---
title: Transit Keeps Cutting the Weeds. Nobody Is Measuring the Roots.
description: Explore the roots of absenteeism in transit and discover solutions that support operators, modernize policies, and enhance overall service reliability.
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---

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# Transit Keeps Cutting the Weeds. Nobody Is Measuring the Roots.

[By \- Patrick E Parents,](https://www.patrickeparents.com/media/author/patrick-e-parents)  Sep 23, 2026

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Hi, I’m Patrick Parents. I’m a Bus Operator Success Advocate, founder, and transit consultant focused on one thing: making the bus experience better.

My career has taken me from behind the wheel of a bus to service development, entrepreneurship, technology, and consulting with transit organizations across the country. Today, I build practical solutions around the people who keep transit moving—from workforce planning and operator experience to tools like Run Equity Score™.

But at the heart of it all, not much has changed.

**I’ve spent my career serving people, and the bus has always been my primary tool.**

If you’re new to my blogs, think of this as a quick refresher: I’ve lived and breathed transit for nearly 2 decades. From driving on the streets of Baltimore City to working with bus operations around the literal country during my time with [Ecolane.](https://www.ecolane.com/) In short, my career since I was 20 has been about making transit work better for both operators and riders, and along the way I’ve learned some cool lessons that extend far beyond buses.

Recently, I moved to **Dover, Pennsylvania**, leaving behind Baltimore’s traffic, parking nightmares, and sky-high car insurance. It's pretty cool. I live across the street from a farm, which as a city guy is ummmm interesting lol?

It's pretty awesome though, or at least it was until a new issue—one that has me fighting for my life in ways even driving in Baltimore never did.......learning how to care for my own grass.

Simple enough, I thought. Buy a lawn mower, cut it every two weeks, and I’d be fine. And for a while, it worked. My lawn looked neat. I felt accomplished. City guy turned Suburban life, check.

Or maybe not

Then came the **weeds**.

Weeds are resilient. They thrive in tough soil, spread faster than you can manage, and choke out the plants you actually want to grow. You can cut them down all you want, but unless you dig out the roots, they just keep coming back—stronger, faster, and more stubborn than before.

Transit absenteeism works the same way. The missed shifts, the last-minute call-outs—the visible problems—are just the weeds above ground. Agencies often respond by “trimming the branches” with stricter attendance policies, fines, or punitive measures. But if the roots aren’t addressed—the underlying culture, scheduling practices, health and wellbeing of operators—the absenteeism adapts, evolves, and inevitably grows back.

Just like in my Dover lawn, the surface problem isn’t the real problem. And just like weeds, absenteeism is resilient, adaptive, and persistent. To really fix it, you have to dig deeper. You have to understand the **root**.

In today’s **“visible talking presentation”** (that’s my new term for blogs, lol), I’m going to walk you through why absenteeism happens in the first place—the roots—what the weeds above the surface look like—the fruit—and, most importantly, how to tackle them so you can finally save your garden and keep your transit operations thriving.

### At a Glance: How Big is the Problem?

Across major U.S. transit agencies, absenteeism isn’t just a minor hiccup—it’s a serious, recurring challenge.

 

- **Boston:** the average transit worker misses **over 22 unscheduled days a year**. That’s almost an entire month of work, gone.👈🏽
- **Atlanta (MARTA):** nearly **1 in 3 employees is absent** on any given day.👈🏽

Even for agencies that aren’t at those extremes, absenteeism is costing **millions every year** in overtime, shift coverage, and operational headaches. And here’s the kicker—it’s not just about the money. Every missed shift ripples out, affecting riders, schedules, and the overall reliability of the system.

So when you look at these numbers at a glance, it’s clear: absenteeism is the **fruit** we’re seeing. But remember, fruit doesn’t grow without roots—and if we want to fix this problem, we’ve got to dig deeper.

 

---

 

### The Roots: Why Absenteeism Happens

First up: **attendance policies**. A lot of transit agencies have rigid, inflexible rules that are out of step with what most American workers expect. Compare that to office jobs, retail, or even fast-food—you rarely see strict “zero exceptions” attendance rules in those industries. Yet in transit, missing a shift without a very specific reason can trigger penalties immediately. It’s a cultural mismatch—a set of expectations that doesn’t reflect how people live **today.**

And that’s partly why FMLA abuse exists. The Family and Medical Leave Act wasn’t designed to be used as a weapon against the agency—it’s a protective response to **bad attendance policies**. It’s the safety net operators use because the rules themselves often can’t accommodate **real life. But again, FMLA abuse is like a sneeze, it's a response to another underlying issue or irritation. It's not the true root.**

**To discover that, you'd have to look at this--Changing Family Dynamics In America👈🏽**

Here’s some context: transit jobs came into prominence in an era where **two-parent households were far more common**. In the 1980s and 90s, roughly **70–75% of American children lived in two-parent households**. At that time working and family dynamics were simple: parents had someone at home to cover childcare, sick days, or last-minute emergencies, while the other financially supported the household.

Fast forward to today, and household dynamics have shifted dramatically. Single-parent homes, grandparents raising grandchildren, split custody arrangements, and parents juggling multiple jobs are far more common—especially in inner-city communities where much of the transit workforce lives. According to the U.S. Census, nearly **30% of households with children are led by single parents**, and many rely on extended family for childcare support. In cities like Baltimore, these numbers are even higher, reflecting**the realities of the workforce I grew up around and served alongside.**

I saw this firsthand when I drove for the MTA. Admittedly a large portion of my own FMLA uses weren’t for chronic illness—they were for “small” emergencies that are huge in a single-parent or working-parent household: snow days, early dismissals for asthma attacks, or a child suddenly sick after lunch. It’s not a glamorous truth but it’s real truth. A truth that suggests a massive underlying issue—the traditional attendance policy doesn’t fit today’s family dynamics.

 

---

 

### The Fruit: What Absenteeism Looks Like

So, if those rigid policies, cultural expectations, and changing household dynamics are the roots, what does the fruit look like? Well, it’s the part everyone notices—the absenteeism itself.

 

- **Boston:** average transit worker misses **over 22 unscheduled days a year**
- **Atlanta (MARTA):** nearly **1 in 3 employees is absent** on any given day

That’s not a few missed shifts—it’s **a recurring, visible problem** that ripples through schedules, operations, and rider satisfaction.

Think of it like weeds in a garden. You can see them, sure—you can cut them down, trim them, spray them—but unless you understand the roots feeding them, they’ll always come back. The missed shifts, last-minute call-outs, and FMLA requests aren’t the cause—they’re the fruit growing from a system that hasn’t adapted to today’s realities.

And agencies often respond by **trying to prune the problem**—stricter attendance rules, fines, punitive measures. But just like weeds, if you only cut the steams, you’re not solving anything.

The system will adapt, adjust, and absenteeism will grow back, often in new and unpredictable ways.

 

---

 

### The Hidden Roots: Long Hours, Mental Fatigue, and a Death toll

Here’s something most people don’t think about when they see absenteeism numbers: the **schedule itself**. The average transit shift isn’t your typical 9-to-5—it’s **10 to 12 hours long**, sometimes more if you factor in split shifts and swings. That means bus operators are spending **far more time at work than the average American**, day in and day out. At the bare minimum we are work 20% more than the average American, in the same 40-hour work week

It’s exhausting. And not just physically. Driving a bus requires **constant focus, split-second decision-making, and patience**, all while absorbing the energy, emotions, and frustrations of the city around you. That alone is enough to burn anyone out.

But here’s a hidden root most don’t talk about: the **death toll**. We have coworkers in their 70s and 80s still running routes—which is amazing—but it also underscores a sobering reality: many operators don’t live as long as they might expect. Heart disease, high blood pressure, stress-related illnesses, and other chronic conditions are far too common. I’ve seen colleagues pass away in their late 50s or early 60s, well before the typical life expectancy. In fact, the **Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)** reports that commercial drivers have a life expectancy **16 years shorter than the national average**. As operators, we’re exposed to this frequently.

You can’t begin to imagine the impact of seeing someone at work on Monday who’s no longer there by Tuesday. Attendance policies aside, it would be foolish not to acknowledge that experiences like this—repeated and frequent in our line of work—have a real emotional and psychological impact on operators.

These aren’t just numbers—they’re people we work alongside every day. It weighs on everyone quietly but constantly. When you put it all together—the long hours, mental fatigue, and health risks—it’s no wonder absenteeism happens. These are **roots you can’t prune with stricter policies**. They’re embedded in the job itself.

 

### Digging for Solutions: How to Save the Garden

Here’s the reality: transit can’t **data its way out of absenteeism**. Decades of rigid policies, outdated expectations, and systemic stress have created a problem you **can’t just run reports on and fix with numbers**. Human behavior, life, and emotions don’t work that way.

The industry has struggled because it hasn’t attacked the **actual root**. Policies were built for a different era—single-breadwinner households, predictable schedules, and a workforce that looked very different from today’s. The ripple effect?

 

- Loss of prestige in the role.
- Lower-quality hires in a tighter labor market.
- Staff shortages that cascade into **poor customer experiences**.

Attendance policies aren’t just ineffective—they’re part of the problem. They’re like trying to prune weeds with scissors while ignoring the roots underground.

 

### 1️⃣Modernizing the Schedule

One of the most powerful tools we have is **rethinking how shifts are structured**.

 

- Align shifts with **more conventional work hours**, reducing extreme splits.
- Increase **time off** so operators can actually recharge.
- Limit overtime while still allowing flexibility. Think of it like a boxing coach protecting a fighter—you can’t have someone constantly in the ring and expect them to thrive.

 

### 2️⃣Embracing a Freelance Workforce

Through Transit Gigs, I help agencies build a modern, in-house flex workforce platform that provides on-call operator coverage without overstaffing, overspending, or burning out full-time staff.

 

- Reduces stress on full-time operators
- Gives operators **more control over their schedules**
- Ensures riders experience **reliable service**, even when life happens

 

---

 

### 3️⃣Supporting Operators Beyond the Wheel

Absenteeism isn’t just about policies—it’s about **supporting operators as human beings**. The person behind the uniform.

 

- Teach **healthy eating, stress management, and personal finance**
- Foster **collaboration**: small pods of operators swapping shifts safely
- Moderate overtime through **protective limits**, like a coach protecting a fighter

I’ve implemented these strategies with **30+ transit employees** across my own companies. Sure, there are occasional call-outs, but **attendance is never really an issue**, even without a formal policy. Operators thrive because the system actually supports them. When you build good people, a better transit product is just a bi product of that.

 

### Closing: Lessons from the Lawn

So, what’s the takeaway? If absenteeism is the **fruit**, and policies, culture, and work conditions are the **roots**, then the solution is clear: **dig deeper**. Modernize policies, adjust schedules, provide backup staffing, and support operators holistically.

Because if you only cut the branches, the weeds—and the absenteeism—will grow back. But if you **tend the roots**, nurture the operators, and adapt to the realities of today’s workforce, your garden—and your transit operations—can finally thrive.

And just like my Dover lawn: it takes patience, attention, and the right tools. Cut the weeds above the surface, sure. But don’t forget to dig deep, feed the soil, and water the roots. That’s how you grow something that lasts.

 

-Later✌🏽

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