WILDER — Starting on Monday, Advance Transit plans to temporarily reduce some of its services because of a shortage of qualified drivers.
The Blue Route between Hanover and DHMC will be most affected, with less frequent shuttle times and the suspension of some midday shuttles.
Advance Transit Executive Director Van Chesnut says the problem lies in widespread labor shortages and is accentuated within the transportation industry by the licensing requirements for drivers.
“We’ve had managers out driving,” Chesnut said on Wednesday, noting that the nonprofit transit service has been doing everything it can to maintain normal services. “We are trying to pick the cuts that provide the least amount of disruption to ridership.”
Changes to be implemented Monday include:
■The Dartmouth Downtown shuttle frequency will change from a bus every 10 minutes to every 13 minutes. Mid-day service will be suspended for half an hour between 2 and 2:30 pm;
■Mid-day suspension on the Brown Route between Norwich and Hanover from 1:10 pm to 1:55 pm;
■Mid-day suspension of the 12:25 p.m. departure from the Blue Route Vail stop on Route 10 in Hanover to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the 12:45 p.m. departure from DHMC to Hanover. An AT bus will leave Vail at 12:40 pm and DHMC at 1 p.m.
Beginning on Jan. 10, AT plans to reduce the shuttle frequency on the Blue Route between Hanover and DHMC to a bus every 30 minutes. That means eliminating departures from Vail that are at 25 and 55 minutes past the hour and the departures from DHMC that are at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour.
AT officials said labor shortages are particularly affecting the transportation industry as shuttle drivers must obtain a commercial driver’s license with a passenger endorsement before they can work. Obtaining a CDL is more time-consuming than ever, with longer appointment wait times to be licensed at the Department of Motor Vehicles, which also is experiencing staff shortages.
There is also a new federal regulation that requires transportation facilities to be registered within a new database before they train their drivers, who start at $23 an hour. The temporary cuts to services will allow Advance Transit to address the labor shortage and navigate the process of getting new employees ready to sit behind the wheel, Chesnut said.
AT hopes to return to normal service on Feb. 28.
During the temporary reductions, AT plans to continue to search for driver recruits and train employees, officials said.
Rose Terami can be reached at rosoterami@gmail.com.