CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Governor Roy Cooper visited Charlotte on Tuesday to announce a plan to help alleviate bus driver shortages across the state. The plan includes a $1 million investment to enhance school bus driver training capacity through the North Carolina DMV.
The plan will create seven new temporary bus driver trainers across the state, who will help to train more drivers and get them on the road sooner. The plan will also provide retention bonuses for current bus driver trainers to recognize their dedication.
"Considering we don’t have a budget, we thought it was so important to bolster the training of our school bus drivers to make sure we can have more of them on the road," Cooper said.
Governor Cooper said that the bus driver shortage is a widespread problem and that this is just one solution to address it. He urged the General Assembly to pass a budget that includes additional funding for school bus drivers.
"We need more trainers so that we can get more people through the system," Cooper said. "Get them out on the road, well-trained and driving buses and getting our children to and from school.."
Cooper announced the plans at a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus lot. CMS bus drivers and managers welcomed Governor Cooper's plan. They said that the shortage of bus drivers has been a significant problem and that this plan will help to get more students to and from school safely.
"That will be more routes that can be covered, people won’t feel like they’re being stressed out, people won’t feel like they’re getting burnt out," Marquise McClelland, a driver, said.
The state budget is currently still being negotiated by Republicans in the General Assembly. Governor Cooper says there's no indication bus drivers should see any significant impact on their pay when it's finally passed.
"We're going to continue to work and push this General Assembly to pass the kind of budget that we need," Cooper said.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.