Miami-Dade honors 51 new bus operators as county highlights paid training and recruitment efforts

Miami-Dade County on a date not specified celebrated the graduation of 51 trainees from Bus Class 3, 2025, during a ceremony hosted by the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW). Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III and DTPW leaders attended and delivered remarks emphasizing the county’s investment in recruiting and retaining bus operators.

The graduates completed a 10-week training program that included commercial driver’s license (CDL) instruction paid for by the county. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told the class that the county had increased pay, added a sign-on bonus and covered CDL training to recover from operator shortages: “We lost a lot of operators. We lost riders too…we’ve grown from the fifteenth largest to the tenth largest transit system in The United States.” She noted the youngest graduate was 19 and the oldest was 61 and praised operators as “a lifeline” for riders’ trips to work, health care and school.

Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III similarly framed bus operators as essential to the local economy, saying operators “keep us moving” and that without them “this county comes to a grinding halt.” Deputy Director and chief of transit operations Sean Atchen, speaking for DTPW, told the graduates the agency—and their trainers—would continue to support them and laid out three priorities for operators: “trust, safety, [and] worthiness,” adding, “That’s our contract.”

Instructors and supervisors who addressed the class framed the role as a career with advancement opportunities. Franklin Brown, lead instructor for Bus Class 3, called operators public servants and urged them to treat riders respectfully: “You are a public servant, serve those that you were trained to serve… the county has put the trust in you to serve.” Training-unit staff and long-tenured leaders from bus operations and maintenance offered practical advice about punctuality, safety and professionalism.

DTPW leaders said the county now employs about 4,000 people within the department and that farebox revenue covers roughly 10% of system costs; the remainder is provided by other county and external funding sources (not specified in the ceremony). Speakers repeatedly emphasized safety procedures, defensive driving and customer service as daily expectations for new operators.

The ceremony included the presentation of certificates and a pledge recited by the class to “always drive safe, turn slow, and scan for pedestrians,” after which graduates posed for group photographs. County officials encouraged families and friends in attendance to support the new operators as they begin their assigned routes in early August (start date stated during the ceremony as August 4).