Dover, NH - Not unlike many school districts and employers who rely on commercial vehicle operators, COAST has been suffering from a severe lack of qualified operators. "We have been operating with an ongoing operator shortage for much of the past three years," stated Rad Nichols, COAST Executive Director. Unfortunately, over the past few months the shortage has only grown, and the region's public transit provider is now in the position of not being able to meet all of its published service schedules. "We have been doing everything we can to reduce our reliance on commercial drivers where able, and all our CDL-qualified staff that normally work in the office are working behind the wheel as much as possible," Nichols continued.
Until COAST is able to return to sufficient staffing levels, the following service will be suspended. This service has been selected due to its lower average ridership, services being available every 30 minutes before or after it, and the ongoing difficulty in staffing the block of work it represents.
Route 2 - 5:28 PM northbound departure from Market Square
This suspension of service will begin on Monday, April 16 and will last until COAST is able to return to sufficient staffing levels. During this service suspension, the last Route 2 northbound connection with Route 1 to Somersworth and Berwick will now be scheduled to arrive at Shaw's in Dover at 5:55 PM. Nichols confirmed, "the sole reason COAST is suspending these services is due to the severe shortage of available CDL operators to do the work."
For more information, please see our press release.