Every morning before sunrise, dozens of commuters show up at Rock Region Region Metro bus stops throughout Central Arkansas. Travelers clutch onto their bags, backpacks, and hope for a smooth ride.
For riders like Ashish Bhakta, the bus is a lifeline to daily work shifts, doctor’s appointments, schools, and errands.
"I’m one of the people with disabilities who’s fortunate enough to be able to get up in the morning and go to work and, you know, do a full time job. But my being able to do so is contingent upon certain resources, one of those being public transit.”
Bhakta is a lifelong resident of Little Rock. He uses a wheelchair to get around and rides the bus nearly every day. But he has a problem: more often than not, his bus is late.
“I have found the bus system is more often not on time. Sometimes they’re early and I’ll see it pass me by as I'm on the way to the thing.”
More than 11,000 transit employees have quit across the nation in recent years, according to federal data. Public transit agencies across the country have struggled to hire and retain operators since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rock Region Metro has reported similar shortages locally. In a 2025 report, Rock Region Metro said they had lost 18.5% of their city bus operators in a five-month span. Fewer drivers mean fewer buses on the road, and longer waits for riders.
Marvin Russell has been serving nearly 13 years behind the wheel for Rock Region Metro.
“It was a job that I didn’t mind coming to and it wasn’t as stressful. You know, it’s like now you don’t know what is going to change from one day to the next. It’s more memos, procedures, policies and rules”
But now, something has changed.
“What we have is a driver shortage. The quality of drivers is not the same. Not to shade anybody, but the quality of drivers is not the same when I came in," he said.
Rock Region Metro spokesperson Becca Green agrees the drivers are in a hard position. She says the company is trying to hire more employees.
“I think the most important thing that Rock Region Metro is doing is really leaning into recruitment, because I do think that it’s hard when you have so few coworkers and such a big job," she said. "We do have a shortage of fixed route operators across this country. And so part of the ways that we’re trying to counteract that are making sure that everybody knows that we are hiring.”
According to the American Public Transportation Association, this shortage was caused by a combination of factors: post-pandemic labor disruptions, economic instability, workforce reshuffling and inadequate data and planning tools.
According to the Federal Transit Administration’s 2023 National Transit Summaries and Trends report, the number of public transit employees nationwide dropped by more than 11,000 workers from 2018 to 2022, total employee counts dropped from 270,672 to 259,143, reflecting successive annual declines.
Russell said a lack of open communication between management and operators fuels frustration. He sees a different problem: he says the company needs to talk with the employees they already have.
“You can’t run a company without drivers, and if your morale is low, that is something that you should be focused on. How do I make this better? What can I do? But we never get those meetings. We never get those talks. And I just believe it’s because people would rather dodge and duck the meetings.”
Rita Sanders was the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 704 , which advocates for transit workers. As part of its three-year contract cycle, the union advocates for negotiations within their legal agreements.
Sanders says the union is butting heads with Rock Region Metro leaders during negotiations.
“We say the problem is not, per se, the workers. We asked management to take a look at themselves because it starts at the head. And then, morale," she said. "We have people out sick. We have people out on workers comp. And then, their disciplinary procedure is so harsh.”
In an interview with Little Rock Public Radio on November 7, Green said they have been effectively communicating with their union.
“I would say it’s good communication and I think it kind of depends on the individuals that you talk to as to whether they believe that or not. But, we have regular sit downs with the union leadership. Quite frankly, our union leadership is undetermined right now. They don’t have a president and a vice president, I believe, and they haven't for several months.”
Sanders told Little Rock Public Radio she was wrongfully terminated on Nov. 15, 2024 for taking medical leave. Despite her firing, the national Amalgamated Transit Union still recognizes her as president of Local 704.
She said she is currently in arbitration with Rock Region Metro in an effort to regain her job. Little Rock Public Radio reviewed Sanders' employment records, which didn’t include the reason for her firing.
The collective bargaining agreement between the union and Rock Region Metro includes a policy requiring them to acknowledge individuals holding union office. Green did not respond respond to emails asking why Rock Region Metro seemingly did not follow that policy.
In the meantime, ATU Local 704 has elected a new union president: Arrell McKinner, a transit operator for Rock Region. McKinner will officially take office on December 20. Little Rock Public Radio requested an interview with McKinner, but he declined to comment.
For passenger Ashish Bhakta, the high turnover among drivers is a sign of deeper issues.
“It might have something to do with the pay, but to me it’s a sign of poor management, you know? I mean, because if the people aren’t going to stick around to work for you and work with you, that says something really big about the way you’re running the show. ”
Pay for Rock Region Metro operators has risen steadily over the past decade; their new drivers are paid $21 an hour, with a promise of $28 an hour after they’ve worked at the company for three years.
“We’ve only had two service reductions in the last ten years," Green said. "One was at the beginning of the pandemic, when we had to cut buses because we didn’t have enough drivers to drive them, and the other was earlier this year when we had to do a service reduction with the current schedules that we had. Because again, we were still experiencing a driver shortage.”
According to Rock Region Metro’s annual service enhancements, 10 fixed bus routes were cut from 2016-2024. The reduced routes include: Route 12- Clinton Center/Airport, Route 17- Mabelvale/Downtown, Route 19- Hensley Express, Route 20- Hanger Hill/College Station, Route 21- Riverdale, Route 22- University Ave./Mabelvale, Route 23- Baseline/Southwest, Route 25- Pinnacle Mountain Express, Route 26- Maumelle, Oak Grove Express, and Route 36- Jacksonville/Sherwood Express.
“It don’t seem like no routes got [reduced] to us, because we run in two runs," Russell said. "You have to hustle extra hard now. I don’t know what happened between point A to B with whoever did it and came up with these time points, but it’s not working well.”
Green says more data needs to be collected to determine
“The question is, is it consistently late at this time? And that’s what the data can tell us. And so to have good data, to have an updated system that has more calibrated, more exacting equipment is what’s needed to do that level analysis. But just to hear a complaint without the details, that’s why when we hear from customers, we say, ‘please complain, but please complain better.'”
But for many drivers, the pressure doesn’t stop with long hours and rushed schedules. Sanders says stricter policies have also raised anxiety levels
“They have been firing people for a little bit of anything. We have a new administration, and it’s just like a no tolerance policy. So it makes it hard on us and it makes it hard on our customers."
Sanders said she called out to city leadership at a news conference.
“Where are you all at? The people of your cities are suffering. Where is everybody at? We don’t need to hear from you when it’s time to run for office or what you’re going to do. We need to hear from you when there’s a problem out here in this community.”
Union officials later confirmed they had not specifically contacted any Central Arkansas officials.
For now, hiring events continue, route reductions remain, and passengers like Ashish Bhakta are still waiting. Sometimes for the next bus, and sometimes for a change.
“Personally it’s frustrating because I’m trying. I get up in the morning in spite of my disabilities and I go to work, and I’m just asking of that in return... I don’t think I’m asking too much. Be on schedule and provide a uniformly safe environment for me and people like me to go where they need to go.”