CAT bus drivers and riders can rest assured.
Collier County leaders approved a contract extension Aug. 26 with its Texas-based vendor which provides bus drivers for Collier Area Transit and a budget update for the coming year.
Collier Area Transit has 64 buses and 16 fixed routes in the community, according to the county’s Public Transit Advisory Committee. It also operates CATConnect for disabled residents who cannot use the fixed route program which provides door-to-door service.
The contract with MV Transportation for the county’s public transit system was nearing a Sept. 30 expiration. It prompted the vendor to file a WARN notice with the state of the potential layoffs of 146 employees, mostly bus drivers.
The new contract, a seventh extension from the original 2018 contract, runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2026 with a budget of $12.1 million, an increase of $989,000 from the expiring extension, according to Collier documents.
The budget is based on 119,480 paratransit trips and 73,000 fixed route revenue hours.
The approval was on the board’s consent agenda and approved without comment.
Why the WARN notice?
MV Transportation filed the WARN notice July 31 with the state Division of Workforce Services and its Rapid Response Coordinator.
WARN notices are required so workers have 60 days’ advance notice of job losses. At issue was the Collier commission not taking up the contract issue until August, with the item scheduled for Aug. 26.
The county’s transportation management department said in an Aug. 14 statement that it felt confident a contract extension would get approved in time.
“We are optimistic that a resolution will be reached that ensures the continued provision of essential transportation services and protects the jobs of these dedicated employees,” the statement said.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Layoffs avoided: Collier leaders renew contract for CAT public transit system
Reporting by Liz Freeman, Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
