A chronic bus driver shortage - arguably at its worst in the Hunter and Northern Beaches areas of NSW - has been blamed for cancelled community and school services dating back to the height of the COVID pandemic, as the state government announced a recruitment initiative at the weekend in a move to shore up workforce numbers.
Transport operators have struggled to fill more than 500 vacant driver jobs in Sydney and the wider metropolitan area since the majority of COVID restrictions eased, leading a state taskforce to recommend a series of incentives to recruit new drivers on Saturday, June 3, but the drivers' union has in the past blamed onerous contract conditions held with the government as contributing to the issue leaving Hunter students and commuters stranded.
