CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Sign-on bonuses for new bus drivers has led to an increase in job applicants at the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority.
"It would be nice to be able to get a few more operators here on-board," CCRTA CEO Jorge Cruz-Aedo said. "Thus the reason for the bonus program we launched a couple of weeks ago."
For the first time in "many years," Cruz-Aedo says his driver-training course is full with 53 people attempting to become RTA bus drivers. Once the weeks-long course is complete and drivers hit the streets they'll get bonses ranging from $300 to $2,500. And Cruz-Aedo says the bonus isn't the only perk of working for the RTA.
"We can take care of you," he said. "We have excellent benefits. We do an important job in the community. It's very satisfying."
The size of the bonus a new driver receives is based largely on whether or not that person has a CDL, a commercial drivers license. The RTA will help applicants who don't have their CDL's achieve them free of cost. Tourist Orlando Encinia is working on his CDL right now, but it's to become a truck driver, not a bus driver.
"No busing," Encinia said. "I'm not a people person."
Cruz-Aedo says working with the public is an important part of the job along with good driving skills. He hopes that people who possess both skill sets continue to apply.
"To find that happy mix of someone that knows how to drive a big vehicle and be able to interact well with our customers is something that we really want to go out and try to get for the agency," he said.
For more information about CCRTA and becoming a bus driver, email the organization's Director of Human Resources, Angelina Gaitan, at aolivares@ccrta.org or call her at 361-903-3513.
