Refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine are being urged to help solve Bristol's bus driver shortage. The metro mayor of the West of England, Dan Norris, launched a special recruitment day aimed at encouraging the thousands of Ukrainians who have settled in the region to sign up to be bus drivers.
He said they would get a specially-tailored training programme to join what Mr Norris said was the 'most thanked profession in the country'. Drivers at the open day had the chance to try out driving a bus and meet current drivers to find out more about the job, in a special day hosted by Bristol's second biggest bus company Stagecoach.
Bristol's biggest company, First West of England, has a shortage of around 150 drivers and had to cut 1,450 individual bus journeys a week because its lack of drivers meant it couldn't meet the timetable. Stagecoach is thought to be another 50 drivers short of being fully-staffed, and regularly lists the routes and specific bus journeys that aren't happening on a daily basis because of its driver shortage.
