France-based Keolis Transit Services is on track to score a $754 million contract to run Capital Metro's fixed-route bus service for five years.
If Capital Metro's full board of directors approves the contract in a final vote scheduled for Sept. 25, Keolis would begin operating MetroBus and MetroRapid service in January. Brent Payne, president of Austin's ATU chapter, said Keolis' executive leadership has been slow to reach out to the local union, which represents 900 CapMetro bus drivers and more than 240 mechanics. Payne met for the first time on Monday with the company's senior vice president of operations, Michael Ake, who will oversee CapMetro service.
"We'll be paying close attention," said CapMetro board member Chito Vela, who represents Austin City Council District 4."If our staff is not happy, if our [bus drivers] and mechanics are not happy, I don't think our service runs well." "Frankly, I believe that the pandemic broke that [earlier] model with the changes in the labor market and just the workforce as a whole," she said.