Mental Health, Wellness, and Resilience for Transit System Workers (2024)
Chapter: Part I: Conduct of Research
PART I
Conduct of Research
Research Need
Operators and other frontline transit workers face a range of adverse conditions while carrying out their work, including fatal crashes, exposure to passenger drug use, and verbal and physical assaults. Moreover, the public transit industry was experiencing an operator shortage even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The pandemic further exacerbated existing stressors and created new ones, causing frontline workers to risk COVID-19 exposure at a time when information about the virus was quickly changing and agencies were still determining how to communicate, establish policy, and undertake measures to reduce frontline staff exposure. Many frontline workers contracted COVID-19 and lost family, friends, and colleagues to the virus, while the nature of their jobs eliminated any possibility of working from home.
Despite the formal declaration on May 11, 2023, of an end to the public health emergency in the United States, the transit worker shortage continues to be top of mind. Transit agencies across the country are working to increase service levels, but they continue to be impacted by a lack of operators, mechanics, and other personnel needed to operate normal service. According to a national survey of transit agencies conducted in February 2022, almost 62% of responding agencies reported having difficulty retaining employees. Another survey aimed at frontline workers in January 2023 found that many factors contributed to workers quitting; from most to least importance, these factors include work schedules, compensation, “other” working conditions, on-the-job harassment or assault, and concerns over contracting COVID-19 on the job. Difficulty in retaining frontline transit workers appears to be the result of multiple factors, and stressors from everyday working conditions are an underlying reason why transit workers are leaving their jobs. To combat the personnel shortage, transit agencies must focus on retaining their existing workforce in addition to hiring new workers.
Research Approach
Findings were determined using a mix of research methods, including multiple interviews and focus groups with frontline employees, transit agency management, and union leadership at two different points in the project. Early in the project, the first round of engagement focused on (1) understanding current practices related to mental health, well-being, and resiliency of frontline workers and (2) identifying potential interventions, as well as barriers to using those solutions. The second round of engagement, near the end of the research, focused on potential mitigation strategies and solutions, including preferred programs to support mental health and wellness among transit workers; training, mentoring, or peer programs that could provide critical support for transit workers and operators; difficulties in accessing and implementing existing mental health or wellness programs; and privacy concerns. A comprehensive literature review and a national
survey of frontline workers, which produced 777 usable responses, also informed the findings in this part.
Part Organization
Part I summarizes the research methods used, along with results of the research and findings. This part includes a summary of findings from the literature review (Chapter 1), interviews and focus groups with frontline workers and transit agency managers (Chapter 2), a survey of frontline workers (Chapter 3), as well as findings and conclusions of the research (Chapter 4).
