The MBTA needs to hire another seven heavy rail dispatchers before subway cuts can be revisited, and said for the first time that restoration of prior service levels is also “largely dependent” on recruitment for additional train operators.
Tom Waye, chief human resources officer, said there are 27 active dispatchers in the operations control center, which needs 32 to be fully staffed and compliant with guidance from the Federal Transit Administration.
The T is targeting two additional full-time dispatchers and five spare dispatchers, Waye said, adding that eight of the 17 candidates selected for hire have completed the minimum 10-week training program and moved into active dispatch.
“We are hiring candidates into the full-time position, which is a change from our previous practice where we would require candidates to first be hired as spare dispatchers,” Waye said at a Thursday MBTA workforce subcommittee meeting.
Another four candidates are currently in training, but there’s no target date “at this time” for when all new dispatcher hires will have completed their training, Pesaturo said.
In addition, Pesaturo said Thursday that the dispatcher recruitment effort is not the only obstacle to providing enhanced subway service. The T is also short on operators.
“Restoring heavy and light rail service levels is also largely dependent on the availability of motor persons to operate the trains,” he said. “The MBTA hired 25 new train operators in the last quarter but needs to continue recruiting new talent.”
A 10-week training program is also required for that job, which pays $16.82 for a light rail operator and $17.33 for a heavy rail motor person. After graduation, light rail operators make $22.43 and heavy rail operators make $23.11, Pesaturo said.
Waye said the T is continuing its efforts to “drum up interest” for the heavy rail dispatcher position, which includes additional OCC tours and open houses at MBTA stations.
The MBTA is offering a $10,000 signing bonus for the job, and increased the starting salary to $106,267, compared to the $103,667 advertised last summer.
Given the nature of the job, which involves helping to guide trains in a traffic control capacity and troubleshooting any issues with trains while they are on the tracks, the position is only open to internal candidates with special qualifications, Waye said.
However, it’s not all about the money, according to the T’s chief of quality, compliance and oversight, Katie Choe, who said part of the agency’s efforts to comply with the feds’ safety directive has been to “make the OCC roles more attractive and the working environment more inviting.”
“That used to be the place to go to advance at the T, so hopefully you can get that back,” said board member Scott Darling.
Waye also said the T has 349 bus driver vacancies.