371 workers as part of a transition to using a private provider for its paratransit service.

The transition will begin in March, with the new service starting sometime in the spring, said MARTA spokesman Lyle Harris. The operators who currently drive MARTA Mobility service vehicles are the ones impacted by the layoffs.

The drivers and many of their longtime customers fought unsuccessfully for months to keep the service for disabled patrons in-house. However, the MARTA Board voted in November to hire the private company MV Transportation and pay it $69.4 million over three years.

The agreement is projected to save MARTA $1 million to $2 million a year, or up to $18 million if extended out to five years. Joseph Erves, senior director of MARTA operations, wrote an editorial for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution outlining the reasons for the decision.

MV Transportation has assured MARTA it will hire displaced employees at their existing wages and offer them benefits, but the drivers will lose their seniority (which is taken into consideration for scheduling shifts) and pension benefits.

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