More than 200 bus drivers in Washington, D.C., pulled down salaries in excess of $100,000 in 2014, with dozens earning close to $140,000.
Salary records obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation show that many of the city’s bus drivers were able to bring home six figure salaries after adding in overtime pay.
In 2014, Metro paid just 228 of its bus drivers $25,791,015 in salary and overtime pay. Nearly $10 million of that sum went to overtime pay for the drivers. Several drivers, the records show, earned more in overtime pay than in regular salary.
Sherri Ly, a spokeswoman for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, told TheDCNF overtime pay for bus drivers may have been higher last year due to “massive rebuilding of rail infrastructure” undertaken by Metro.
According to Ly, buses are used virtually every weekend and holiday as shuttles to replace train service.
“Based on seniority, bus operators may volunteer for overtime to operate shuttles or to cover for vacation, sick calls or medical leave,” she said.
The highest paid bus drivers at companies, according to salary records, made more than $80,000 in salary and $60,000 in overtime pay.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that the mean annual wage of bus drivers in the United States is just less than $40,000. Earners in the 90th percentile earned $61,000, according to data as recent as May, 2014.
The starting hourly rate for a bus driver at Metro is $19 per hour and moves up incrementally to $20.60 after six months, $22.18 after a year and $31.60 after six years. The highest paid bus drivers, who have worked at Metro for more than 22 years, make just more than $34 per hour.
At that rate, Metro’s highest paid bus drivers would need to work 40 hours per week, before overtime, to make a $70,000 salary.
Ly said unscheduled overtime can occur as a result of extreme weather events, special events like the papal visit in September, or service disruptions on Metrorail, of which there have been many.
Metro is also looking to fill 21 bus driver vacancies, which Ly said also added to the additional overtime pay experienced last year.
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