The workers who keep Gwinnett County Transit running could get one-time bonuses of $500.
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners plans to consider the COVID-19 incentive payment for bus drivers and other staff members when the board meets on Tuesday. Elected officials said the money is a way to show appreciation to those who have remained loyal to their jobs during the ongoing pandemic.
"Transit employees have been doing fundamental work to keep our county moving throughout this pandemic,” said Board Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson in a media statement. “We want to express our appreciation and say thank you to all of the transit workers who provide essential mobility services to ensure that residents all over the county can get to work, go to the grocery store and travel to other essential destinations.”
The funding for the bonuses will come from the Federal Transit Administration CARES Act grant. A total of 188 contracted employees will receive the payments; that includes bus drivers, maintenance technicians and road supervisors with Transdev Services, the contractor providing the personnel to operate the Gwinnett bus system.
Lewis Cooksey, director of the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation, said Gwinnett County Transit and Transdev employees have worked hard to keep employees and passengers safe during the pandemic.
"We have implemented a number of measures to protect the health of the drivers, passengers and others,” Cooksey said. “Buses are deep-cleaned daily. We are requiring masks, limiting capacity to 20 passengers for commuter buses and 15 passengers for local routes, and we’ve added plastic shields between the driver and the farebox. We also have implemented a program that allows patrons to pay fares using a smartphone. We’re all in this together.”
GCT had almost 780,000 passengers on the system’s seven local routes and about 129,000 on its five commuter routes to Atlanta in 2020. While GCT saw a decline in commuter ridership compared to 2019, local service maintained more than 80 percent of its riders during the pandemic. GCT operates, maintains and cleans 38 local buses, 43 commuter buses and seven paratransit buses.
The Gwinnett Transit Advisory Board approved the incentive pay at its March 3 meeting.
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners will vote on the bonuses at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 16.
