Starkville and Mississippi State University’s S.M.A.R.T. bus system has various bus schedules that operate Monday through Friday during the semester. The system serves as an affordable and efficient way to help students and Starkville residents maneuver around campus and Starkville. However, the lack of S.M.A.R.T. bus drivers has obstructed the bus schedule, and Parking and Transit Services at MSU is looking to hire more drivers.
Jeremiah Dumas, MSU Parking and Transit Services director, explained the lack of workers is not just in the driving industry, but an overall lack of people working from COVID-19, but it gets more coverage as drivers.
“It is just a general real lack of labor anywhere. COVID made a big impact with unemployment benefits and all the things that kind of wrapped into that. Now, it has gotten to the point that, unfortunately, when a driver is sick or has to take off, there is an impact of service,” Dumas said.
When typically fully staffed, the transit team would have a surplus of workers so that workers could take off or be covered when sick. Due to understaffing, the process of being hired is less competitive than usual, explained Dumas.
“Driver experience is a benefit, but we do require that you have a commercial license, and you have to have a passenger endorsement. In the past, we have always been a location where people with a lot of experience have always wanted to drive, but at this point, if you have a commercial driver’s license and your endorsement, we will hire you without experience,” Dumas said.
This job applies to students as well. Dumas believes this is an untouched opportunity for students and sees how this could give them an in-between job in the future as well. If one is interested in getting a commercial driving license, Dumas encourages them to contact the highway patrol office for the next step.
Sarah Franklin, a junior special education major, uses the S.M.A.R.T. bus to travel from her house in downtown Starkville to campus at least once a week. Franklin noticed a difference in schedule due to the buses’ limited routes.
“There is supposed to be two buses that run my path, but I’ve noticed that lately there has only been one bus. I can see on my app that the bus gets stopped for a long time that seems like not normal break times,” Franklin said. 
The changes in scheduling make it even more important to watch the buses on the app, DoubleMap, to correctly time when the bus will arrive.  Franklin said she has seen about two different bus drivers who drive her route regularly. 
Ally Cummings, a junior biomedical engineer major, has noticed issues with the bus tracking app. 
“A few times I have tried to look, it seems like a bus has disappeared and not at a normal break time. Last weekend one of the Old Main busses was MIA, and I heard the driver say that (the other bus driver) had stopped tracking on the app when he wasn’t supposed to,” Cummings said. 
After explaining the opportunity for students to have a part-time job bus driving, Cummings thought of someone who would be interested. 
“Honestly, (students driving) is such a good idea, because they could have flexible hours. My roommate, Emi, will be unemployed in the spring due to graduating early, and I could totally see her driving a bus and wanting to look more into this,” Cummings said.
For those interested in applying to drive for the S.M.A.R.T. bus system, contact Dumas at [email protected].